The Return of Superfly

All of the Superfly films have entertained me in various ways. The original Superfly starred Ron O'Neil as slick street hustler Priest who "sticks it to the man" and leaves New York and heads to Europe. O'Neil gave his best performance as Priest in the second movie Superfly T.N.T., but many Superfly fans disliked that sequel. Superfly T.N.T. was panned and I wasn't surprised when O'Neil didn't return for a third Superfly. Return of Superfly put Nathan Purdee in a tough situation with some fans because "he's not Ron O'Neil", but I doubt that O'Neil's inclusion would have improved matters since many of these same fans weren't happy with O'Neil's reprise of the role either.

In the previous Superfly film we saw a Priest still fresh off the New York streets and trying to adjust to life in Europe. Return of Superfly takes place much later when he's a successful legal business owner who has lived in Europe for many years. Purdee is far more in control than the often confused drug using Priest of the past, but that makes sense. Superfly T.N.T. had pointed Priest in a more controlled direction and Return of Superfly shows that. Purdee's cool head strikes a definite contrast to his drug crazed opponents. Most importantly, Purdee maintains the main character's standing as a strategist and that's what I've always liked about Priest.

Priest's lady in Return of Superfly is played by the very sexy Margaret Avery and that's a plus. Also the soundtrack features the return of the great Curtis Mayfield whose "Superfly 1990" track does a great job of revealing the mindset of the main character since the 70's. I get chills just hearing the man's lyrics for this one! Return of Superfly isn't as inferior as some say IMHO. I had a great time with it. The police car scene had me jumping off the sofa and cheering! Anyone who disrespects the lovely Ms. Avery deserves that sort of treatment in my book. Go get 'em Priest.

This is one of the worst movies ever made!! I was so dissapointed when I saw this, I almost walked out! I was thinking that this would pick up where the original "SuperFly" left of. The plot, if it was one, was lost at the beginning. The actor who played "Priest", I don't even remember this guys name, but he couldn't act to save his life. Margaret Avery, ("Color Purple", "Which Way Is Up?") who is a pretty good actress, was totally lost in this horrible movie. This movie was just plain terrible. Bad writing, bad directing, bad acting, it was just plain BAD!!! You couldn't even pay me to see this again, that's how bad it was!! No wonder Ron O'Neal didn't reprise his role as Priest, it was BAD!! This movie is a total waste of time.

UGH! Really disgusting and atrocious! What an insult to the original and T.N.T. My emergency gallbladder surgery was less painful than this hideous movie! It's so sad that we can't give zero Stars. 1 star is one too many! RON O'NEIL IS THE ONE AND ONLY SUPERFLY...PERIOD!

Return of Superfly isn't prime "blackploitation" because it was made in the late 1980's but it has some entertaining "blacksploitation" moments. The way Priest takes out the opposition is fun stuff. The film also has the lovely Margaret Avery who is sexy as ever. Curtis Mayfield, the musical genius behind the first Superfly, also provided music for this one and it is excellent. I was amazed to see the great Samuel Jackson in this too. Nathan Purdee steps into the role originally played by the excellent Ron O'Neil, and he's as cool as ice (maybe even cooler!). I love the idea of a clean living Priest running circles around a younger band of thugs. Priest was always sharp and we learned in the previous Superfly movie, from the great Roscoe Lee Brown, that he'd be even sharper without the drugs. Return of Superfly proves it.

I avoided this movie for 30 plus years. No other reason: Tico Wells and Leonard L Thomas is worth watching this movie. One of the best supporting cast assemble, which is a problem as I more interested in Tico and Leonard than the lead. Second problem: The clock was never set. I paused the movie with 20 minutes remaining to see the end, it could have went on FOREVER. The ending: The ending is to clever for its own good.