The Return of Superfly

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.

People shouldn't be dissing this movie, cause they are missing the point. This movie is not supposed to be a blockbuster. Its clearly a low budget film, and is a great B Movie. Samuel L Jackson is great in this movie, as well as the soundtrack by Curtis Mayfeild. Some cool editing that captures the 80's feel perfectly in 1990, like when people fly thru windows, or short segway scenes, the sound designers put in cool vocal samples or other strange effects. This movie will be greatly enjoyed by people that appreciate bad movies for their comical end result. This is a great late night movie with friends that have a sense of humor :)

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.

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 2nd sequel to the original "Superfly" (1971) has another face portraying the super-smooth Priest, who has since been living as a legitimate businessman in Paris. The plot is a straight-up revenge story (Priest's former dealer buddy Eddie has been slain), it's just one that doesn't hold your interest at all. We've seen this done many times before, and much better. Nathan Purdee has the pretty-boy look (don't know where the hell he came from), but lacks the acting ability or charisma of Ron O'Neal. You don't give a hoot about him at all. (Whereas you wanted to see Ron O'Neal come out on top, in spite what he did for a living). Actually, Tico Wells (as Priest's back up man, Willy Green) and Samuel L. Jackson (as a buddy named Nate) steal this slow moving film with a highly implausible plot. Lot of shootings, plus a wasted Margret Avery in a quasi-love interest throwaway role (although she still looks great these days), and Carlos Carrasco as Hector ('Gigantor Ortiz' in "Speed") is the best thing this mediocre film has going for it. There is one other henchman named 'Joey' played by Leonard L. Jackson (not related to Sammy) who has the most annoying tee-hee laugh I've ever heard. Sig Shore is one lousy director. No style, some shots linger way too long, zero tension build, pace only picked up at the end. The cops were both stupid and annoying. The locales are true gritty NYC/Harlem all right, but this film is dry as a two-day old piece of toast you forgot to eat. I also see Nathan Pardee hasn't done much of anything else (other than one other film) since this came out in 1990. That tells me a LOT. Curtis Mayfield tries hard to recreate his killer original score (with a Hip-Hop twist) but ya just can't go back I suppose. This should've never been made.