The Phantom

Starring: Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Remar, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Jon Tenney, Patrick McGoohan
Directed by: Simon Wincer
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The Phantom (Billy Zane) must stop a wealthy businessman (Treat Williams) from obtaining three mythical skulls that will give him unlimited power.

Review:

Tim: I suspect that The Phantom has aged far better than anyone realized. I didn't see the film when it was first released, so my initial exposure was over two decades later. I watched this movie at a time when the MCU has dominated Hollywood. This film felt like a fun throwback movie. I'm sure it felt that was in 1996, but audiences were likely far less appreciative of it then. Don't get me wrong, this is ultimately a disappointing movie. However, it certainly has some strengths and I'd consider it a decent film.

It definitely feels like a 1990s movie, when you have a white African superhero. The scenes in African definitely felt less effective than the ones in New York. I did appreciate the unique backstory of this superhero. I'm not trying to suggest the African scenes weren't worthwhile, but the movie feels more believable as it progresses.

The story is fairly basic, but it was entertaining. I really liked how the film felt like an adventure movie first, and a superhero story second. I don't think Hollywood has created nearly enough adventure movies, and it's always fun to see one like this. Our protagonists go through a series of exciting sequences involving planes and boats, their adventures take them from African to New York City and to mysterious locations in exotic places. It was a lot of fun seeing a film where the adventure elements were so dialed up.

The cast is surprisingly good. Billy Zane makes a worthwhile Phantom. He's not a great actor, but he looked the part and I couldn't fault his performance, other than being too over-the-top. That was kind of the rule of the 1990s superhero scene, so I get it. I really like Kristy Swanson and believe she gave a strong performance here. She was a bit more grounded and absolutely effective. Treat Williams was fun in a role that never quite crossed the line of being completely ludicrous. It was fun seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones in a small supporting role, and it was great to see James Remar and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as well. As a whole, I really enjoyed the cast.

The movie does suffer from this sense of trying to make it feel like a comic, and that means making things feel artificially larger than life and borderline cartoonish. It would take some time for more grounded superhero films to be the norm. This isn't a fatal flaw for the film, but it would have been a lot better with a tad more restraint and maybe less flippant line delivery. There's a number of things that don't quite make sense with the plot and the movie absolutely requires you to suspend your disbelief. It's a short movie, but it drags in a few places. The story doesn't quite sell the supernatural element at the end. It kind of falls apart at that stage.

Now, The Phantom has its flaws, but I still found it to be a decent movie. The movie was a financial failure and didn't capture the attention of most critics. However, it's far better than its reputation suggests. I did have fun watching this movie and although it's not quite good, it gets pretty close.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
The Shadow, Darkman