The Phantom (1996)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Thanks for the memories!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Over four hundred years ago, a boy escapes from pirates called the Sengh Brotherhood. He's washed ashore and rescued by tribesmen. The Shaman gives him a ring to fight piracy, greed, and cruelty in all their forms. The title of the Phantom is passed on from father to son creating the legend of one continuous immortal hero. Now it's 1934. Quill (James Remar) is in the jungle looking for one of the Skulls of Touganda. His boss businessman Xander Drax (Treat Williams) wants all three skulls which combine to generate dark powers. Quill has kidnapped a local boy to guide him. Kit Walker (Billy Zane) is the latest Phantom who comes to the rescue with his white horse Hero and wolf companion Devil. Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson) is his college ex-girlfriend. Her uncle Dave owns the World Tribune newspaper in New York and is a constant opponent of Drax. He sends Diana to the jungle to investigate Drax's connection but she's kidnapped by Drax's pirate "friend" Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones) with her female crew.The origins of this hero is a 30s newspaper comic strip. The Phantom is a guy in purple tights with no actual superpowers. This movie has an action adventure feel of an old time serial for pre-teen boys. This is a comic book movie before the genre got dark and 'real'. This is shiny and cheesy. There is some overacting especially Treat Williams as the villain. There is also some good comic-booky action. People like to complain about its cheesy old-fashion style but that's kinda the point of this movie. It's not real. It's not dark. It's a weekend matinée double-bill to stuff the kids into for the afternoon.

Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Treat Williams star in this 1996 action/adventure based on the comic book. This takes place in 1939 and Zane (Titanic) plays Kit Walker, a mild-mannered man who masquerades as hero, The Phantom aka "The Ghost who Walks" following in his ancestors footsteps. He makes his way from the Bengala jungle to New York City where he tries to stop corrupt businessman, Xander Drax (Williams) from finding 3 powerful skulls that will make him unstoppable. Swanson (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) plays Diana Palmer, Kit's college friend & love-interest and Jones (The Haunting) plays Sala, a woman who works for Drax, but eventually becomes an ally to Kit and Diana. James Remar, Patrick McGoohan, David Proval and Casey Siemaszko also appear. This isn't bad, Zane is OK as the lead and the film sort of has an Indiana Jones vibe to it. I still recommend this.

I am happy to see The Phantom The Ghost Who Walks with a new story on theaters. The Phantom movie uses the great advantage of the comics book for attracting people to the cinema halls. At least for me, I had used the first chance to buy a ticket and watch the movie. I had even later bought the CDs after watching the movie and now keeping all media at home among the loved ones. On the other hand, impressing the addicted readers of the all story with a new add to the original comics is a great challenging task. I am not sure if the cast and the story could get a good critics if the approach is the quality of the movie. But finally, those readers are always happy to see their hero on the cinema. Even we are waiting for new episodes or new movies of The Phantom. For who came late, they had an entry to the epic history of The Phantom family.

"The Phantom" is even less talked-about than "The Rocketeer", which is a shame because it hits its marks pretty well. And as a comic book/strip movie that came out before that genre was its own industry, its old-fashioned adventure leaning is a breath of fresh mountain air. When the movie's concentrated on The Devil's Vortex (its energy does tend to flag during the New York scenes), it's a good bit of fun. This thing's got artifacts, exotic lands, jungle mysticism, cool stunts, skull caves, gorgeous women, pirates(!); and I do say that if you can get Patrick McGoohan onboard with a silly superhero movie, there's something good here. And there certainly is. This movie's got it where it counts in the entertainment department.7/10