The Phantom (1996) Paramount/Action-Adventure RT: 100 minutes Rated PG (action/adventure violence, some mild language) Director: Simon Wincer Screenplay: Jeffrey Boam Music: David Newman Cinematography: David Burr Release date: June 7, 1996 (US) Cast: Billy Zane, Treat Williams, Kristy Swanson, James Remar, Catherine Zeta Jones, Patrick McGoohan, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bill Smitrovich, Casey Siemaszko, David Proval, Joseph Ragno, Samantha Eggar, Jon Tenney, Robert Coleby, Al Ruscio, John Capodice. Box Office: $17.3M (US)
Rating: ***
A masked hero, the plucky girl who loves him, evil villains, narrow escapes and rescues, jungle locations, an old disintegrating suspension bridge, a mysterious island, pirates, and valuable objects that give the owner unlimited power over mankind- it sounds like the stuff of the Saturday afternoon movie serials of old. It kind of is. I’m talking about The Phantom, an adaptation of Lee Flak’s comic strip that’s been around since the late 30s. It was previously made into a 15-part serial in ’43. In ’96, it became a major motion picture starring Billy Zane (Tombstone) as the title character, a purple-clad avenger who’s been protecting the jungles of Bangalia for about 400 years.
It starts off by giving us a brief history of “The Ghost Who Walks” before getting into a silly plot involving three skulls- aka “The Skulls of Touganda”- with tremendous supernatural powers. One of them, a silver one, is located in a cave in the Phantom’s neck of the woods. A bad guy named Quill (Remar, 48 Hrs.) has come to retrieve it with a group of mercenaries and the little native boy they kidnapped to be their guide. Long story short, Quill defeats the mercs and saves the kid, but Quill manages to escape with the skull back to New York, the home of the film’s central villain, industrialist Xander Drax (Williams, Prince of the City). He wants all three skulls in order to rule the world.
No movie like The Phantom is complete without a feisty heroine like Diana Palmer (Swanson, The Chase), the strong-willed nice of a newspaperman investigating Drax’s criminal dealings. She goes to Bangalia to follow up on a lead only to be kidnapped from a clipper by a band of female pirates led by Sala (Jones, The Mask of Zorro), the femme fatale of this tale. When the Phantom hears of this, he wastes no time in rescuing her. It turns out they knew each other when he was just Kit Walker, but Diana doesn’t know it’s him (it must be the mask). Once apprised of the situation, the Phantom sets about putting a stop to Drax’s evil plan.
Directed by Simon Wincer (Free Willy), The Phantom was one of three failed attempts to turn old properties into franchises, the others being The Rocketeer (1991) and The Shadow (1994). It bombed at the box office making back less than half its $45 million budget, but it’s really not that bad a movie. It has vintage feel with its period setting, nonsensical plot and non-CGI stunts and effects. It’s a fun, rousing adventure that sets out to entertain rather than impress or outdo. It achieves this modest goal in spades.
The character design is simple. The Phantom wears a skin-tight purple suit, a mask and a skull ring. Physically, he’s strong, agile and quick without being light on his feet. Although a hero, he has no actual super powers. Said to be immortal, he’s actually the 21st Phantom, a role passed down from father to son for generations. In other words, he’s just a regular guy who fights evil in its various forms. His closest companions are his horse Hero and pet wolf Devil. He often has conversations with his late father (McGoohan, The Prisoner) whose murder necessitated him taking over the role of Phantom. It’s a pretty safe bet Phantom will encounter the killer by movie’s end.
In the title role, Zane strikes just the right balance of square-jawed machismo, earnest uprightness and bemusement. When Diana takes the lead in her rescue, he dryly comments, “Fine, go ahead- it’s your rescue.” Swanson does solid work as Diana, the antithesis of damsel in distress. She can take care of herself except on the rare occasion where she might need to be untied by a strapping hero in a purple suit. Williams all but twirls his moustache as a villain who doesn’t realize how ridiculous he sounds. He hams it up very nicely. Jones has some great scenes as a villainess every bit as ruthless as her male counterparts. Remar is always great in a bad guy role, no complains there.
The production design is superb. It’s an extremely handsome production with an eye for period detail. This is what the world looked like in 1938. Correction, this is what a comic book version of the world looked like in 1938 with the costumes, cars, buildings and interiors. Adventures happened in jungles and on islands called “The Devil’s Vortex”. The Phantom is filled with action and adventure. It has a dogfight between a large clipper and two biplanes, a scene in a spooky cave inhabited by a band of pirates and two crossings of the aforementioned suspension bridge in a big truck. It’s almost like an Indiana Jones movie except for the pacing. It doesn’t move at the same breakneck speed, but it comes close.
Ultimately, what The Phantom has going for it is its total commitment to the goofball material. Everybody involves knows all that jazz about skulls, pirates and secret societies is silly to the max. Because they know, they do what they do in the spirit of fun. As a result, the viewer has fun that only occasionally feels forced. I’m sad they didn’t go ahead with the planned sequels, but at the same time I’m relieved I don’t have to watch it descend into CGI messiness.
