05-13-2020, 03:50 PM
The Phantom (1996) (US Amazon Prime)
Much like Escape from New York, The Phantom kinda sucks. The characters are one-dimensional, the dialogue is often laughable, and the story feels like a kid's brainstorm, full of baffling plot points and nonsensical geography. As for The Phantom himself, as game and muscular as Billy Zane is, he's rarely an imposing fighter at all, at one point attacking two thugs by squeezing their necks between his legs, causing his spandex'd butt to awkwardly wriggle on the right side of the screen. The whole thing is hopelessly childish.
And yet... that's why it works as well as it does. The music is stirring, the location shooting and sets are spectacular, the action is coherent, and the overall photography, while not quite inspired, is solid. Zane's extra-wide smile is a great fit for his ludicrous costume, Treat Williams is a hoot as the gleeful villain, and the pace never lets up. What's more, there's barely any noticeable CG; as an atmospheric piece alone, the movie succeeds. (It's almost, but not quite, enough to forgive director Simon Wincer for setting the climax in an underground aquatic lair with canals and submarines, yet inexplicably failing to soak Catherine Zeta-Jones' and Kristy Swanson's clothes!) I'll take a Phantom flick that lives up to the character's exceedingly low promise over a disappointing Indiana Jones sequel (which is all of them) just about every day. Anyhow, serious fans of Indy, The Mummy '99, or modern retro-pulp films in general should give this a spin - they almost certainly won't hate it , and just might love it.
Grade: B-
Much like Escape from New York, The Phantom kinda sucks. The characters are one-dimensional, the dialogue is often laughable, and the story feels like a kid's brainstorm, full of baffling plot points and nonsensical geography. As for The Phantom himself, as game and muscular as Billy Zane is, he's rarely an imposing fighter at all, at one point attacking two thugs by squeezing their necks between his legs, causing his spandex'd butt to awkwardly wriggle on the right side of the screen. The whole thing is hopelessly childish.
And yet... that's why it works as well as it does. The music is stirring, the location shooting and sets are spectacular, the action is coherent, and the overall photography, while not quite inspired, is solid. Zane's extra-wide smile is a great fit for his ludicrous costume, Treat Williams is a hoot as the gleeful villain, and the pace never lets up. What's more, there's barely any noticeable CG; as an atmospheric piece alone, the movie succeeds. (It's almost, but not quite, enough to forgive director Simon Wincer for setting the climax in an underground aquatic lair with canals and submarines, yet inexplicably failing to soak Catherine Zeta-Jones' and Kristy Swanson's clothes!) I'll take a Phantom flick that lives up to the character's exceedingly low promise over a disappointing Indiana Jones sequel (which is all of them) just about every day. Anyhow, serious fans of Indy, The Mummy '99, or modern retro-pulp films in general should give this a spin - they almost certainly won't hate it , and just might love it.
Grade: B-
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