In the 90s, two
superhero movies caught my eye: one was The Shadow
(1994), and the other was The Phantom (1996). For me, The Phantom fares
better than The Shadow. It takes its time to dive into the villain and makes his reach
stronger than that in The Shadow.
It doesn’t try
to bore you with the mysticism behind what led to The Phantom; it gives a brief
intro and then goes straight to business.
The movie was
directed to use old-style action sequences that require stunts, and a huge plus
for the movie is the cast. Each actor held their own and delivered the fun
needed to make this movie watchable numerous times.
The movie is
based on The Phantom, a long-running comic strip by Lee Falk, which he started
in 1936 and is still ongoing as of 2020. The film is loosely inspired by three
of The Phantom stories: The Singh Brotherhood, The Sky Band, and The Belt.
The Phantom has
no special powers and relies on his intelligence and skills to get by. There is
a myth about him, calling him immortal, which is because many other people have
carried the mantle before the one we are watching in this movie. The Phantom is
a skilled marksman and good in hand-to-hand combat.
Drax builds his
criminal empire in New York while sending his men after the three Skulls of
Touganda, which he needs to attain ultimate power.
Drax has a
problem with newspaper owner Dave Palmer, who has been investigating Drax
thoroughly and his ties to a group best known by their spider-web tattoo. Drax
orders Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones) to kidnap Diana Palmer (Dave’s daughter) to
use her as leverage to end her father’s investigation when he hears that Diana
is heading to Bengalla. She’s going there to investigate the spider-web
meaning.
The Phantom
comes to her rescue when she is kidnapped by Sala, and we learn that his
alter-ego, Kit, used to date Diana. After assuring her safety, he heads to New
York to stop Drax.
I prefer the
story here to that of The Shadow, and enjoyed how eccentric some of the cast were. The Phantom is
easy to follow and digest. As a pulp-adventure movie, it is fun to watch.
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