Sergio Leone and Joe Dante at one stage were linked with The Phantom.
We look back at Billy Zane’s moment in the superhero spotlight.
Wheres your spirit of adventure?
asks Drax, the films villain, before setting off in search of the final skull of Touganda.
This sums upThe Phantomnicely.
It might not work, but they went on an adventure and tried something interesting and different.
Cinema would be richer with a greater sense of adventure.
The 1996 filmThe Phantomis a bit of an oddity.
Its a stylish and efficient way of getting the dreaded superhero origin story out of the way.
It looks great, and its a lovely idea.
Broadly, though,The Phantomhandles the origin part of the superhero story really well.
Then we move straight onto a fantastic sequence that plays out on a rope bridge.
The baddies must get a truck across the rickety looking walkway.
Its very economic filmmaking, having one segment serve several different ends.
For the next half hour ofThe Phantom, though, the hero features for maybe five minutes.
Thats not helped by the fact that The Phantom inThe Phantomnever comes close to convincing.
The costume itself looks busy.
The body suit has weird, dark patterns printed on it that make it look murky.
The Phantoms look is really simple, as is the character.
The film has a calm pace and tone.
Then theres Billy Zanes performance.
Zane is excellent inThe Phantomas Kit Walker.
He looks the part, exudes charisma, and seems natural and at home in old New York.
Unfortunately, as The Phantom, he really struggles.
Zanes Phantom is unflappable in the face of danger, but to me he just seems bored.
Elsewhere, Catherine Zeta-Jones performance further demonstrates how erratic the film is.
As a villain, shes terrific.
She looks the part and appears to have a ball vamping it up.
Zeta-Jones Sala starts out as a highlight, but finishes the film as a flappy, grinning non-character.
What a boring change.
The car chase through New York is a great action set piece.
For this brief section of the film,The Phantomcomes to life.
To borrow from the films own dialogue, the ghost walks.
Unfortunately, many more of the action elements ofThe Phantomdont even start with a positive.
Its silly, which would be fine if it felt like it fit in the film.
I question whether the team behindThe Phantomfelt they had quite enough film.
Theres further evidence of uncertainty behind the scenes.
Take the scene where a character is killed with a booby-trapped microscope.
Of course, had it just not landed it would have been a forgotten moment.
Either way, it suggests a lack of confidence in the moment.
The nervousness is understandable.The Phantomis a film out of step with the comic adaptations of the time.
A gentler, 1930s set adventure film in 1996 was a bold proposition.
(Data Analysing Robot Youth Lifeform).
The Phantombrought back less than half its reported $45m budget at the box office.
In 1999 Steven SommersThe Mummywas released.
The parallels between the two, from the flashback openings through to mooted director Joe Dante, are notable.
InThe Mummy, the jokes land, the characters are memorable and the action sequences are thrilling.
Its the better film by far.
