The Phantom

The Phantom (6/10)
Genre: Superhero/Action/Adventure
Director: Simon Wincer
Cast: Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Remar
Country: Australia/USA
Language: English
Year: 1996

The Phantom's first ever live-action movie adaptation celebrated its 25th anniversary a couple of days ago, and so, I decided to share a few words on it. The Phantom came out during a period when superhero movies were not household commodities, instead, they were made for the guilty pleasure of fans. 

The Phantom tanked at the box office upon its release and also received unfavorable reviews from critics. However, I have a nostalgic sentiment towards this film. The Phantom was one of the earliest comic book characters introduced to me and it made a huge influence on my love of comic books. I was ecstatic when I saw the trailer of The Phantom movie on TV. 

There are certainly good things about the film as well as some bad ones. For instance, the production design is impressive, which recreates the periodic era, and the same goes for the costume. This film has some great stunts and not too many visual effects with satisfactory cinematography. 

A committed Billy Zane, who transformed himself brilliantly for the character as he worked on his physique for the part and refused to use spandex, pretty common in those days. 

But on the negative side, the first and foremost thing that comes to mind is the portrayal of the Phantom. The Phantom is very dark in comic books who never reveals his face, but in the film version, he is depicted as light-hearted, who doesn't mind revealing his face.  The portrayal of Guran is also different from comics, and this film doesn’t dwell deep on the origin story of the Phantom. 

The story shows the Phantom trying to protect three magical skulls from getting into the wrong hands. 

Simon Wincer, who is a fan of the character, made a Joel Schumacher version of the Phantom. It wasn't terrible to me but certainly lacked direction. 

Billy Zane received a lot of praise for his portrayal of the Phantom, sadly, he never really got another opportunity to play the character. Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and James Remar rounds up a pretty impressive cast. 

The Phantom may not be the best superhero film ever made, but it is way more superior than the blasphemous Canadian TV series. I like this film and have seen it on more than one occasion.