Das Phantom

Of all the recent pulp hero adaptation to the big screen, this one ranks as the best so far. Doc Savage was too campy. The Shadow was disappointing, The Spirit was too small and the Rocketeer was an echo of the entire genre. But the Phantom, thanks to performances from Billy Zane, Treat Williams and Catherine-Zeta Jones, came alive on the screen. There was humor, drama, excitement, suspense and action galore. This film had all the elements of a successful pulp novel or newspaper serial. The cinematography, especially on the location shots, was breathtaking. Billy Zane is very believable as Kit Walker both in and out of costume. The faithfulness of the film to the original stories is also excellent.

It has good acting and a good character. If your a fan of the comic you won't be disappointed. My only complaint, and it is a big one, is the supernatural aspect to the story line which usually was not featured in the old comic strip. I like the Phantom character, so this was fun. 3 stars out of 4.

There's always a danger in bringing comic book heroes to the screen in that most are pretty bad. Some are satisfying, e.g., the Batman and Superman films come to mind. But, the Phantom was essentially a strip comic by Lee Falk that I used to read as a kid and which had been around long before me (I'll be 65 this year). I remember seeing the serial at the Saturday morning matinees and loved the comic strip. Time passes and the Phantom faded and then, in 1993, I went to Somalia as a consultant during the UNITAF occupation and was billeted with the Aussies. To my amazement, I discovered the Phantom was not only alive and well Down Under, but there were active comic books cults, conventions and the like there as well. So, no wonder the film enjoyed a revival of a defunct strip but, alas, there is much to be desired in the effort and the final product is almost a parody of the original. My wife and I saw it for a bargain matinee and I enjoyed it. However, I suffer few illusions that it could not have been done better. It was a romp and maybe, as one reviewer noted, Catherine Zeta-Jones was worth the price of admission. Well, for my part, I liked young Billy Zane's Phantom with the sheepish grin, Treat Williams's sardonic evil smile and Christy Swanson's Diana, a pleasant departure from her Vampire staking role as Buffy. It was also good to see Patrick McGoohan, former Secret Agent Man as the Phantom's predecessor. I think this film is worth the price of a rental for a rainy afternoon.

I've thought The Phantom was one cool comic strip hero since I was a kid. I never felt like I really got enough of the character, and I was delighted when a feature film was made. I wasn't disappointed.

The story is exciting, and acting performances are rich. Treat Williams drops charisma and evil. An early look at Catherine Zeta Jones is eye catching, and she gives a solid performance as the leader of an all woman mercenary team.

Billy Zane hits a home run as the Phantom. First, he looks good in the suit. That's always a must for a costumed hero film. Second, he gives a confident performance of a heroic character, and delivers his clever "humor" lines with just the right amount of wry charm. Zane (and/or stunt men) give the character a sense of strength and grace that are demanded to make the Phantom work on screen.

The cinematography is beautiful to behold, especially jungle and water scenes. They draw you right into the screen. As a cap off, I also enjoyed the score, and the main theme is catchy, which I also like to have in a comic hero movie. (That was one area where I thought the X-Men movies failed. Nothing memorable at all in the score ... they should have used the theme from the cartoon show. LOL) The movie is a feast for the senses, and for fans of the Comic strip. My only regret was that it did not do well enough at the box office to spawn a string of sequels.

We also enjoyed the Phantom serial from the OLD movie days. Of course its campy but its fun and a lot of hours of entertainment for the price:

Not many people realize that the Phantom is THE FIRST comic book hero, pre-dating Superman and pre-dating Batman. I grew up on the classic Lee Falk comic strip hero in my local newspaper. The ads for this film made me suspect it would be faithful to the character and storyline. When the film opens with the comic strip's classic line "For those who came in late…" (always used between the end of one storyline and the beginning of the next with one-day strip with a brief synopsis/reminder of the origin of the Phantom), I got goose bumps and the film maintained its integrity, unlike people who have no clue as to who is "The Phantom." While some alternations were made for it to be a little more PC (the Phantom's local pygmy people are omitted, possibly "replaced" by the Rope People we see at one point), the film's flavour remained untarnished. I can see why Billy Zane fought so hard for the role. Treat Williams clearly had a blast chewing up the scenery as the villain. Then-newcomer Catherine Zeta-Jones certainly had we males dislocating our jaws with amazement (it always pained me later she'd be referred to mostly as "Catherine Zeta-Jones from Zorro" for a time, as though this tongue-in-cheek action adventure film was to be neglected). For the non-intellect, this film may fare better on tape or on cable. For those who know the character from his origins, see it either there or if it should ever hit theatrical re-release. The saddest thing about this film is it has not yet spanned a series of sequels.