The Phantom Review
by Larry Mcgillicuddy (BXBE64F AT prodigy DOT com)July 14th, 1996
THE PHANTOM
A film review by Larry McGillicuddy Copyright 1996 Larry McGillicuddy
* (out of 4)
Directed by Simon Wincer Starring Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta Jones
Review- The Phantom is an unimaginative comic book caper, that features bad performances, lifeless direction, and poorly staged action sequences. It is a truly dissapointing movie, which is too bad, because I really like Kristy Swanson.
The Phantom is another duel identity super hero in the line of Superman and Batman, but the character, at least in this movie, has none of the intrigue of those characters. There seems to be very little inner conflict in this character, and he appears to have hardly any superpowers or nifty gadgets. The familiar plot deals with some businessman trying to find some kind of powerful skull that will give him some sort of powers. The movie never makes clear what the skulls will do, or maybe it did and I was just too bored to care at the time. The Phantom tries to stop this and rescues a heiress played by Swanson. There is an attempt at a romance between the two, but it seems forced, because Swanson and Zane have zero chemistry together. Everything in The Phantom you have seen many times before and there is nothing new presented here. Wincer displays absolutely no skill in setting up an exciting action sequence. Billy Zane is wooden as the hero. Kristy Swanson is given very little to do, and does very little with it. Treat Williams, looking like Rhett Butler but sounding like Mickey Mouse, is one of the worst villains I have ever seen in a movie. Only Catherine Zeta Jones, as one of Williams cohorts turns in a good performance. She has energy and spunk, which the movie needed much more of. Oh yeah, the Phantom also has a secret identity but this is so poorly played out you won't even care. About the only things I can recommend are a good performance by Jones, and some colorful scenery. However, if youre looking for a fun family movie, go watch the underrated Flipper. This is not a good movie.
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