The Phantom
Cast
Billy Zane as The Phantom/Kit Walker
Kristy Swanson as Diana Palmer
Treat Williams as Xander Drax
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Sala (as Catherine Zeta Jones)
James Remar as Quill
Directed by Simon Wincer
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not seen Movie
Rater #2
3/10. The phantom. Miriam-Webster's dictionary defines it as "something (as
a specter) apparent to sense but with no substantial existence". If
only the same could be for this movie.
Billy Zane (Billy Zane? The one who hasn't done really anything since
Titanic) plays The Phantom. Clad in the worst costume for a super-
hero ever (tight purple suit, belt, face mask), he lives in a forest.
He fights supposed bad guys. Even ones who just get in his way, such
as police officers. Along with his horse and his dog Devil (who
disappears and reappears many times), he attacks grave robbers. But I
wouldn't call him a superhero.
Xander Drax (Treat Williams) is a multimillionaire type who wants to
collect three skulls to get power. Of course! So simple. After the
Phantom "lets" them narrowly escape, he goes after Drax to make sure
he doesn't get the other two skulls. So far so good, right? Wrong.
Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson) is someone who knows Drax. Somehow she
gets involved. Wow. Great character developement. So many characters
come and go, how are we supposed to remember who and why they are?
The Phantom is plagued with problems. First is the improbability
factor. The Phantom jumps from a plane (that moves up and down
without anyone touching it) onto a horse that seems to be running
faster than the plane. As soon as the Phantom gets off a bridges with
an overturned truck on it (that, for some reason, is stuck in place
without any supports), the truck falls down and lands in water,
causing a big explosion. Somehow he makes volcanoes erupt, causing an
island to blow up. After almost killing the Phantom with a sword, the
person decides to use a switchblade. Catch my drift?
The script is very lacking. First, no characters are developed, they
just come and go. At the end, when the Phantom defeats the bad guy
(oops...just gave away the surprise ending!), he uses his "cunning".
That's the only time. And how many superheros use guns? The script,
like the rest of the movie, is laughably bad. "There is opportunity
in chaos." "We'll be fish food!" Sounds like advanced writing to me.
The acting...where to begin? Zane doesn't really do much, since
because of his "costume" he can have a stunt double do most of his
work. You can tell when Zane is actually in the suit because the
acting is poor. Swanson, which is a name I rarely hear, overacts and
mixes emotions and actions. Williams is decent, but is too over-the-
top and tries too hard to be sinister. Catherine Zeta-Jones, as one
of Drax's assistants, is serviceable. She actually is a good action
star.
The music tried to make it an adventure movie, in case we forgot this
is what it is trying to be. It turns into a violent swashbuckler at
the end. Its ending, which tries to wrap it up, even though we got it
halfway through, is predictable and stupid.
The Phantom is very stupid, with misfires everywhere and only OK
acting, which is its only saving grace.
Rater #3
Has Not seen Movie
Rater #4
Has Not seen Movie
Rated PG for action/adventure violence and some mild language.
Running time: 100 minutes
Guest Review: 1
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