The Phantom (1996)
1h 40m | PG-13
The 21st successor to the role of Bengalla's resident superhero must travel to New York to prevent a rich madman from obtaining three magic skulls that would give him the secret to ultimate power.
Director: Simon Wincer
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Adventure, Action
Video: 720p
Cast
Billy Zane
as The Phantom / Kit Walker
Kristy Swanson
as Diana Palmer
Treat Williams
as Xander Drax
Catherine Zeta-Jones
as Sala
James Remar
as Quill
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
as The Great Kabai Sengh
Reviews
Campy fun of a time. Seen this a few times over the years and while he does look goofy in the purple outfit, Billy Zane is good in the role and a shame this didn't get a follow-up. A bit surprising there hasn't been some sort of series adaptation of the material. **3.25/5**
There was a time when Hollywood had high hopes for Billy Zane, bit sadly his participation in mediocre stuff like this never really helped his career much. He portrays the eponymous character (adequately, but no better) who must travel to New York on the trail of the evil "Drax" (Treat Williams) who wants obtain and combine three ancient skulls and obtain the ultimate power in the universe. Yes, so far we have about six different films all roled into one and this doesn't really do justice to any of them. Catherine Zeta-Jones does her best, but she was never a great actress anyway and given there is only the bare bones of a part for her to deliver, she looks faintly ridiculous most of the time. There is a tiny bit of redemption in the form of "Diana" (Kristy Swanson) who is our hero's pretty disgruntled but feisty and capable ex-girlfriend, and the quality of the production is, and looks, good. Zane, though, just can't carry it in his purple lycra, and the twist at the end all just came far too late to enliven this listless comic book adventure. It might have looked better in monochrome?