The Phantom (1996)

Starring: Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Treat Williams, and James Remar
Grade: B+

It’s an absolute travesty The Phantom didn’t spawn a franchise.

Summary

For those who came in late, it all began a very long time ago when a merchant ship was boarded by pirates of the Sengh Brotherhood. A small boy watched helplessly as his father was killed by the pirate leader, the evil Kabai Sengh. He jumped overboard and washed ashore to a mysterious jungle island called Bengalla. Meaning no harm, the Touganda tribesmen approached the boy and carried him to their village. That night, in an ancient ceremony, the tribal shaman presented the boy with a ring of great significance. With this, the boy knew he was destined to avenge his father’s death by fighting piracy, greed, and cruelty in all their forms. When he grew to be a man, he became “The Phantom”.

In the Bengalla Jungle in 1938, criminal partners Quill (Remar) and Morgan (Casey Siemaszko) are lost while driving. They argue over the details of the map. Their guide is Zak, a native child of the island sitting between them. He says they need to turn around. Quill refuses and attempts to hit Zak, but he ducks and Quill hits Morgan. This almost leads to Quill crashing before he gets back on track. Morgan realizes he misunderstood Zak, and he actually meant to say that Quill needed to turn the map around because he’s been reading it upside down. Quill continues to drive and finds the bridge he was looking for, stopping right before crossing it. They get out to take a look at it and see if it will hold, and they aren’t exactly confident. Other members of their group in Breen (Dane Farewell) and Styles (Jared Chandler) join them from out the back of the truck. They all tell Quill they don’t trust the bridge. He agrees, so his plan is that they all cross the bridge on foot except for one of them. This person will drive the truck across by himself. Of course, he has Zak be this person. Thankfully, Zak makes it across, and Quill takes back over as driver. They get to a certain point on the map, and Quill wants Zak to figure out where to go next. Zak tells Morgan they can’t go any further because these parts of the woods are protected by “The Ghost Who Walks”. Hearing this, Quill instinctively rubs the wound on his face that is the outline of the Phantom’s Skull Ring. Zak refuses to take them past these parts. Breen suggests they shoot the kid, but Quill refuses this because they’ll need him to drive the truck back across the bridge. So, they tie him up and leave him. From there, they’ll navigate their own way. Soon after, they get to their cave destination and a tribesperson watch from a distance. The group gets inside the cave and looks around. Styles finds the silver skull with blue eyes they were looking for and tosses it down to Quill, who notes that Xander Drax (Treat Williams) will be very happy. They don’t know why this skull is so important, but it’s the only thing Drax wanted. Quill never questioned it because Drax’s answers scare him.

Just then, the skeleton holding onto this skull reaches out and strangles Styles. Quill shoots at it, but it’s no use. The skeleton kills Styles. They know they have to leave but not before snatching some other miscellaneous valuables inside the cave. Hearing drums in the distance, Quill tells Morgan and Breen to hurry. The Phantom (Zane), the 21st descendent of the superhero, feels the disturbance and knows someone needs him.

The Phantom lets his pet wolf Devil know this, holsters his two pistols, gets on his white horse Hero, and heads out. Quill, Morgan, and Breen leave the cave but quickly come face to face with the horse-riding Phantom. Quill has Breen start shooting, but the Phantom shoots Breen’s machine gun right out of his hand. He grabs Breen himself and slams him into a tree. Next, he has Devil watch him. If Breen moves, he tells Devil to eat him. Continuing, the Phantom chases Quill and Morgan who escape back to the truck where Zak is tied up in the bed of it. As the Phantom jumps off his horse and swings into some trees like a trapeze artist, Quill explains to Morgan that the Phantom is someone he already killed years ago. The Phantom appears and jumps onto the hood of the truck, so Morgan shoots at him. At first, they think Morgan got him, but the Phantom appears on the side of the truck, punches Morgan, and pulls him right out of the vehicle. As he fights with Quill during the drive, he takes note of a spider-web tattoo on Quill’s arm. It’s the same one as the Sengh Brotherhood symbol seen in the opening of the movie. During the scuffle, Quill is able to cut the Phantom’s rib. This allows Quill enough time to grab the skull and jump out of the truck. The Phantom is stuck hanging onto the vehicle when it crosses the bridge. Eventually, it stops in its tracks after part of it breaks, and he’s swung almost completely off. He dangles from the truck door before climbing back in to save Zak. Once he grabs him, the entire truck flips upside down with the bridge but is still stuck to it. They almost fall right out of it and into the water below, but the Phantom is able to grab hold of a rope from the bridge and Zak before he free falls. He pulls out a pistol and shoots part of the rope they’re latched onto, and they swing to safety in a Tarzan-like way. Following this, the truck detaches from the bridge and falls, exploding on the ground. The bridge follows.

At the Jungle Patrol area, a group of looters are taken to the guardhouse, and they tell Captain Philip Horton (Robert Coleby) there’s a thing out there they should be worried about. Of course, the “thing” one of the guy’s describe is the Phantom and his two pets. They send the man away, but they are aware of the existence of “The Ghost Who Walks” known as the Phantom. Weeks (Dane Carson) knows it, but the Horton calls it a myth because of the legend surrounding the superhero. Apparently, he’s immortal and has been around for four centuries, and Horton just doesn’t see how it’s possible. Back at home, the Phantom is out of costume and is the regular person, Kit Walker. As his friend and assistant Guran (Radmar Agana Jao) tends to his wounds, he reads the chronicles to find out about the Skulls of Touganda, as he saw the one today and had to look into it. There are three of these skulls. One is made of gold, the other silver, and the last one jade. They are valuable and dangerous. When placed together, the three skulls harness an energy a thousand times greater than any force or high explosive known to man. A long time ago, the Touganda tribe possessed the skulls and knew the secret of keeping their force contained. Sadly, their village was attacked by the pirates of the Sengh Brotherhood. The tribe was destroyed, and the skulls were separated and lost. For four centuries, there has been no trace of them until today. Kit’s dad (Patrick McGoohan) walks into the room, remembering the times when he used to come into the library to consult the chronicles for guidance or wisdom when he was troubled or confused or when he plain screwed up. Kit admits he’s guilty on all counts, as he let that skull slip through his fingers. His father tries to make him feel better, but Kit admits it’s much worse because a member of the Sengh Brotherhood has it. He saw the spider-web tattoo on Quill’s arm that confirms it.

His father flips out, reminding Kit how the Sengh Brotherhood have tried and failed to get their hands on those skulls for 400 years. Kit counters with the fact that they don’t have all three, but his father points out that they don’t know how many they have, which is a fair point. If the Sengh Brotherhood gets control over the skulls, they’d be invincible. His father tells Kit that he needs to stop them, as he is the only one who can. With this, Kit’s father disappears. He’s actually long passed and was merely a spirit speaking to him. Guran walks back into the room because he heard talking, but Kit just says he was talking to himself.

In Long Island, New York, Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson) gets back from Yukon and drives up to the Annual Charity Dinner mansion party for the Palmer Foundation, parking on the grass like an asshole. Butler Falkmoore (Bernard Kates) tries to tell her she can’t park there until he sees who it is. She doesn’t take offense, as they know each other. In fact, Falkmoore welcomes her back and helps Diana with her luggage. Diana walks in and is greeted by her mother Lilly (Samantha Eggar) and her uncle Dave Palmer (Bill Smitrovich). Dave owns the World Tribune newspaper. Diana didn’t realize there was a dinner party happening, as Lilly notes how bad her timing is, but Dave doesn’t care. He’s very happy to see her. Before she goes to get something to eat, Lilly tells her the wealthy Jimmy Wells (Jon Tenney) is there and would love to see her, though she doesn’t seem too interested. Xander Drax shows up and Dave immediately asks Lilly why he’s there, but she explains that Drax made a very large contribution to the foundation. Undeterred, he tells Lilly to return it. Lilly questions why because Drax is a respected businessman, but Dave assures her Drax is a thug. In the kitchen, Jimmy tries to flirt with Diana by talking about how he was considering going to see her in Yukon to sweep her off her feet and bring her back to New York. Uncaring of what he’s saying while she makes a bologna sandwich, Diana asks why he didn’t, but he says the urge passed after some tennis and gin. He kisses her, but she barely reacts before taking a bite of her sandwich right after. Dave greets the Mayor (Leon Russom) and the Police Commissioner (Al Ruscio), and Drax tries to butt in to greet Dave. However, Dave tells Drax he’s not welcome at his party. Drax laughs it off and suggests he get the Police Commissioner to arrest him. As the Mayor tries to calm Dave down, Drax brings up how Dave’s reporters have been poking their noses into his affairs, and he wants to know why. Dave tells Drax that he’ll know when they publish their story.

Drax pleads ignorance to what he’s talking about and just calls himself a private citizen, but Dave calls him out on how he owns companies that regulate private utilities, he controls the trade unions, he influences interest rates and stock prices, and he has personal and business involvements with the Zephro crime family. Drax passes all of this off as “tall tales” and jokes that Dave has been talking to his ex-wives, which gets a laugh out of the Police Commissioner. To big-league him, Drax inquires how much the newspaper company is and threatens to buy it, but Dave assures him not everything in life is for sale, just as Diana walks in the room. With a smile on his face, Drax tells him everything is, and he usually gets what he wants. Privately, Dave, Diana, the Mayor, and the Police Commissioner speak in Dave’s study. Dave tells them that he’s learned from a highly placed source in the city library that Drax has been extensively researching esoteric volumes that are normally kept under constant lock and key. He pulls out a paper and details how Drax is interested in something connected with a certain symbol. On the paper is the spider-web of the Sengh Brotherhood. No one in the room knows what it is exactly, but Dave explains that Drax is on a quest for a supernatural power. Drax has the desire to be on the level of a dictator or tyrant, and this will provide him with the means. The Mayor thinks Dave is speaking nonsense, but Dave knows that Drax believes in it, and he must be taken seriously. Dave traced the symbol back to the Bengalla Jungle. Diana takes a look at his materials and finds a ticket to ride the Clipper to get there and questions if he’s actually thinking about going. Dave confirms he was, as his plans were to leave tomorrow and meet with Horton. Unfortunately, he’s not sure about this plan now because he doesn’t think he can turn his back to Drax for that long. Everyone in the room tells him it’s a bad idea, but he knows it’s important.

Instead, Diana volunteers to go in his place. Unbeknownst to Dave, the Police Commissioner relays the message to Drax later that night, admitting Drax was right, and they know far too much. The next day, Diana boards her plane. Gangster Ray Zephro (Joseph Ragno) spots her and calls to tell Drax immediately. Ray waits for Drax to give him the confirmation to drag her out, but Drax turns him down because he has friends where she’s going.

Following this, Dr. Fleming (Alan Zitner) comes into the Drax building and into Drax’s office to speak with him. Drax wants Fleming to reassure him that the research he’s been doing at the city library has been strictly confidential. Fleming confirms this, but Drax brings up how Dave has been poking his nose in his business. Fleming assures him that his privacy is protected and all requests for access to special collections come directly to him. Fleming is the only one who sees them. Knowing that Fleming is the one who screwed him, Drax feigns happiness but has him look under his microscope before he leaves because he wants Fleming’s professional opinion on something. With this, he holds Fleming’s glasses for him. When he can’t see anything, Drax tells him to turn the focus knob. Fleming does and sees the word “LIAR” on a paper before two spring-loaded needles stab Fleming directly in both of his eyes. Drax snaps his glasses in half after this happens after he sarcastically points out that Fleming won’t be needing them anymore. The Pan-Am Clipper is forced into the ocean by rival planes. Before Kit goes with Zak somewhere, Guran gets the distress call on their radio and hands it over to Kit to listen in. As he gets the message, the Sky Band, a group of all-female air pirates led by Sala (Zeta-Jones), board the plane and demand Diana show herself. Otherwise, they’ll kill everyone on board until she reveals who she is. After hiding a letter in her boot, Diana confirms who she is. Bravely enough, Diana snatches off Sala’s helmet and goggles to see her face. Sala is proud enough to not care, but she still strikes Diana down. On the island, Horton is told by a worker that he will man the radio for the night, so Horton goes back to his place to sleep. Horton tells the guy to wake him up if there is any news. Inside Horton’s home, the Phantom/Kit is waiting for him. Horton admits they’ve had some trouble tonight and reveals the news of the passengers of the Clipper having been picked up by a Portuguese fishing boat. Everyone’s safe except one woman who was abducted off the Clipper. Of course, it was Diana, and she was coming to see Horton.

Kit is in shock because he knows her but downplays how. Even so, Kit knows he needs to save her, especially because they just had the grave robbery incident. Horton tells him to leave out the window like he came in because he already has enough trouble as it is telling people the Phantom isn’t real. Outside, Zak is watching Hero and Devil for him. Kit thanks Zak, jumps on the horse, and lets Zak sit on the horse with him. Zak confirms that the bad men he saw came from a seaplane. Meanwhile, holding the tied-up Diana over her shoulder, Sala places her on a chair, and her and Quill talk to her. Diana defiantly tells them they’re not going to get any money for a kidnapping, but Quill tells her someone has a lot of interest in her. Once Zak gets Kit to the boat where Diana is being held, Kit thanks him and tells him to go back to the “rope people” and to stay away from bad guys. Next, Devil goes by himself to the boat while Kit climes a rope attached to it and sneaks in through a porthole. At the same time, Sala compliments Diana’s boots and rips one off to see where they’re from. With this, she sees the letter Diana was trying to hide. Kit breaks into a room with his gun, but it turns out to be where all the women are showering, so he apologizes. Still, some woman pops in and does shoot at him, so he jumps in the laundry chute. He lands directly in the room with Diana and Sala, prompting him to ask if the ship is full of women. Sala tells him all her pilots are women. He turns to untie Diana, but Sala points her gun at him. After an alarm distraction, Kit snatches the gun out of her hands. For some reason, she’s impressed by this and kisses him. After they stop, he tells Diana to tie her up, but Diana just punches her out instead. Kit tries to tell her to trust him and everything and she appreciates his saving, but she’s not interested in his help and says she’ll take it from here. Kit has history with her and laughs this off, saying to himself how she hasn’t changed a bit.

One of the women on the boat relays the message to Quill that a man in a purple suit is there. Realizing she’s talking about the Phantom, he tells her to scramble the pilots and have them find him immediately and to not let him off this ship. Diana runs down a hallway and is almost caught until Kit grabs her and hides her before she’s seen. He convinces her to follow his lead. As soon as they exit to the outside of the boat though, Quill and a bunch of his guys apprehend him. Quill hits him in the ribs where his knife wound was, and all hope looks to be lost until Devil makes the save. Following this, Kit and Diana take everyone out and escape to a seaplane while Devil stands on top of Quill, daring him to make a move. Kit drives the seaplane out of there just as Devil gets off of Quill. Quill and his guys try to recover and shoot at the plane, but it’s too late. They go to camp and try to collect more people. At the same time, Devil and Hero see Kit flying the plane above them and they chase after the plane on foot through the jungle. Following this, Kit sees they are losing fuel because of the bullet holes, so he has to take the plane down. Thinking quickly, he has Diana climb to the pontoon on the outside of the plane. Next, he jams the stick so it can drive straight temporarily. Then, he climbs out onto the pontoon with her. Hero runs below them, and the two are able to jump onto the horse just in time before the seaplane crashes into the mountain and explodes. They are only safe for a moment however, as Quill and his cohorts drive over to them and start shooting. After Kit and Diana are able to elude them on horseback because Quill’s jeep gets stuck, Quill sends some guys on horseback after them. Thankfully, the Natives (the “rope people” Kit mentioned earlier) make the save, as they are friends of the Phantom. Though they are now safe, Diana admits she’s a bit dizzy, which Kit attributes to the humidity. So, he takes her back to the Skull Cave and goes into his stash to give her a black pearl necklace for her to remember him by.

They were a gift to one of his ancestors by a grateful Arabian prince, and he wants her to have it. Horton and Guran show up to greet Diana, and Kit downplays his role in saving her after Horton asks how they miraculously figured out a way to escape. Horton goes to smoke, but Kit gives Guran the look, so Guran tells Horton not to smoke in the Skull Cave and he complies. Noting Dave’s call to him, Horton asks Diana what was so important for her to come all the way to Bengalla for, so Diana gives her the letter from her boot. She wants him to identify the spider-web symbol. Horton takes one look at it and brings Kit over to take a look. Well, there’s no easy way to put this, so Kit tells her she’s mixed up with the ancient order of evil that is the Sengh Brotherhood. They started out as pirates, but there’s no telling who they have become now. She explains how she got it in New York and how Dave’s newspaper has been investigating Xander Drax. Immediately, Kit tells Horton to take her back to New York and to use every man at his disposal to ensure her safety. She’s bothered because she came here to do a job and she needs to do a lot more, but Kit tells her goodbye. Horton adds on by telling her no one argues with the Phantom and wins.

There is a bigger plot at hand here, and Kit knows it. Though he tries to act as if he doesn’t want to be a part of it as the Phantom, it’s only to conceal his identity as Kit to Diana. This is a job for the Phantom, and it will begin in New York.

When he shows up in New York in regular street clothes by the way, he’s also wearing one of the coolest pairs of sunglasses I may have ever seen, though I digress.

My Thoughts:

We love the superhero genre as much as everyone else, but a certain amount of respect seems to be lost for those outside of the Marvel and DC Universes. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I adore the IP not found under this umbrella, the ones found in pulp magazines, comic books, and other publications from the 30s through the 50s. People need to discuss protagonists like Mandrake the Magician, The Spider, and The Clock as much as they do Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. What about less talked about adventurers like Doc Savage or Jungle Jim? These pulpy heroes were the benchmark to what we have today. Their influence is understated, and some of the material written for them are filled to the brim with action hero excitement, strange locations, over-the-top villains, colorful characters, imaginative and engaging scenarios, and so much fun every step of the way. It’s such a beautiful thing to delve into, as it’s a piece of the past that deserves to be recognized by those in the industry more often. In the 1990s, there was a concerted effort to try make adaptations of some of these period-piece comic book stars like The Rocketeer, The Shadow, and The Phantom. Disappointingly enough, none of them did well at the box office. Nevertheless, this doesn’t tell the whole story. From an objective standpoint, all three movies are crazy entertaining and viciously underrated. Though some of the strangest movies get cult followings, movies like The Phantom actually deserve it.

For the record, the Phantom was a trendsetter. He was the first superhero to don the skintight suit and a mask with no visible pupils. Though the film doesn’t allow Billy Zane’s Kit Walker to do the no-pupil look, he plays the character respectively, with a physique perfect for the famous purple costume. Zane wouldn’t necessarily be many people’s first choice to play such an iconic superhero, but he’s fantastic in the titular role, honoring the legacy of Lee Falk’s character that bridged the gap between Tarzan and Superman. With a charming presence you may not have noticed before, Zane moves like a superhero and is dapper and classy enough to pull off being Kit Walker when dealing with members of society. He carries himself like an intelligent gentleman and moves through each scene in a smooth manner much like a Bruce Wayne. Then again, it could be Zane reminding us how good his hair used to be because I totally forgot about those luscious locks he had. Regardless, he does a great job in matching the light-hearted tone of the movie with his strictly two-dimensional portrayal of the character. Even though the screenplay doesn’t allow Zane to show much of a nuanced performance as the lead, it’s by design as the film itself completely captures the pulpy, film serial-vibe of those old comic books in a way that no other film (other than the aforementioned three from the 1990s) have really done. In a cinematic world where a lot of studios have done their best to modernize superheroes to not look, sound, or feel outdated, The Phantom refuses this approach and instead leans into his origins with a direct and accurate adaptation to this old-fashioned material, avoiding the darkness of the Batman franchise or even the grittiness of Blade a couple of years later. In doing so, The Phantom sets itself apart from everyone else as a wholly different genre experience.

Joe Dante and Jeffrey Boam wrote the original script that served as the basis for the movie before some revisions, but Dante left the production after some time. Apparently, they wrote it with a tongue-in-cheek tone and intended the movie to be that way initially. Once Dante left, the team behind the film played it straight and didn’t realize it was supposed to be funny. However, the final product isn’t as “disastrous” as Dante called it in his real-life interview. If anything, the direction they took it in, akin to films like Indiana Jones in terms of the balance between humor amidst adventure, was the way to go. It was a more respectful take on the mythology behind The Phantom. Making it close to a parody because of some of the more outlandish elements to the story would almost give off the feeling that the writers didn’t believe in the material as is. If fans finally got to see such an iconic hero for the first time on the big screen and he’s treated as a joke, it’s as if the writers behind it are trashing the series and the care involved that it took to create years of lore behind such an important superhero character in the world of fiction. Sure, the film was not a success in the box office and it’s possible that critics may have enjoyed a parody movie that did acknowledge the perceived hokeyness of the comic book, but it would be a major disservice to the fans and the crowd who were probably exhausted from the usual suspects in the superhero world. This adventurous, jungle-themed, fantastical iteration of The Phantom is unique. Imagine Adam West’s Batman but cooler and nowhere near as corny, mixed with a concoction of elements drawn from Indiana Jones, James Bond, and a stage version of Peter Pan. Adding some really fun action sequences, beautiful locales that are framed like a detailed comic strip, the inventive set designs with the biggest highlight being the Sengh Brotherhood’s pirate ship, excellent practical stunts like the bridge or boat sequences, and some simple, uncomplicated, old-school action choreography reminiscent of Robin Hood or other old swashbuckler movies, and the viewer will understand why this throwback feature is so much fun.

The 90s may have not valued this fully realized homage of a bygone era, but time will be on its side. Once the audience takes this deep dive into the production and understands the context of why certain decisions were made and why this seemingly one-dimensional style was doubled down on, you’ll see why The Phantom is such a great example of what a comic book film is supposed to be.

Behind Zane are a lot of other one-note characters that fit well into the comic strip vibe. Kristy Swanson’s plucky Diana Palmer is a cute, courageous, and amusing love interest with a look seemingly borrowed from Amelia Earhart (and is probably who Amy Adams modeled her look for in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian). Speaking of lookalikes, Treat Williams as goofy bad guy Xander Drax looks like Errol Flynn or a C-grade Cary Elwes. Williams was easily the most underwhelming part of the movie and never finds a consistent spot to stay in, evidenced especially when he spends a majority of the movie trying to convince us that he’s a ruthless businessman, only to flipflop in the third act into a goofy, unintimidating schemer after being bitched out pirates. By the time he brings the Skulls of Touganda together, his credibility was too shot for anyone to take him seriously, making the ending a foregone conclusion. In his defense, his squirming and attempts to make a deal with the Sengh Brotherhood to avoid being slain were quite funny. Had they included more elements of humor beforehand instead of trying to make him look like this wealthy terror of New York that retains a smile on his face, it may have benefitted Drax a lot more. I’m also back and forth on Kit Walker’s ghostly father dropping in from time to time. At first, it didn’t really add much other than help us understand some expositional stuff and basic Phantom lore, but I did like his trash talking to Kit in the back of the taxi while Al drove (“It’s the bottom of the ninth and you’re two skulls behind”). The explanation of how he was stabbed in the back literally by Quill was admittedly amusing (“So sue me. I’m a lousy judge of character”). Avenging his father is enough to motivate Kit along with everything else that is going on, but it did seem strange that Kit made such a big deal about his father’s replaceable gunbelt. I suppose its disrespectful for Quill to have it, but the act of revenge should have been more of the out-loud focus for Kit, which he didn’t stress nearly enough as the precious gunbelt.

This scene following the other amusing car argument between Diana and Sala was even better, like Sala just being a bitch for no reason by talking about Kit probably being dead by then, prompting Diana to comically respond, “Why are you so mean? Don’t you care about anything?”. Even Sala is confused by the retort and asks for an example. The catty Diana looks as if she didn’t expect a follow-up and just states, “You figure it out”, and they almost come to blows before Drax yells at everyone to stop. It’s so simple but really funny with the way it’s acted because both women’s reactions feel so authentic and awkward in the moment as they both try to intimidate each other. Speaking of which, Sala’s turn was unexpected but a quite an intriguing development that only added to the uniqueness of the story. Think about action movies similar to The Phantom. Usually, the female is given a female counterpart to fight while the male does the same with the male villain. It’s a tale as old as time. Having Sala decide to help Diana out in the end, and being a part of Kit’s team when they are faced with a real danger was an unforeseen decision that somewhat paid off.

As good as the movie is, some things are hard to ignore no matter what side of the coin you land on. For instance, plainclothes Kit is at one point captured and taken into the stairwell by the bad guys. Soon after, he fights them off, escapes into the Machine Room, switches into the Phantom costume, and takes the faceless bad guys out. However, before Quill escapes the Phantom’s grasp in this sequence, he sees Kit’s clothes on the ground before the costumed superhero appears. How the hell does Quill not make the connection that Kit and the Phantom are the same person in this moment? They had Kit, he escaped into a room, his clothes are on the ground, and somehow the Phantom is now here, and Quill still thinks it’s a coincidence? No matter how intelligent one is in this situation, there are way too many context clues for him not to figure it out right then and there and threaten Diana at gunpoint in the lobby of the Drax Building.

Now, it’s known that the Phantom is NOT superhuman, unbeknownst to the general public that crosses paths with him. So, it does beg the question how Kit was able to hold onto the pontoon of the seaplane all the way to the Devil’s Vortex overnight while keeping his grip and somehow avoiding freezing to death before he jumps into the water below once they reach the uncharted volcanic island destination. This is a comic book come to life after all, but this moment in particular was a bit of a stretch. It’s not like the Phantom’s costume is that well insulated. It takes place in 1938. No matter how rich he might be, that costume was not saving him under such weather conditions. Plus, he doesn’t wear gloves. Unless he has the grip strength of Popeye the Sailor Man, I just can’t suspend my disbelief in this particular instance. Also, Kabai Sengh, the leader and descendent of the first leader of the Sengh Brotherhood, is adamant that Xander Drax holds no bargaining power with him because Drax doesn’t have the fourth Skull of Touganda that Drax didn’t even know about. He tells him it controls the power of the other three, so without it, Drax has wasted his time. Did he really though? Once the skulls are finally connected in the climax, they are as powerful as Drax thought they were. He’s right that he didn’t need a fourth one! It seems strange that Kabai is more entrenched in the lore of the skulls than anyone not named the Phantom, and even apparently knows the Phantom’s secret of not being immortal, but yet he saw the skulls being useless without the fourth one, which isn’t remotely true. Granted, it’s more powerful with the fourth one, but to act like it’s a croc of shit without it is nowhere close to being true. Had the Phantom’s ring not existed, Drax could have easily made the world crumble at his feet with what he had. Kabai might be strong, but this was a moronic decision on his part. Actually, he just might be dumber than we think. When he sword fights the Phantom, he has an open shot to stab him directly because the Phantom has to fight off another pirate at the same time. Instead of acting, he stabs his own guy because it’s his fight as he explains in the moment.

Yeah, this dude is a moron.

In any event, when Drax is denied and then tries to lie to make sure the pirates don’t kill him, leading to Charlie outing him, the following cannon blast that sends Charlie flying across the cave might have been one of the funniest things I’ve seen this year. The series of scenes on the uncharted volcanic island belonging to the Sengh Brotherhood was magnificent though. It was like riding the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. The production design for these scenes alone were incredible.

Again, no one is arguing that it’s a perfect film all-around, but it’s ridiculously underrated and without a doubt has something for the whole family. There are so many awesome moments like the Phantom running across the tops of cars in traffic in a wonderful recreation of 1930s New York before he steals a police horse and rides into the Central Park Zoo, the exciting sequence where the Phantom tries to escape the elevator shaft before certain death, and his fight scene with Quill above the water while Drax tries to activate the powers of the skulls. On top of that, there are also the previously mentioned humor-infused bits that keep things light like Kit’s interactions with Al and giving him so many precious jewels as currency that Al becomes his dedicated driver while in New York, or Drax’s presentation detailing the supernatural evil of the Skulls of Touganda and how it could produce a force more powerful than any army on Earth. It’s funny as hell because it involves these stereotypical 1930s gangsters and how they don’t understand the bigger picture, leading to one of them in Ray Zephro walking out because he’s still a practicing Catholic. As a result, Drax launches a spear into his back. Despite the violent action though, it’s presented in a pulpy, comic book, non-threatening way to show off why cinema’s newest over-the-top antagonist needs to be stopped. Again, there’s a lot of fun to be had. The pivotal scene at the Museum of World History not only did a great job at showing how serious the premise is for the usually calm and collected Kit, as he felt the need to throw a stanchion through the glass to get the second skull as soon as humanly possible, but it also gives us the first glimpse into the power the skulls hold once Drax’s bag starts smoking up since the two are placed next to each other. As the plate glass windows shatter all over the museum and precious blue and red stone eyes point lasers to a location on a nearby map, it becomes less of a MacGuffin and more of a world-ending object that makes the Phantom’s plight much more substantial than it initially felt. When CGI is finally used for the lone sequence where the Skulls of Touganda come together, it’s a big moment.

The Phantom represents its era well and emulates the pulp magazine heroes of its time to an impressive degree. It may be a superhero movie lost to time and didn’t achieve nearly the success of more well-known franchises, but Billy Zane as the cave-dwelling, Skull Ring-wearing, masked, purple-suited action hero breathes life into a dormant multimedia franchise that should be recognized for the entertaining feature it truly is.

Fun Fact: Sergio Leone expressed interest in directing a film adaptation in The Phantom first. Apparently, he worked on a script and did some location scouting, but it never materialized. Also, Billy Zane beat out Bruce Campbell for the lead.

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