Year of Release: 1994
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Starring: Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Anne Miller, Ian McKellen, Tim Curry, Peter Boyle, Jonathan Winters, Sab Shimono, Andre Gregory, James Hong
Genre: Action, Adventure
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
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Synopsis and Review:
The early 90s saw the revival of classic comic book characters, following the success of Tim Burton's "Batman". Disney had its attempts with the visually gorgeous "Dick Tracy", starring and directed by Warren Beatty, followed by Joe Johnston's "Rocketeer", both of which were met with different critical accolades and commercial success. Universal decided to tackle "The Shadow", a character which was a success on radio serials in the 1930s and also on its own magazine up until 1949. The film focuses on Lamont Cranston, who we first witness as a drug baron in Tibet. After being kidnapped, he comes face to face with a holy man, possessed of special powers, who offers him a chance at redemption. He learns much of his skills, including altering people's perception and even hypnotizing them. He returns to New York City, and starts battling crime under the guise of The Shadow. He has a network of aides, all of whom are comprised of people he has saved in the past. His biggest threat, and to the city itself, comes in the shape of Shiwan Khan, a former protégé of Lamont's guru, who is intent on seizing power and obliterating all on his path. Khan's plan is to use the works of Dr. Lane, who coincidentally has a daughter with special perception powers of her own, Margo. Lamont will have to rely on all his strength and his network's ingenuity in order to overcome this herculean foe.
"The Shadow", much like Paramount Pictures's "The Phantom" which came out in 1996, were both met with some indifference. Partially because they're both characters that have less resonance than Bob Kane's Batman, a character that has been part of the lexicon of comic books since it was created, and which has been reinvented so many times throughout the decades. Russell Mulcahy, the Australian director who made a name for himself directing music videos in the 80s, and had considerable success with "Highlander", was coming from "The Real McCoy", a film that didn't fare so well. The biggest issue with "The Shadow", is the uncertainty of tone that pervades its entire narrative. Whereas Tim Burton with his "Batman" series for instance, never really dated it or established a specific timeline, but definitely reinforced its dark tone, Russell Mulcahy clearly identifies the action of the narrative as the 1930s/1940s, whereas the tone is borderline campy at times. This lack of a more consistent point of view ends up being the downfall of the film. It's not dark enough to make its hero a tortured soul, and it's not campy enough to be a lighthearted and retro-aspiring comedy/adventure. The film does manage to have an excellent cast, who sadly don't have much to do, including the always fantastic Ian McKellen, John Lone, Peter Boyle, Jonathan Winters and Tim Curry (who hams it up quite a bit). Alec Baldwin tries to do the best he can with this character, but both the lack of depth and edge to the character itself, fail him, the same going for Penelope Anne Miller's Margo. The film does benefit from Stephen H. Burum's wonderful cinematography, Jerry Goldsmith's score, not to mention Joseph C. Nemec III's gorgeous production design, but the visual effects are rough, and don't really make the events of the narrative soar. Unlike Warren Beatty's uneven but still superlative pop art endeavor which was "Dick Tracy", "The Shadow" fails to materialize much interest. A missed opportunity.
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