Before the debut of the MCU and DC Studios’ new DC Universe, Billy Zane of Titanic and Zoolander fame starred in a big-budget live-action adaptation of the world’s first costumed comic strip superhero, The Phantom. Based on the iconic comic strip of the same name, The Phantom stands out as a fun and very underrated action-adventure story, evoking the style of fan-favorite action movies like The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser, or Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones. It’s time to unpack this underrated comic book superhero epic.
‘The Phantom’ Updates Classic Cinema Tropes
Created by Lee Falk, The Phantom comic strip debuted in 1936. The titular character is widely recognized as the first costumed superhero depicted in a comic format, predating the likes of Superman, who first appeared in Action Comics #1 in 1938, and Batman, who debuted in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. The Phantom had various adaptations over the years, including a version of the character who appeared in the 1980s animated series Defenders of the Earth, where he teamed up with the likes of Flash Gordon and Mandrake the Magician. Then, the character made his feature-length theatrical debut in a live-action movie from Paramount Pictures.
The Phantom stars Billy Zane as the titular Phantom, alias Kit Walker. In the film as in Falk’s comic strip, the title of The Phantom, aka the Ghost Who Walks, passes down from father to son. Zane’s Kit is the latest hero to take up the mantle in a generational line of crime fighters, after his father was murdered by the criminal Quill (James Remar). Although The Phantom is a costumed hero, the movie plays much more like a swashbuckling action-adventure tale of yore. It channels the energy of action serials that dominated the cinemas of the 40s and 50s, which George Lucas and Steven Spielberg famously updated with their Indiana Jones movies.
‘The Phantom’ Delivers Cheesy Fun With Great Production Values
The Phantom delivers an entertaining cinematic experience, with charming lead actors and great pacing, plus fantastic practical effects and stunt work for the amazing action set pieces. The movie even utilized authentic trained wolves to portray The Phantom’s lupine companion, Devil. The Phantom also features bleeding-edge-for-the-time CG visual effects, as they were still fairly new and all the rage in the mid-1990s; in that era, various studio blockbusters attempted to lure moviegoers with their cutting-edge and state-of-the-art CG visual effects. The Phantom’s CG visuals haven’t aged as well as the rest of the movie, but they were part and parcel of the time period.
The movie also features a memorable cast; in addition to Zane as Kit Walker/The Phantom, there’s Kristy Swanson as his love interest, the fiercely courageous Diane Palmer, who proves she’s more than a mere damsel in distress. Catherine Zeta-Jones co-stars in one of her more prominent earlier movie roles as the villainess Sala, who leads an all-female team of pilots called the Sky Bandits. And, of course, there’s the late, great Treat Williams as the incomparable Xander Drax, who gleefully chews the scenery with aplomb. There’s an undeniable campy, cheesy style to the movie’s visuals and dialogue, but that’s part of its charm. Director Simon Wincer embraces those old cinematic tropes and visual motifs, while slightly updating and tweaking them, and the actors lean into them, making for a highly entertaining, colorful thrill ride. The globe-trotting plot enhances the experience, as the movie is filled with gorgeous exotic and tropical locales.
‘The Phantom’ Has Aged Incredibly Well
Although The Phantom was not a huge critical or commercial success when it was originally released 30 years ago, the movie has aged remarkably well. It’s a motion picture that does not achieve the heights of later comic book superhero cinema such as X-Men, Spider-Man, the MCU saga, or The Dark Knight, nor did it push the envelope with its presentation. However, The Phantom provides a remarkably solid, exciting, and cinematic throwback adventure with a dashing hero, a compelling romance, a conniving villain you love to hate, and amazing production values. It’s a movie that embraces old-school cinema and makes you feel good about watching movies.
