ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 1996 TAG: 9606090025
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO =IO BILLY ZANE HAS
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
It's a tough legacy: to wear a purple unitard and goofy purple aviator cap - in all kinds of weather - in the fight against piracy, cruelty and injustice. Just like Dad. And Grandpa. And Great-Grandpa.
You'd think that at some point someone would have rebelled, just up and refused to put that stupid outfit on. It's hot, it shrinks in jungle rivers and it makes the wearer stand out on Wall Street.
But that's the unfashionable burden of being born "The Ghost Who Walks," aka "The Phantom," who just made the leap from the comic book pages to the big screen in a new movie, starring hunka-hunka burnin' biceps Billy Zane. (Nice house; nobody home.)
Maybe it's the jungle backdrop that makes you just want to hoot when The Phantom first crashes through the undergrowth astride a white horse, trusted wolf at his side, in pursuit of some bad guys who are in pursuit of a golden skull.
The bad guys, headed by a creep named Quill (James Remar), are supposed to be out of their element, right? But they're attired a la Indiana Jones and equipped with the right attitude for stealing precious, powerful artifacts. Quill's greed runs so deep, it's as if his lust for wealth has swallowed up every other human feeling.
Zane's Phantom, on the other hand, is so darn happy-go-lucky, he seems shallow. He smiles at just about everything. Like when his girlfriend, Diana (Kristy Swanson), hits a bad guy below the belt with one well-placed elbow. (What? No masculine empathy?)
Or when Devil's Island blows up with lots of live human beings inside. (I guess you'd have to have a sense of humor if you were forced to run around in a purple suit for an entire lifetime.)
So what is the source of The Phantom's insouciance? He's not immortal. He supposedly cares about the fate of humanity. Could it be Zane and director Simon Wincer thought, "This is a comic book; it's OK if we lack depth"?
If so, they made a mistake, especially with modern audiences accustomed to the likes of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones or Michael Keaton's Batman, who combine near-invincibility with something like passion. Or fury.
Yes, I know, The Phantom predates all of them. And certainly Phantom enthusiasts in particular and comic book fans in general may like this movie well enough. It's got a snappy pace and an annoyingly bigger-than-life villain in Treat Williams' Xander Drax. He gets all of the best lines in the movies or, at least, knows what to do with them.
Little boys - and some of them may be in their early 20s - won't find much to object to what's not here. 'Cause lots of stuff blows up. And the violence is mostly lots of punching. (The Phantom only uses his guns to shoot weapons out of other people's hands.)
Other folks might hunger for a little more from their superhero adventure movies, something a little sharper than Zane's toothy grin.
The Phantom
** 1/2
Rated PG for some violence and scary situations, a Paramount Pictures release showing at Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Cinema, running time 110 minutes.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines KEYWORDS: MOVIE REVIEWby CNB