The Shadow

[1994]

Directed by Russell Mulcahy | Featuring Alec Baldwin, Ian McKellen, Tim Curry, Jonathan Winters | Written by David Koepp & Walter B. Gibson

Wood pulp is a cheap and abundant material often used for inexpensive newspapers and magazines. In the 1920’s and 1930’s especially, cheap fiction magazines, often featuring exploitative and sensationalized covers and storylines, dominated the literature market. Often printed on this cheap material, these ‘pulp fictions’ would sometimes sell as much as a million copies per issue! From them arose many characters and storytelling concepts that have since crept into the mainstream – or at least inspired dozens of other characters, works of fiction, and even entire genres.

And, as a genre, pulp was back in the 1990’s!

The success of Tim Burton’s Batman film in 1989, with its noir stylings, fantastical mystery, and present day/1930’s meshed setting – inspired a plethora of copycats in the coming half decade.

First, the following year, there was CBS’s The Flash; an adaptation of the DC comic book character – done in a similar style to that of Burton’s Gotham City.

Next was Disney’s The Rocketeer in 1991; taking a relatively recent character (The Rocketeer first appeared in 1982, although always a period piece) but following suit while going even further – making a full on, dated pulp superhero adventure.

1996 saw the release of The Phantom produced by Paramount Pictures. It’s a film I’ve already reviewed; and another period hero flick.

All of them were in one way or another financially unsuccessful. The Rocketeer was able to make back its budget, although not enough for the studio to deem it a profit. And, aside from the Burton/Schumacher Batman films, none really found any level of success until gaining cult followings over a decade later.

Aside from Batman, though, 1994’s The Shadow arguably came the closest to success in its theatrical run. Released between two massive summer hits, The Lion King and The Mask, the film maintained a #2 spot at the box office for a time. Very impressive. However, mostly due to the film’s larger budget, it didn’t rake in enough box office to really redeem itself either. And thus, outside of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (moreso an homage to the violent and vulgar content that followed pulp magazines than an outright love letter to the originals) the pulp film genre burnt out before it even really began.

The Shadow is a little unique in the Batman follow up trilogy (The Rocketeer, The Shadow, The Phantom) in that it has the largest all-star ensemble of the three. While The Rocketeer did have Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton (fresh off of James Bond), and the not yet famous Terry O’Quinn (of TV’s, Lost, fame), The Shadow has Peter Boyle, Ian McKellen, Tim Curry, Jonathan Winters, James Hong, and Alec Baldwin in the starring role! Maybe that’s where a bit of the budget went?

On the acting front; all do a marvelous job. Alec Baldwin, in particular, plays the young socialite just as well as he plays the eerie, laughing titular vigilante. Not unlike Michael Keaton’s performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman – but not quite as unique.

Tim Curry is as perfectly over-the-top as he always is. Ian McKellen, although taking a bit of a backseat roll in this film, does a good job as well. Jonathan Winters was a delight to see – although in such a straight played role did seem a bit miscast. Not that he did a bad job or anything – I just would have liked to have seen him be given freer reign to showcase his comedic chops.

Penelope Ann Miller is a fantastic romantic lead and Peter Boyle is perfectly hilarious – while also delightfully subdued when necessary. Again, great acting all around.

Unlike The Phantom, The Shadow faces a more convincing threat in John Lone’s Shiwan Khan – a descendant of Genghis Khan. Although the enlarged eye design for his hypnotic trance face is a bit on the silly side rather than intimidating. The performance and stakes, though, make up for it… Mostly.

Unlike The Phantom, I actually knew a little bit about the Shadow character beforehand. Although, again, I’m no expert – nor die-hard fan. However, going just off of the information presented in the film, some things are a little brushed over or ignored all together that make the viewing experience a little hard to follow for someone not already familiar with the character, motivations, and setting.

Taking inspiration from the classic radio program over the original novels, The Shadow is a unique take on a superhero film. It feels tonally somewhere between Batman ’89 and The Phantom – and tends towards a few missteps of the latter, whilst only briefly matching the spectacle of the former.

The film starts in Tibet, with Yin-Ko, a dark underground warlord, introduced as he coldly orders two men’s executions. This character is actually Lamont Cranston under an assumed name – at this point in his life a criminal and drug dealer. He is taken in and redeemed by Tulku, a mistic, who… I don’t know, ‘teaches him the ways’ or something. It’s kind of glossed over – which, I guess kept the film from dragging, but for an origin movie is a little odd.

When the story next picks up we’re seven years in the future and in New York City. Cranston has returned, and we get to see him save a man’s life as The Shadow. It’s actually a pretty cool sequence and, while not on the level of the ‘I’m Batman’ reveal, is still a nice, gothic introduction with a stellar (if a little obviously small) setting, moody lighting, and great musical underscoring.

Throughout the film we learn that Lamont is telepathic – and it’s implied that he uses this power as The Shadow to hypnotize others and even ‘cloud their minds’ so he can hide in plain sight. A lot of this is only implied, which makes some parts of the film a bit confusing. But it’s not necessarily hard to follow. Only, I wish the explanations and implications were sometimes revealed a little sooner for the audience’s sake.

Shiwan Khan’s plan is to use a strange and rare metal to forge the world’s first implosive explosive device – an atomic bomb. This was a tad bit removing as, while modern audiences would know of the force and devastation of such bombs, pre-WWII Americans and scientists would not have. And to see some ‘average joe’ looking scientists develop something it took a team of the world’s greatest minds and even Albert Einstein to develop was a little far fetched – but not completely unbelievable.

Perhaps the greatest aspect of this film is its visual style – if at times a bit over-budgeted. The extensive miniature and painted canvas shots are something to behold, and the visual effects all hold up really well – even the brief CGI. This film oozes film noir, and it really benefits the whole piece.

Musically, the film’s excellent too. While a bit better than The Phantom, it’s still nowhere near as recognizable as The Rocketeer’s motifs or the Batman score – both of which are some of the greatest in film history. Jerry Goldsmith does a perfectly serviceable job, and while I would have preferred the period piece to have refrained from synthesizer accents – it’s mostly forgivable. Even adds a really nice tonal texture that makes listening out of context of the film really fun.

Overall, the film was an enjoyable experience. Although a bit more action subdued than The Phantom (at least until the climax) The Shadow is still a marching romp – excellently photographed and brilliantly made. The nods to Orson Welles are a nice throwback TOO – as Welles originally voiced the Phantom character on radio way back when. The split diopter shots, while not as hidden and seamless as in Citizen Kane, does sort of lend a charm to the film visually.

Perhaps the film’s greatest flaw is its budget – which, if not as large, would have pushed the filmmakers to creatively meet more challenges and perhaps recoup a larger ‘in the black’ gross in the long run – opening the door for sequels.

Overall, I’d give the film 3 and a half stars. While I’ve rated it higher than The Phantom, I find the two films sit very similarly in my mind. And while I think The Shadow is the better made film, they both were equally enjoyable. Although The Shadow has much better pacing and momentum, while I found the Phantom to be a much more interesting character. If superhero films nowadays were made more akin to these – I’d be in the theaters for every release.

If you’ve never seen it; give it a try. I’d recommend reading a bit up on the original character first, but otherwise, it’s a nice introduction into what could have been a fantastic film series.

Decent movie. Excellent cast. Very enjoyable.