The Phantom TV miniseries, now on DVD, is loaded with cheesy pop songs, lots of goofy, over the top visual effects which augment already dizzying cinematography, and a cast of thousands… OK, maybe we're not talking D.W. Griffith-level thousands, but there are an awful lot of superfluous characters in this bloated sci-fi spectacle. And all that is introduced within just in the first few minutes!
However, if you can get past the initial barrage, The Phantom is a decent adaptation of the lesser-known comic (it's a very weird, bizarre one, though! I'm surprised it's not more popular. Check out the wiki page for the whole background ) which has been brought to the screen before (most successfully in 1996 with Billy Zane in the title role) but was definitely due for an update. The biggest challenge, according to director Paolo Barzman, was how to take The Phantom's trademark bright purple, skintight superhero leotard and make it look cool to today's icon-obsessed audience (there's a whole lot in the DVD extras about this costuming conundrum, and it's pretty amusing).
The actor who gets to don the plum panoply is Ryan Carnes, who plays The Phantom in all three of his guises. We meet him first as law student Chris Moore, a carefree urban daredevil / parkour fanatic whose physical prowess seems beyond ordinary human endurance — his shenanigans attract the attention of a secret organization called Singh Brotherhood. Once in the fold, Chris (now given his real name, Kit Walker) is told he's actually the son of a legendary crime-fighter and he's inherited the title of The Phantom… and so begin his adventures fighting the evils of the world. Exotic locations rife with pirates, ghosts, maniacal masterminds, secret sects, and even a touch of romance follow.
Since The Phantom was a miniseries (and hopeful regular series for the SyFy Channel, but not picked up after all), there are some slow TV-style pacing issues and some rather cutesy one-liners. Best comparison I can make is to the cancelled NBC series reboot of Knight Rider (or maybe it's just the Kit/KITT connection!), which means it's fun but ultimately fallow. The Phantom is a decent timewaster if you like superhero stories; Carnes is quite likable, and it's always a pleasure to watch Rossellini strut her stuff.
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