The Shadow

The Shadow (1994)

Runtime: 108 minutes

Directed by: Russell Mulcahy

Starring: A rather nice cast

From: Universal

In this special early Monday posting of a review, another recommendation was viewed by me. I’ll return to Spooky Season next time but yesterday a Letterboxd mutual left a comment on my (brief) review of Batman Begins and noted that the plot to this film is rather similar than that. I don’t care for Batman Begins but I’d have to view the entire Nolan Trilogy again to explain in better detail why if it wasn’t for Heath Ledger, all three films likely wouldn’t be rated highly by me… I’d just rather not invest all that time to do so, at least not anytime soon.

Regardless, The Shadow I remember at the time as a movie which didn’t do well at the box office but later was reappraised and found more love. Of course, in ’94 I was not familiar with the pulp character created in the 1930’s. Incidentally, as an adult I’ve played The Shadow pinball table at special gaming events where diehard fans can bring their own tables. The backglass image of Alec Baldwin—to be honest, it looks more like William Baldwin! Ironically, The Shadow in disguise does resemble William, although that image was of Lamont Cranston instead of his alter ego.

You know, the backstory to Cranston IS rather similar to Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins: a rich playboy learns mystical secrets from an ethnic character and becomes a crimefighter superhero in disguise. Here, a key difference is that Cranston was a vile villain-with an astounding head of hair-before he was reformed and uses his mind control to combat “the underworld.” Suddenly, John Lone shows up as a descendant of Genghis Khan with the same abilities so that’s enough motivation for him to take over the world. Meanwhile, Penelope Ann Miller is a dame who has the powers of telepathy.

The motivations of Khan & his plan of world domination—it doesn’t matter in this case how complicated or not it is. Rather, it’s the many attributes this has: the sweet score from Jerry Goldsmith that had “contributions” from Jellybean Benitez, of all people… the cast which has everyone from Penelope Ann Miller, Jonathan Winters and Peter Boyle to Tim Curry, Ian McKellan, and some famous faces that appear briefly—the 1930’s setting/vibe, and the awesome old-school tricks that brought the setting to life, from the matte paintings to the miniatures; the nascent CG hasn’t aged so well but it’s 30 years ago and didn’t appear often. Otherwise, it’s a marvel of production design.

Most 21st century superhero movies aren’t for me; give me pulp adventures like this that aren’t convoluted yet still are interesting with a flawed hero, competent villains (sometimes, even henchmen), female love interests that aren’t just damsels in distress but aren’t infuriating “girlbosses” either, a movie that is lit well despite the preponderance of night scenes—it does make me nostalgic for an era long-gone in modern movie-making.

Another nice recommendation, in other words.