THE PHANTOM (1996)

An exciting moment from The Phantom

Lee Falk's comic strip

THE PHANTOM (1996). Director: Simon Wincer.

The Phantom, whose real identity is Kit Walker (Billy Zane), is the 21st in a long line of masked and costumed white heroes in the African island nation of Bengalla. Now that his father (Patrick McGoohan) has been murdered, Walker has taken on the mantle, which means he must temporarily walk out of the life of his lady love, Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson) -- until she is kidnapped. The Phantom's main adversary is Xander Drax (Treat Williams), who employs a beautiful mercenary and pilot named Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who in turn leads a whole gang of lady pilots. In addition to Drax, and his nasty  henchman Quill (James Remar of Blink), the Phantom must also contend with Kabai Sengh (Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa), who runs an infamous and long-lived Brotherhood that operates out of an elaborate hideout in a cave on a mysterious island. Both Drax and Sengh are after three metallic skulls which will create a tremendous energy force when joined together, but both men need to be careful what they wish for ... The Phantom is based on Lee Falk's long-running comic strip (still published today), and is a highly entertaining and well-produced adventure film, although some of the plot points -- especially those concerning the skulls -- are over-familiar and never quite work. But there are some outstanding and thrilling action scenes in the movie, especially one in which The Phantom tries to save the life of plucky little Zak (Chatpong "Jim" Petchlor) as they dangle from a rope bridge that is falling to pieces after the heavy truck they are riding in crashes through it -- this is as good as anything in any classic cliffhanger. Billy Zane is fine as the Phantom, while Treat Williams [Deep Rising] tries to play in a jaunty style that doesn't really work that well, although Zeta-Jones scores as the sexy good girl/bad girl, Sala. Kristy Swanson [Deadly Friend] is pretty and competent but makes much less of an impression in this; she's primarily a television actress. Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner only appears as a ghost.

I originally saw this movie in theaters and pretty much forgot about it, although it is certainly a worthwhile picture, with striking settings (from Africa to Manhattan to the Bermuda Triangle), a rich score by David Newman, and superb cinematography by David Burr. Perhaps my ho-hum reaction at the time was due to my comparative disinterest in the main character, and the fact that the plot could have used a little work. Still, this is a notable comic strip movie, well-directed by Simon Wincer.

Verdict: Believe it or not, this is better than the cliffhanger serial, The Phantom, ***. 

DEEP RISING

The monster tries to make a treat out of Treat Williams

DEEP RISING (1998). Writer/director: Stephen Sommers.

John Finnegan (Treat Williams) and his crew have been hired to take a group of men out to an unknown spot in the South Pacific. What Finnegan doesn't know is that they are heading for the huge cruise ship, the Argonautica, to loot it on its maiden voyage. But when these pirates arrive, they find that hardly anyone is left alive on the ship, discovering mostly bloody skeletons. Apparently a gargantuan, voracious sea creature with a zillion tentacles (with maws on the end of them) has devoured just about everyone -- hundreds of passengers -- and now wants to make dessert out of the pirates; Finnegan and his crew; a pretty thief named Trillian (Famke Janssen), who was locked in the hold; and the duplicitous, slimy owner Simon Canton (Anthony Heald), who wanted to blow up the ship for the insurance. Deep Rising has some excellent and very gruesome special effects, but its tone is too flippant by half, at times turning it into more of a black comedy than a horror film and dissipating the considerable tension. However, the movie is generally fast-paced, slick, creepy and exciting -- more of an action-disaster-creature flick than a horror film -- and features a highly dangerous and rather engaging monster. One scene wherein the survivors discover an abattoir filled with skeletons is especially macabre. Williams [Prince of the City] strikes the right note; Jannsen is competent; Heald is way over the top. Jason Flemyng makes an impression as Mulligan, the handsomest of the pirates; and Kevin J. O'Connor, despite how irritating this actor can be in certain roles (including this one), is good and strangely appealing as Finnegan's engineer, Joey. The few moments of humanism don't quite come off in a movie this callous. The ending left room for a sequel that never materialized. Sommers also wrote and directed the dreadful -- and dreadfully campy -- Van Helsing.

Verdict: Well, it's not It Came from Beneath the Sea, but what is? *** out of 4.

DEADFALL

Hunnam, Wilde, Bana and Kristofferson

DEADFALL (2012). Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky.

Addison (Eric Bana) and sister Liza (Olivia Wilde) have participated in the robbery of a casino and are on the run during a blizzard. When they decide to split up and meet later, Liza encounters an ex-boxer/jailbird named Jay (Charlie Hunnam), who is also on the run from police. Jay takes Liza home to his parents' place, where Addison shows up to reconnect with Liza -- and finds a whole family of hostages. But will the sheriff's daughter, Hannah (Kate Mara), manage to save the day?  Bana, Wilde, Hunnam and Mara [House of Cards] all give very good performances in this and there's an interesting supporting cast, with Treat Williams as the sheriff, and Kris Kristofferson [Blade] and Sissy Spacek [Carrie] as Jay's parents. The movie has a kind of old-fashioned script with abrupt character reversals but also a certain degree of suspense. Bana makes a dynamic lead.

Verdict: Passable crime drama. **1/2.

HAIR

HAIR (1979). Director: Milos Forman.

By the time this film version of the sixties "hippie" musical was released in 1979 it was already dated, and today it comes off less as a document of its time than as mind-numbing rot. A storyline was fashioned in which Claude (John Savage), a farm boy heading for Vietnam, runs into the hairy crew in Manhattan and becomes involved in their pretty stupid adventures, such as crashing a wedding reception and turning up on an Army base. The production numbers aren't very impressive and while some of the songs are snappy, only one -- "Easy to Be Hard" -- is really memorable. Sung with real panache by a young woman (Cheryl Barnes) who discovers that the father of her little boy may have made somebody else pregnant, the song not only looks at the underside of free love but deals with the interesting fact that there are people who care more about strangers -- the "bleeding" masses -- than they do about the people in their lives that they may have hurt. Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo, and Nell Carter are some of the others in the cast. Based on the musical by Gerome Ragni and James Rado.

Verdict: Forgettable but for the "Easy to be Hard" number. *1/2.

PRINCE OF THE CITY

PRINCE OF THE CITY (1981). Director: Sydney Lumet.

Detective Daniel Ciello cooperates with internal affairs to expose corruption in the department, as long as he doesn't have to snitch on his friends -- which is easier said than done. Although Treat Williams gives a solid performance as Ciello, and there are other good performances (from Jerry Orbach and others) this is an overlong, disappointing true crime drama that holds the attention in a minor way but never quite hits the dramatic high notes. There are way too many characters, and Ciello's reasons for contacting internal affairs (after they first contacted him) are never clearly delineated. After awhile you get a little bored with the same theme being played over and over -- the prosecutors warn Ciello not to perjure himself; Ciello gets angry that they expect too much of him etc. etc. This goes on for nearly three hours. The best that can be said for Lumet's direction is that it's unobtrusive.

Verdict: Worth a look if you've got three hours to kill. **1/2.