The Shadow (1994)

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nTitle: The Shadow (1994)

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nDirector: Russell Mulcahy

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nCast: Alec Baldwin, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Boyle, IannMcKellen, Tim Curry, James Hong

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nThe Shadow came out during the 90’s, at a time when Hollywoodnwas producing comic book movies trying to duplicate the success that WarnernBros. had with Tim Burton’s Batman (1989). I guess its part of what you’d callnthe 90’s comic book movie revival? So anyhow’s Hollywood’s idea of making ansuccessful comic book movie at that time was reviving the oldest comic booknheroes; the tried and true characters from the golden days. I guess they thoughtnthese old characters would still be in the public’s collective mind, but boynwhere they wrong. While The Shadow is a character with lots of background andnhistory, it is a hero that comes out of the 30’s; out of the depression era andnwell, that was a long time ago. People don’t want old heroes like The Phantomnor The Shadow, they want contemporary heroes like The X-Men and Spiderman. Andnso, films like The Phantom (1995) and The Shadow didn’t exactly grow legs atnthe box office when they were released. The Rocketeer (1991) also failednbecause it was also a period comic book film that took place during the 30’s.nSo apparently, any comic book film that takes place in the old days is doomednto failure. But if you ask me, The Shadow didn’t deserve to fail at all, it’s anvery fun film, a well produced comic book adaptation that is quite faithful tonits source material. The Shadow you knew from the comics, novels and the radionshows is The Shadow you get on this film.

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nThe Shadow tells the story of ‘Ying-Ko’ a ruthless opiumndealer from Malaysia who is suddenly abducted by these monks, not sure if theynare Tibetan or not so don’t ask. But they do have this cool looking temple innthe shape of a Snake! So anyways, the leader of these monks is a holy man knownnas ‘The Tulku’ and he tells Ying-Ko that he will be given a chance to redeemnhimself. He will live amongst the monks for seven years and learn to “cloudnmans minds”. Fast forward seven years and now Ying-Ko is living in New YorknCity, is reformed and calls himself by his real name, Lamont Cranston. Duringnthe day, he is a wealthy “man about town” but at night, he roams the citynstreets using his new acquired powers to fight crime and protect the innocent.nHe is “The Shadow”, a mysterious figure that has the ability to make himselfninvisible to others, and hypnotize evil doers. What evil lurks in the hearts ofnman? The Shadow knows!  

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nSo in my book, this is an excellent movie that didn’t deservento fail at all. In fact, out of the these three old timey comic book movies ofnthe 90’s, The Shadow is the one I like the most. The production values wherenhigh on this one, it had a lot of style, a lot of class and to top things offnan amazing cast! I think it’s sad that modern audiences just can’t connect withna period comic book film. I guess this proves that it’s true, the grandnmajority of movie going audiences are young kids who don’t really care fornanything remotely related to the past. The most recent example I can think ofnright now is The Lone Ranger (2013), a film with huge production values (aboventhe 200 million dollar mark), a good director, a huge star and great visualneffects. Unfortunately it is also a cowboy movie and kids just don’t connectnwith those anymore either, so I guess, the lesson to Hollywood is, if you wantnto make a movie that takes place in the old days, you better either make it hipnand cool (for example The Great Gatsby (2013)) or make it an indie with a lownbudget, for the art house crowd because if you don’t, you risk having a turkeynand loosing your precious millions. My cry out to modern audiences is, give thesentypes of movies a chance because you just might be missing out on a good movie!nCase in point: The Shadow.

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nWhat I love about The Shadow is the character itself, thenwhole set up behind him, the premise. The character looks so cool with hisnblack hat and trench coat, with his twin guns! The red scarf, the mysteriousneyes, it’s a great visual in my book. But back in the 30’s, fans of The Shadowncould only imagine him, you have to remember, this is a character that comesnout of an era when people heard radio shows! Back in the 30’s comic book moviesndidn’t multiply like rabbits the way they do today, in fact, comic book supernheroes hadn’t made the leap to the silver screen yet, that wouldn’t happennuntil The Adventures of Captain Marvel debuted in 1941, yes my friends, CaptainnMarvel (a.k.a. Shazam!) was the first super hero to get his very own featurenfilm! So until that day would come along, all comic book fans had during the 30’snwere radio shows. They’d have to snuggle up next to their radios and hear theirncomic book heroes fight crime! Comic book fans had to imagine everything backnin those days, which is quite cool when you think about it! I remember when ThenShadow hit theaters back in ’94, they re-issued a couple of these old radionshows and I bought a couple of them because I wanted to experience what it wasnlike to listen and imagine these old Shadow stories. I can’t tell you how muchnfun I had listening to these old radio shows! I remember one of the stories wasncalled “The Man Who Wasn’t There”. There was this aura of mystery to these oldnradio shows that was just awesome, they were very atmospheric, very spooky. Andnthis is something that this film effectively translated to the silver screen.

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nOn this film The Shadow inhabits a dark, seedy New York Citynfilled with art deco buildings and big band dance clubs. Russell Mulcahy, this film’sndirector, turned The Shadow into a nourish event, a film noir in every sense ofnthe word. What’s film noir you ask? Well, these are films that usually takenplace in urban settings (a city), at night and crime, sex and violence usuallynfigure into the story one way or another. The wind is always blowing in thencity streets; the lighting on these films is purposely dark, thunder isnclapping, there’s always an aura of mystery to these films, and I just love thenhell out of all that ambiance, that atmosphere. So The Shadow brings all that mysticalnmystery from old film noir back to the silver screen. Keeping in line with onenof the requirements of a film noir, the hero is doomed somehow, he has a darknside, and The Shadow most certainly has that in spades. The Shadow knows whatnevil lurks in the hearts of man because he himself has to keep that evil sidenof him under control, he was once ruthless, once cold, he has a constant battlenwith his inner demons. One wonderfully awesome dream sequence has LamontnCranston actually ripping his face off and revealing the villains facenunderneath! So we got a character that’s tormented by his dark past, constantlyntrying to forgive himself, redeem himself. Speaking of The Shadow himself, whatna wonderfully spot on casting decision it was to put Alec Baldwin in this role!nThis was before he went into the “Fat Elvis” stage he is now. Back in ’94 AlecnBaldwin still had some of those dashing good looks to him, plus that voice isnperfect for The Shadow.

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nThe rest of the cast is equally great. I don’t know whatnhappened to Penelope Anne Miller, but man, I wish she was still around makingnmovies. She looks amazing playing Margo Lane. She wears these silky dressesnthat look amazing on her, especially in dream sequences! The best part aboutnMargo Lane is that she’s is never, for one second portrayed as a helplessndamsel in distress. In fact, if we get down to it she plays an important partnin saving the day, I liked that about this movie. The damsel actually becomesnsomething of a threat to The Shadow! Then we have the great Tim Curry playing anmad scientist and Ian McKellen playing a goofy one. John Lone plays Shiwan Kan,nthe last living descendent of Genghis Kan! The villain in this film has thentraditional villainous desire to “conquer the world” by destroying it first; whichnbrings to mind that the film isn’t all that original in terms of story. But sonwhat, this movie is more about the look and feel then the brains behind it.nThere’s tons of style and atmosphere here, not to mention fun. The film wasnwritten by David Koep and I have to admit, his dialog was interesting, funny, itnkept me entertained. Koep wisely keeps things light by spreading jokes in thendialog to liven things up, so be alert for a lot of word play.  There’s this hilarious scene where hero andnvillain are discussing the fate of the world and suddenly it turns into this: “Lovelyntie, by the way. May I ask where you acquired it?” “Brooks Brothers” “Is thatnMid-town?” “45^th and Madison; you are a Barbarian.” “Thank You!” Sonyou should have fun with the script which is very witty and clever.

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nRussell Mulcahy brings a visual flare to the film by adding lotsnof interesting camera angles and gimmicks to keep things visually interesting,nthe production has a lush quality to it as well. I think he was an excellentnchoice to direct this film. For example, Russell’s visual trickery involvesnscenes like this inspired moment in which we follow a canister with a messagenin it as the canister travels through a series of funnels, spread out throughnthe city…awesome sequence! Speaking of visually interesting directors, SamnRaimi expressed interest at one point to direct yet another Shadow film, innfact he stated that he owns the rights to the character, unfortunately, thenlast he said on that subject was that a good script had not been produced yet,nand so, as far as I know, that idea has been shelved. Maybe one day, a hipnyoung director will find a way to make a Shadow film that can connect with modernnaudiences by somehow bringing The Shadow into the modern age. But if you ask me,nI like The Shadow just the way he was portrayed on this film, living in the 30’snNew York City, going to dance clubs, moving around in taxi cabs, romancing thenladies. The Shadow works best in that era, working the dark, seedy citynstreets, hiding in the shadows, cackling away at the bad guys from thennothingness…around every corner, in every empty room, as inevitable as yournguilty conscience.

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nRating:  4 ½ out of 5 

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