The Phantom: Critic Reviews

As the Phantom, Billy Zane, buff to the max, has a likable insouciance, but there's not much he can do to flesh out this relic.

The pleasures are familiar, but not the least bit inspired.

The Phantom is one of the best-looking movies in any genre Ihave ever seen.

If Treat Williams were the Phantom and Billy Zane the capitalist villain would any significant nuances be lost?

While it hardly stands to vanquish the celluloid incarnations of Superman and Batman, this version of an older cartoon crusader's exploits does have a pleasingly astute sense of its place in the great scheme of things pulp.

This is the kind of movie that offers modest entertainment while you're in the theater, but is forgotten by the time you get home.

Expect this ghost of bad movies past to walk quickly to the back bins of Blockbuster, where it should be filed under a helpful heading, monotonous and juvenile.

It's nice to see some things done the old way.

The result is oddly ineffectual and sometimes just plain dull.

If the biggest problem with costumed superheroes is those silly costumes, the venerable comic-book crimefighter known as the Phantom (Billy Zane) has a bigger problem than most.

Our grim avengers of the 21st century could use some reminding that it's okay to smile once in awhile… and that 'fun' should be more than just an afterthought when stories of this ilk are told.

This belated, albeit decorative adaptation looks tamely second-hand.

[It] could have been much worse.