The ShadowRedemption only comes after sin. The Shadow is a comic book superhero movie about one of the earliest crime-fighting anti-heroes of the medium, The Shadow--a.k.a. Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin) in the 1994 film of the same name. It begins with a villainous opium warlord--Lamont under the pseudonym of "Yin-Ko"--who is reformed and trained in a mystical discipline by a "Tulku" (a holy man) over a period of seven years, before returning to New York City to dispense justice from the darkness against criminals therein. But when Shiwan Khan (John Lone)--the last descendant of Genghis Khan--sets a scheme for world domination into motion, only The Shadow has what it takes to thwart his dastardly desires.
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The Shadow follows in the trend of comic book and radio play adaptations from the Nineties, drawing clear inspiration from the likes of Batman and Dick Tracy. The setting is pre-World War II New York City, and the costumes and set design are a reflection of this, albeit exaggerated and larger than life in keeping with its comic book sensibilities. The city backdrops have an intentional flatness to them that recalls similar productions from the era. Characters like Lamont's love interest, Margot Lane (Penelope Ann Miller), are always decked out in the height of fashion, with stylish period-inspired hairstyles and gowns. Margot is a counterpoint to Lamont and The Shadow. While The Shadow can use his mysticism to hypnotize others (to "cloud the minds of men"), this has no effect on Margot...and not because she is a woman, for you literal readers. She has both a pure soul and an unrecognized telepathic gift. Despite her fetching appearance and sweet personality, Lamont avoids fostering a relationship with Margot (sort of) because he sees her gift as a threat to his secret identity, and subsequently to his crusade to purge NYC of the kinds of thugs and hoodlums that he used to be. Margot is also daughter to the color blind physicist, Dr. Reinhardt Lane (Ian McKellen), who always seems scattered and distracted--an unlikely type to be working on what is essentially an atomic bomb. Margot is frequently accosted by Reinhardt's unctuous assistant, Farley Claymore (Tim Curry), a subpar scientist who resents living in Dr. Lane's shadow. It appears that Lamont has worked very hard since returning to the Big Apple in establishing a complex network of spies and informants in his crimefighting mission. These allies are recruited ("voluntold", really) after he saves their lives; in return, he gives them a (surprisingly unsubtle) red jeweled ring and a code phrase to identify them as followers of The Shadow. These people include his loyal chauffeur, a taxi driver named Moses "Moe" Shrevnitz (Peter Boyle), who is always ready to give his boss a lift to wherever he needs to be in the big city. After Lamont gets wind of something afoot following a murder at the natural history museum, he is approached by Shiwan in his sanctum. Shiwan sizes up "Yin-Ko"--whom the last Khan greatly admires for his ruthless cunning and villainy--and invites him to join him in ruling the world. But Lamont has put that behind him, and instead the two engage in a series of skirmishes that lead to their ultimate showdown for the fate of the world.
Comic book movies have come a long way in the past decade or so. Nowadays, they lean toward creating shared universes and presenting their characters and settings in a way that is more natural, albeit with cutting edge special effects. The Shadow has many artifacts of the era in which it was made, including a feeling that it is aping the likes of Dick Tracy in its style and source material. Lamont is a suave yet roguish playboy à la Bruce Wayne, and Margot is fundamentally a two-dimensional placeholder to satisfy the obligatory romantic interest quota. Yet these kind of details give The Shadow a measure of camp appeal, branding it as a product of its time--a unique charm in its own right. The Shadow is filled with "cool" set pieces, but ones that simultaneously raise more questions about their practicality. Like why does Lamont use his mysticism to alter his appearance, if he's just going to cover up half of his face with a red scarf anyway? Or why he opts to shoot off the cement shoes from Dr. Roy Tam (Sab Shimono) with his signature twin pistols, which should be extremely dangerous. Or why does nobody bat an eye at Shiwan's goons walking through the street in full Mongolian armor? Heck, why does Shiwan give Lamont a Chinese coin made out of a mythical material, which turns out to ultimately be the clue he needs to thwart Shiwan's evil plan to destroy the city? Sometimes, The Shadow's pithy one-liners fall a little flat or have unfortunate implications, like when he falls onto one of Shiwan's goons in a fight, and he quips "next time, you can be on top". Even the soundtrack feels inconsistent, like when Lamont enters the swanky night club to meet with Wainwright Barth (Jonathan Winters)--who just so happens to be Lamont's uncle and the Chief of Police--and the music shifts from Thirties era jazz to Kenny G. Nevertheless, these logic-defying moments are a lot of fun--like Lamont's intricate messaging system comprised of pneumatic tubes that travel all across the skyline, operated by a helper named Burbank (Andre Gregory). The Shadow is a bit of an anachronism, relying on a lot of pop culture knowledge and nostalgia to appeal to audiences. One of the most iconic lines from the radio drama--which had none other than Orson Welles narrating--is: "What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows." This question and answer is important in underscoring why The Shadow is special among crimefighters. Lamont's dark past--which he is trying to put behind him--gives him a sympathetic edge over the forces of evil he fights. In The Shadow, it gets used once in its entirety, then is lampshaded twice when Margot asks him how he knows about some comparatively unimportant detail. In this, The Shadow never quite fully embraces its roots, and periodically subverts expectations with humor or contemporary details as it tries to bring the legend of The Shadow into the modern age.
Recommended for: Fans of stylized comic book and radio drama adaptations, though this one only takes a superficial dip into the era and mythos of the source material. The Shadow is colorful and has a handful of visually exciting scenes--like a flashy dream sequence after Margot peers into Lamont's subconscious--and is probably best appreciated by those with a strong sense of nostalgia for the character or the era in which this movie is set.
Comic book movies have come a long way in the past decade or so. Nowadays, they lean toward creating shared universes and presenting their characters and settings in a way that is more natural, albeit with cutting edge special effects. The Shadow has many artifacts of the era in which it was made, including a feeling that it is aping the likes of Dick Tracy in its style and source material. Lamont is a suave yet roguish playboy à la Bruce Wayne, and Margot is fundamentally a two-dimensional placeholder to satisfy the obligatory romantic interest quota. Yet these kind of details give The Shadow a measure of camp appeal, branding it as a product of its time--a unique charm in its own right. The Shadow is filled with "cool" set pieces, but ones that simultaneously raise more questions about their practicality. Like why does Lamont use his mysticism to alter his appearance, if he's just going to cover up half of his face with a red scarf anyway? Or why he opts to shoot off the cement shoes from Dr. Roy Tam (Sab Shimono) with his signature twin pistols, which should be extremely dangerous. Or why does nobody bat an eye at Shiwan's goons walking through the street in full Mongolian armor? Heck, why does Shiwan give Lamont a Chinese coin made out of a mythical material, which turns out to ultimately be the clue he needs to thwart Shiwan's evil plan to destroy the city? Sometimes, The Shadow's pithy one-liners fall a little flat or have unfortunate implications, like when he falls onto one of Shiwan's goons in a fight, and he quips "next time, you can be on top". Even the soundtrack feels inconsistent, like when Lamont enters the swanky night club to meet with Wainwright Barth (Jonathan Winters)--who just so happens to be Lamont's uncle and the Chief of Police--and the music shifts from Thirties era jazz to Kenny G. Nevertheless, these logic-defying moments are a lot of fun--like Lamont's intricate messaging system comprised of pneumatic tubes that travel all across the skyline, operated by a helper named Burbank (Andre Gregory). The Shadow is a bit of an anachronism, relying on a lot of pop culture knowledge and nostalgia to appeal to audiences. One of the most iconic lines from the radio drama--which had none other than Orson Welles narrating--is: "What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows." This question and answer is important in underscoring why The Shadow is special among crimefighters. Lamont's dark past--which he is trying to put behind him--gives him a sympathetic edge over the forces of evil he fights. In The Shadow, it gets used once in its entirety, then is lampshaded twice when Margot asks him how he knows about some comparatively unimportant detail. In this, The Shadow never quite fully embraces its roots, and periodically subverts expectations with humor or contemporary details as it tries to bring the legend of The Shadow into the modern age.
Recommended for: Fans of stylized comic book and radio drama adaptations, though this one only takes a superficial dip into the era and mythos of the source material. The Shadow is colorful and has a handful of visually exciting scenes--like a flashy dream sequence after Margot peers into Lamont's subconscious--and is probably best appreciated by those with a strong sense of nostalgia for the character or the era in which this movie is set.