Movies: The Phantom | The Arrival | Dragonheart

A lively comic-strip romp that tries to keep up with the Indiana Joneses

Our pick:
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• The Phantom
• Rated PG
• Starring Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams
• Opens Friday, June 7

it Walker (Zane) is the 21st person to assume a mantle passed down from father to son for generations -- that of the heroic Phantom. To the inhabitants of his jungle home, the island of Bengalla, the Phantom is thought to be one immortal person -- the Ghost Who Walks. It seems the original Phantom was the lone survivor of a ship sacked by the pirates of the Sengh Brotherhood. He swore to fight piracy and injustice, a creed taken up by his descendents.

This story serves as a backdrop to the main plot, which details the current Phantom's race to stop the evil Xander Drax (Williams) from collecting the three supernatural Skulls of Touganda. Drax is a wealthy, ruthless New York businessman, petulantly pursuing world domination. Two skulls put on quite a show, but all three will give the devilish magnate incalculable power...if the Phantom doesn't stop him.

To add to the story, the Phantom must also avenge the murder of his father and deal with the Sengh Brotherhood, all the while fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with his old college sweetheart, Diana Palmer (Swanson), who he jilted years ago. ("I had to go home," he says. "My dad died, and I had to take over the family business.")

After delightful period flops like The Rocketeer and The Shadow, who would've imagined that moviegoers would ever be treated to this lush, low-key, cheerful version of The Phantom? Director Simon Wincer steers his movie clear of the usual summer-actioner one-upsmanship and into the charming "Raiders-Lite" vein of The Rocketeer or the most rousing episodes of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (some of which, he directed). Screenwriter Jeffrey Boam affectionately injects familiar pulp elements with his characteristic wit, although he rarely reaches the zingy heights of his Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Billy Zane (10K .jpeg) leads a well-chosen cast, hitting all the right notes and striking all the right poses as the Phantom, a hero knowingly devoid of modern superhero pop-psychology. His first appearance as the Phantom is a little jarring, even ridiculous, but moviegoers will recover as Zane gives his role class, humor and a physical character and presence unseen since Christopher Reeve's Superman. Swanson is equally engaging (and gets equal screen time) as adventuress Diana Palmer. There hasn't been so much life breathed into a forgettable, wilting comic-strip heroine since Melody Anderson made Dale Arden a feisty high-point of Flash Gordon. With an amusing tenor voice, Williams is entertaining as the dashing villain Xander Drax, but, regrettably, he's never very threatening despite a few vicious acts.

The Phantom isn't the film that's going to resurrect the 1930s-style adventure picture, but what seemed to be that genre's last gasp plays like a breath of fresh air.

A rich, swashbuckling gem! I dread seeing this one eaten alive by summer movies that are charmless, violent marketing machines -- Chris K.

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Hollywood begins its invasion of Earth with The Arrival

Our pick:
1 2 3 4 5

• The Arrival
• PG-13
• Starring Charlie Sheen, Ron Silver
• 109 minutes

ane Ziminski (Sheen) is a radio astronomer working for NASA in the Search For Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence program. He listens to the universe hoping to hear an intergalactic radio signal which might prove that we are not alone. Late one night Zane hears something...something that isn't coming from Earth and that doesn't last long enough to verify.

He takes the tape of this signal to his boss, Gordian (Silver), who accepts the tape unenthusiastically and fires Zane because of "cutbacks." Unable to let his discovery go, Zane devises a way to continue his research by cleverly using an array of satellite dishes. However, instead of discovering the signal from space, he finds a similar signal being transmitted from Earth.

Zane's search for answers leads him to Mexico, where he connects with climatologist Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse). She's noticed an unexplained rise in temperature in third world countries, which may be tied to Zane's signals. Their meeting spurs Zane's obsessions further and drives him deeper and deeper into the mystery until he discovers that the aliens aren't just about to arrive -- they're already here, and they have plans for the Earth that don't include humans.

The Arrival is the first in a rash of alien invasion movies that will hit theaters during the next year. This 1950s-style thriller succeeds in creating a paranoid atmosphere and has a few nifty science fiction ideas going for it. The Arrival also offers some excellent special effects, especially in scenes of the alien lair.

However, against the great "aliens are among us" standards from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to The X-Files, The Arrival falls short. Full of plot holes and unanswered questions, it never becomes an effective thriller. And it is also completely unclear why the alien conspiracy never succeeds in getting rid of Zane. There are many opportunities when Zane could and should be killed off, and it seems he only survives because Writer/Director David Twohy needs him alive.

The movie itself completely falls apart at the end when it fails to pull together a cohesive finish. Although, there's a certain amount of suspense in the usual "Who can I trust?" ending, questions abound, leaving the ending unsatisfying and silly.

Sheen is in full paranoia mode as Zane and Silver plays his standard slimy-bad-guy role. As usual in science fiction films, the female characters don't fare well. While it's good to see the fine character actress Crouse, she's under used; and Teri Polo, as Zane's girlfriend Char, is forced to play it cold to accommodate the script.

If you analyze The Arrival, you won't enjoy it. It's a cotton candy movie (it tastes good but doesn't have any substance). But who needs anything more than cotton candy anyway? It's only a month until Independence Day opens. -- Kathie

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A computerized dragon and Sean Connery breathe fire into Dragonheart

Our pick:
1 2 3 4 5

• Dragonheart
• PG-13
• Starring Dennis Quaid, Sean Connery
• 108 minutes

t's the 10th century, when Arthurian legends have all but vanished and few dragons still live. Bowen (Quaid), a dragon slayer for hire, roams the country looking for a particular dragon -- one that he feels betrayed him. It seems when he was a knight of the old code, Bowen had squired a young prince in the art of swordsmanship. The prince had later suffered a mortal wound, and the dragon in question gave the prince half his heart to save the young man's life. But the prince turned into an evil king, and now Bowen blames the dragon.

Still hoping to one day find the creature, Bowen runs into a dragon (voice of Connery) that doesn't particularly want to be slain. The dragon tells Bowen he is the last of his kind, and the two battle until they're caught in a deadlock (with Bowen in the dragon's mouth, his sword ready if the dragon should bite down). They make a deal -- neither will kill the other, and they'll con the local villages out of gold. The dragon will swoop in, Bowen will offer to slay it, they'll pretend to fight and the dragon will pretend to die.

It doesn't take long for the dragon (whom Bowen names Draco) and a feisty young peasant girl to talk Bowen into a more honorable course of action. His destiny is to lead the peasants against the evil king to stop the tyranny that rules the land.

Dragonheart is at times an absolutely amazing film. Director Rob Cohen and his team from Industrial Light and Magic have created not only incredible special effects by bringing Draco to life, but they've also invented a charming, wise and fearsome character that's as alive as any human on the screen. Beyond the special effects lies a buddy picture, and some of the film's best moments come between Bowen and Draco as they argue and eventually start to depend on each other.

Precisely because Draco is such a fascinating character, Dragonheart suffers when he's not around. That's significant considering Draco isn't shown during the first part of the film. Worse yet, the beginning of Dragonheart is overlong so the director can contrive a big entrance for his dragon later, a strategy that backfires.

The plot itself is pretty standard fantasy stuff. It has evil kings, ignorant peasants, a humorous monk, an honorable knight and a fair maiden. Still, Draco and Bowen add plenty of welcome humor and heart. Quaid is rough and just right as the disillusioned Bowen, and Connery's voice is one of the few that could give Draco his power. As King Einon, David Thewlis is appropriately nasty if not quite powerful enough for the bad guy role. All the actors need to be given credit for working with thin air, considering Draco was mostly computer generated.

Draco gets my vote for best performance by a dragon in a motion picture. -- Kathie

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