The Phantom Online

The most reoccurring complaint I see in the prior reviews of this Phantom TV movie is "He's nothing like the old phantom". I am inclined to retort: "So what?" Times change. Crime and injustice evolve, so does the technology that can be used by evildoers. It's only normal in terms of escalation that the Phantom evolves as well. In the old times, the spandex outfit was the Phantom's choice because it would confuse the enemy as well as conceal his real appearance, only nowadays Walker has to take armor piercing rounds and automatic weapons as a potential annoyance too. So yes, he'll wear something different. Same goes with that visor. It has to be both concealing and useful. What is true for technology and attire is also true in terms of psychology. This Phantom reflects his own time. Tradition is not totally forgotten, the whole ritual experience on the lair island is there to remind of all that makes the Phantom who he is. The horse? The dog? You wouldn't bring these to a modern fight, unless you want them minced.

Bottom line: Suck it up buddies, the Phantom we grew with did the same thing we all do. He aged, he died, he got replaced. What is immortal is the concept of the Phantom and in order to survive, all things have to adapt. Including the Ghost Who Walks.

The Phantom (starring Ryan Carnes in the title role) tells the story of a superhero who serves as the defender of justice for all.

The mini-series, which also serves as a pilot for a potential television series, has enough action and romance to make you forget its length. The adaptation of the Phantom gives us a superhero with a clear-cut and unbendable knowledge of right and wrong that has been mostly lacking in the modern superhero movie era.

Those already familiar with the comics will find enough of the comics' elements in the mini-series to satisfy the spirit, if not the absolute letter. However, purists of the comics and those unwilling to suspend some disbelief will find extreme difficulty in enjoying a mini-series that brings the franchise into the 21st Century.

If there are any defects to this show, it is at times when the mini-series works too hard at looking like a pilot, having many scenes throughout to serve as the background for future plots and character development. Especially the final scene (Which I won't give away) that could have served well as the cold opening for the first episode of the first season.

This series is well worth watching. Here's to hoping SyFy can make a cut in the Roger Corman Knockoffs Deptartment to give The Phantom chance it deserves. After all, no one refuses the Phantom.

In New York, the twenty-four year-old Chris Moore (Ryan Carnes) is on the last semester in the Columbia Law School and is a practitioner of Parkour. When his friend has an accident practicing the sport with him, the paramedic Renny Davidson (Cameron Goodman) helps them and Chris and Renny immediately fall in love with each other. However Chris is arrested by the police but Renny's father, Detective Sgt. Sean Davidson (Ron Lea), releases him. When Chris arrives home, his parents make him promise that he will study a lot to not fail in the upcoming exams.

A couple of days later, Chris dates Renny and while he is returning home alone, he is abducted by a group in a van. Soon the leader of the group, Abel Vandermaark (Jean Marchand), explains to him that he is a foster son and his real name is Kit Walker. He is the twentieth-second generation of The Phantom, the ghost who walks, and they belong to his organization Bpaa Thap that helps The Phantom to fight the crime along the centuries. Chris does not believe on his words but when he returns home, he finds his beloved parents murdered and the two criminals waiting for him. Chris flees and one killer dies in an accident. He calls Vandermaark and they travel with Guran (Sandrine Holt) to Bangalla, where he is trained to be The Phantom. Meanwhile the evil Singh Brotherhood led by the cruel Raatib Singh (Cas Anvar) is plotting a scheme using the technology developed by Dr. Bella Lithia (Isabella Rossellini) to kill the charismatic leader Jalil Ben-David (Jason Caselli) and begin a worldwide war.

"The Phantom" is an adaptation of my favorite childhood hero, The Phantom, in the Twentieth-First Century. I saw this movie yesterday on DVD in an edited version of 150 minutes running time and despite of the flaws, I liked the story and found it very entertaining.

The Phantom follows the family tradition, and the uniform has been used since 1536. Therefore, there is no reasonable explanation for the twentieth-second The Phantom to wear different clothing. The uniform could have been improved, but is colors and shape should have been kept the same.

Abel Vandermaark is a contradictory character and the conclusion of the story is not good. Nevertheless my wife and I have enjoyed a lot this free-adaptation of this forgotten hero. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O 22o Herdeiro" ("The 22nd Heir")

The Phantom was one of my favorite comics when I was a kid, so my excitement was understandable when I sat down to watch this movie. Alas, the excitement waned almost immediately. This was not a movie worthy of the comic strip, it hardly had anything to do with it whatsoever. It was overly 'modernized', apparently in order to adapt it to the 21st century... Why on earth would you want to do that? It looks more like a music video than an action flick.

Another major problem is the casting of the main character; Ryan Carnes would be much more believable impersonating a teenage MTV pop star than he is starring as the Phantom. And then there is the costume... Suffice it to say that it looks totally ridiculous, and it has nothing to do with the Phantom. The set decoration is rather tacky (I believe due to budgetary restrictions), the cinematography and sound are average, so there is really nothing that really stands out in this movie. Large TV productions have accustomed us to much better products in recent years. It's a pity really, the idea to film the Phantom was a good one, but it should have been done in a different way, a completely different way.

I didn't know when I rented this DVD that it was an unrated made for cable TV movie. So when I popped the disc into the player and there were previews for SYFY shows, and then I saw "Play part 1" and "Play part 2", I thought, Oh boy this is going to be a wasted 3 hours. I was pleasantly surprised. This TV movie was actually done very well. The acting was good, the effects were good and the story was pretty easy to follow, but also had some nice twists to it that kept it interesting all the way through. I never got into the Phantom comics, so I don't know how true it stayed to the history of them, and so I didn't care about that aspect of it. It was just an enjoyable few hours spent with the family, watching a pretty darn good TV movie. There were a few scenes of graphic violence that would rate this a PG-13, so if you have little ones, it may be too violent for them. I hope it gets turned into a SYFY series. I will watch it if it does.

The box promised sci-fi, tons of action, and a young and dashing hero, and all that in the name of the good old Phantom, and then there was the name of Isabella Rossellini to boot, so I purchased this mini-series without any hesitation. Boy, was I disappointed! It's like watching an outstretched (3 hours!) episode of some adventurous sitcom on some children's TV-channel: this movie does not rise above the level of 12 year old schoolboys.

We of course know The Phantom and his history. Here they tried to use the old story in an updated, nowadays fashion: we get high tech 007-like gadgets, a new Phantom-outfit, some 21th century political context (Middle East conflict) and and abundant use of cell-phones. So okay, there's nothing wrong with upgrading and actualizing an old concept, at least if it's well done.

Well, it isn't. It's like everything and everyone in this movie is made into a caricature: the characters, the action-scenes, the plot, the scenery, the script, everything! Even Isabella Rossellini (how badly did she need THAT pay-check?!?) is changed into an ugly, whining and disinterestedly bad-acting old hag. The bad guy is a scream: it's Bollywood on it's cheesiest, and his supposedly fearsome Sing-brotherhood consists of a dozen or so timid ladies and gentlemen that sit dullfuly around a conference-table and look like frightened rabbits in a suit and tie. The Phantom's loyal servant is equally bloodless and irksome. The high-tech Phantom-suit that everyone is raving about, looks like your plain old motorcycle suit, including the helmet and eye-shades. The cave where the Phantom lives, located on some deserted tropical island, looks hilarious, like something that you could build in your back yard and use for flowerpots. Outside there is this small circle-shaped arena (where at one moment out of the blue a bunch of savage natives appear who attack poor Kit only to cheer him afterwards because it was some sort of weird test) and inside we are made to believe that it conceals a vast area of high-tech scientific facilities and dozens of workers in appropriate white coats, who appear to be terribly busy with running around, watching big monitors and frantically typing things on their computer keyboards as if the world depends on it (so they seem to think).

And Kit (actor Ryan Carnes)? Well, he sure is good looking and athletic and charming enough to make a convincing go for it, but the script is so bad and the things they make him say and do are so painfully stupid that he doesn't stand a fair chance. The supporting cast (a bunch of nitwitty technicians on both sides) is sadly amateurish. The only ones that come out unharmed are Cameron Goodman as the love-interest, she's beautiful and a good actress and strong personality; and Sandrine Holt as some sort of Phantom's assistant, she's a fascinating classical beauty and her part is so unrewarding, with only some loitering in the background and looking very understanding and wise, that there was hardly any possibility to go wrong there.

There is a plot: the bad guy and his sinister brotherhood (the dull conference-table!) are trying to plunge the world into chaos and war by scheming up some far fetched conspiracy, (but why they do this, is beyond me!), while the good guys (Kit and his unpronounceable Phantom-brotherhood) are trying to prevent this. It takes a few car-pursuits, some fights and one explosion, but then all's well again. Except that the loyal servant is exposed as a con (wow: the Unavoidable Twist!) and rises from his supposed death to join the enemy as their new leader. The end.

I'm sorry, this movie is bull. And the biggest disappointment: it takes itself way too serious, there isn't even a hint of humor or tongue-in-cheekness. My advice: try the 1996 version by director Simon Wincer: it's far superior by every account, the story, the acting, the wonderful 1920's setting, the campy atmosphere and above all: the fun in it!

Perhaps it's because I know nothing of the Phantom, but I enjoyed this quite a lot. I don't usually pay much attention to CGI if the concept and characters are compelling, and I found they were here. I did notice (after reading the reviews here) that the jet was not very realistic, but that took little away from the overall storyline.

I was particularly satisfied with the involved plot line that didn't telegraph the ending. Yes, it was basically good against evil, but the characters were well done, the pace was quick and the leads were charismatic. I'd like to see the romantic angle developed and an heir for the Phantom. I loved the lair and the locations, but the Indians I could've done without.

I look forward to seeing SyFy pick this up.

If you are familiar with the real Phantom, and know that he is jungle-based and decked in the classic purple and black, then you will probably agree that this abomination is an abortion of the legend of The Phantom. In this sad opus, some American teenager (yawn) becomes the 22nd Phantom. Okay...we'll settle for that, just. Then they whisk him away to a good old jungle (at last!)where The-Ghost-That-Walks must be trained. And what's the first thing this candy-stick kid does? He calls the original outfit junk and so they replace it with something that is nothing at all reminiscent of The Phantom. So why on Earth call it The Phantom? Why not create a new hero instead of mincing and corrupting a character that has been with us for way over 60 years? This is cheap Hollywood, making weak movies on the strength of a name, and yet abusing that name disgracefully. Avoid. Go watch Tom Tyler's serial version instead.

If you want to wait an hour or more to see the main character in the suit only to see a bleached blonde in a bullet proof ski outfit, this picture is for you. If you want to see the Phantom, see either the Billy Zane film or the Tom Tyler serial.

I am so p.o'd I wasted any time with this turkey Syfy channel ought to be ashamed of themselves. If they thought the original costume was so "theatrical," then they should have not done it at all. The theatricality of it all is it's lure, The very first masked crime fighter deserves better than this.

Why do some producers think that new audiences want everything so updated to make it cool? Does anyone still know about story and excitement? Apparently, these guys want only to be high tech and now instead of good.

This Phantom should die a merciful death already instead of destroying tradition and quality.

The acting is as bad as the writing (or should I see REwriting) and making Isabella Rossellini unattractive is in itself an unforgivable crime.

Shame on them all!

I am an original Phantom reader and saw the movie back on 1996 with Billy Zane which was more truthful to the character than this adaptation. They try to modernize the character to a point that is almost unrecognizable. The origin has gaps in it that it doesn't explain. The acting is non-existent and a lot was changed from the original version. But what can you expect from a movie made for the SciFy channel and made by Canadians? Nothing personal against Canada but trying to do their own version of an American icon when they don't know much about the character this is what happens. It is like a Chinese movie studio trying to do a version of Superman without devoting time to really know the character. Of course they going to add their own interpretation and the result will be something different to what we are used to see.

The telling of this tale is lacking an important ingredient...The Phantom! What were these idiots thinking? Maybe they were thinking; we're bored and thought; "Hey, we've got nothing better to do, what do you say we totally destroy the story of the Phantom, a legendary, heroic icon that has been around for over 50 years. If you can make it past the first hour without falling asleep, waiting for the Phantom to appear, don't bother. You will have lost an hour of your life that you'll never get back again. The "Ghost who walks," never makes an appearance, at least not the Phantom I grew up with! This poorly executed attempt to resurrect one of the greatest crime fighters of all time fails miserably. Don't waste your time looking for the Phantom, he just isn't here!

This is a thoroughly enjoyable show. So often both the television directors and the television critics feel that television must deliver some kind of message or have some type of grand esoteric meaning, but most television programs are simply just for entertainment. Thankfully, this particular program does exactly what it is supposed to do--entertain. Additionally, I really like the characters, Guran (played by Sandrine Holt) and Renny (played by Cameron Goodman), so this show works for me on more than one level. This is only television, it is not theater class at an expensive university. Others seem to have unrealistic expectations of just what television can and does deliver to the masses.

This is rating the first 61 minutes because that was all my DVR recorded of the 4 hr program. I liked what I watched and I wish to see more in a series. My only complaint is that Syfy does not have it on the schedule to be seen again any time soon. With all the ways to see shows when it is convenient and this is a network that can show the episodes more than once they should give viewers more chances to see their shows. Sorry for the ranting but this has happened numerous times to me from Syfy, I hear about a great show and never get to see it because they do not give multiple chances to view their shows, I am going to use this one as an example. . .I really liked the 61 min I saw of this film but I give Syfy a 1 on satisfaction!!

I have to say that this is the best adaptations of the Phantom I have seen to date. Yes, it is made for TV, but don't let that turn you away. SyFy did a great job on this one. The acting was very good throughout. The story was intriguing and the action was fun to watch. If SyFy is thinking of making this into a series, they should absolutely do so. This may be a spoiler to some, but I love the new suit. I'll admit it does take a little bit away from the human aspect of The Phantom, but it still does not make him Superman. They took the classic story and modernized it well. I hope they will show it again soon so I can recommend it to others. If you have a chance, check it out.

I remember not being very impressed by the 1996 Phantom movie with Billy Zane, so when I stumbled across this made-for-TV effort to revive the character, I was open to watching it in the hope it would be a lot better.

It doesn't take long in watching this two-part movie to determine that it was intended to be the pilot of a proposed TV series. The proposed series never happened, and after watching this sorry mess, I think that was a good thing. So many things go wrong in this retelling of the Phantom legend. The production values are erratic - some scenes look expensive and slick, while other scenes look downright cheap. The "updated" costume of the hero looks frankly ridiculous, and will have you wonder why the filmmakers bothered to get the rights to The Phantom if they didn't have a costume that looked like the classic Phantom getup. The telling of the story is really muddled - some plot points (like why the hero was never told by his adoptive parents that he was adopted) are never explained in enough detail. And at three hours in length, the movie is WAY too long.

There's one good bit in the movie - the prolonged assassination attempt near the end - but that's too little, too late. Other than that sequence, this modernized update is a complete misfire. The only good it manages to do is to make people realize that the 1996 movie wasn't as bad as they remember.

I am quite shocked by the previous reviews! I loved this made for TV movie. The Main actor was great I would be sure to watch out for anything else is is in. This was a fun, action packed movie, with love, hate, betrayal, and believable tech. It starts with a boy and his mother being chased by some unknown man which results in a deadly car accident, the boy somehow survives and grows up to be a very thrill seeking individual, with great athletics, and smarts. Who thru a second horrible event in his life forces him to find out who he truly is and what fate has already planed out for him. I truly hope for a future 2nd movie, the sooner the better!

Honestly I wasn't expecting much, syfy has kind of earned a reputation for making movies your supposed to laugh at. I had my reservations about this, especially because its picks up (and gives a nod) to the '96 movie ending. I was utterly surprised at what i got.

A 4 hour movie that was like the pilot of a show (which is possibly might be i hope). Romance, action, adventure, cool scenery, and the best part? It didn't have any needless explosions (i.e. cars and whatever else movie directors try to blow up for kicks).

The romance angle is pretty sweet,I felt their connection immediately, and while stretched with how quickly they fell for each other, it is still in the realm of reasonable doubt. The two actors have good chemistry and it definitely shows. It was sweet enough that it didn't make me miss Billy Zane and his romantic interest.

About the plot: its rather predictable. We all knew it would be, no surprise there. What i was surprised at were the few twists, turns, and angles the movie offered. It was almost refreshing and definitely enough to keep me entertained and have my jaw drop at the end.

Isabella Rosselini (which syfy apparently owns for 2-4 hr movies) is rather under-appreciated in this film, Its not her strongest character but i can forgive her because....well its Isabella.

While on the long side, its still kept my interest. There was enough of an ending that i felt i could leave it and be content (unlike most syfy and Disney channel movies). There was a purpose to it. But there were also a few questions left hanging, just in case it does get turned into a show, which i hope it will.

All in all i'd say this is Syfy's best film by far. I definitely will watch it again when it comes on and hope to see a running show soon!

Flicker? Is this some sort of pun/reference to Flickr? Box on top of cable television set to access people's minds...wait a min, wasn't this device used by the Riddler in Batman Forever already? And why is there a Phantom team? In the comics very very very few people were allowed to know the secret of the Phantom, especially not the bad guys. Otherwise the whole legend of an immortal ghost who walks striking fear into the heart of evil would be useless.

Why is it that almost every new series has to use camera shakes, wash out colors, people running around jumping and climbing, etc? None of this shows that the producers of this version of the Phantom, The Ghost Who Walks, is taking things seriously. Everything that made the Phantom who he is in the comics is completely missing in this show.

American television seems to be lowering its standards every year.

Not even twenty minutes into the two-hour opening, you can tell. The plot is filled with every trite cliché in the book. The music is near-constant, often at unnecessary volume, always underlining and highlighting what is already perfectly obvious. That goes for everything - the acting, the lighting, the camera angles, the villains, the plot points (such as they are), the characterizations - all painfully overdone. I don't even usually notice lighting or directing choices, but this isn't just unsubtle - it's obtrusive.

Except for the romance angle. That's added in on a perfunctory level. So much so that it seems creepy how quickly the pair falls into undying, almost stalkerish love.

As shown in the trailer, the new Phantom dismisses the traditional costume. Which turns out to be symbolic of the entire show's attitude towards the character. (And even that observation is more subtle than anything in the show.) The word "Phantom" isn't even spoken until the second hour. The Skull Cave (also as seen in the trailer) is now an entire complex with a huge staff, the base of operations of an international organization.

Oh, and Bengala is now an island somewhere in Indonesia, populated by surprisingly light-skinned people.

The change in costume is supposedly because the series is going for realism. A "realism" which includes windows made of sugar glass, people who take grievous wounds in utter silence, and over-the-top super tech.

I was excited about the return of the Phantom. He's a character with so much potential. But this... is unrecognizable and unwatchable. Whether you love the Phantom or have never heard of him... steer clear.

If this were a movie it would have been the best I had seen in a long long time. At last there are shows again without the huge explosions every five minutes and mostly CGI.

The cast were brilliant and worked flawlessly together. Just need to have Ryan not look like he is smiling most of the time. The relationships were very believable, making you want to be there with them.

Very impressive sets, not to over the top and I liked the way Phantom was brought into this century.

This is a definite for all to enjoy, especially Phantom fans who should embrace the changes made to improve and modernise.

Been a long time since I saw a series that gets me excited. This new take on my childhoods classical hero made me hope they actually start making more episodes.

The Phantom has always been a grown man but being able to watch him grow gives him a whole new dimension. Don't read me wrong here, I'm a die hard Phantom fan and read the comic since as far back as I can remember. It's like the series Smallville where you get to see how Superman grew up. This new series has all the classical Phantom parts and a more classical good vs. evil feeling to it. I have been missing out on that in the more modern series.

Kit Walker (played by Ryan Carnes) and Renny Davidson (played by Cameron Goodman) made me think of Kit and Diana immediately. They both are very accomplished actors and preform flawlessly in this pilot. Having Guran played by Sandrine Holt made me smile, she is an excellent actress. Just a very nice twist to put a female in the role of Guran. Abel Vandermaark, played by Jean Marchand, is a very good actor but I really didn't get his role in the story line. Him ending up as a villain confused me since he isn't a part of the original storyline. Felt like Professor Charles Xavier (X-men) all of a sudden becoming the super villain and turning against the ones he has been defending all his life. But I guess that he will become the symbol of evil for the Singh in the fight against the Phantom.

I did miss not seeing Devil and Hero and the rest of the animals, to make it a 100% feeling they need to be introduced to the series (or something similar). They don't have to be a wolf and a horse. If anything the eden should at least be there. Other missing parts are his twin sister Heloise, what happened to her? Guess that they all are things that could develop during the series (if they ever get funding). If I had the cash for it I would fund it myself.

So I do hope that they make this into a regular series.

I don't really remember the Phantom comic strips so I'm mainly going on the movie itself and the sloppiness and lack of attention to detail.

Starting from the beginning... OK so the 5 year old Kit Walker was in the car with his mother when it plunged into the water, he somehow got out of the sinking car and scrambled onto a tire strapped on the wall so he didn't drown but dodged the assassins from the Singh brotherhood... but how come he isn't wet I mean obviously he didn't fly out of the car into the tire. OK I guess that can be considered a minor mistake...

The boy was found near by scavanging the trash, unable to remember anything. Obviously the Bpaa Thap(or whatever the name of the phantom's organization) knew his face, and with all their intel and high tech crap should've known that his mother was killed, and that police records probably showed no body of a kid. They should've been looking for him and anything about a kid about 5 years old, who had a concussion, looked exactly like Kit Walker, found alone in a location not too far from the crash site on the front paper should've caught their eye in the first place. I mean if they were checking every DNA record logged in all intelligence agencies to find a match for Kit Walker 19 years after his disappearance, and the Walker family was so important that they kept the organization running for 19 years prepping for the 22nd Kit Walker, they probably were looking for him a couple months after the accident. How would such a significant boy just slip through?

Fine, let's just say they were THAT incompetent. How about when Kit returns home to find his foster parents dead. When he enters the home he keeps calling for his parents and for some reason, the guys who are there specifically to kill him don't hear him. He calls them out pretty loud and there's just a normal door, not some high tech sound proof door between him and the killers but they don't even hear him yelling for his parents.

Now we go to the Bpaa Thap headquarters. The first Kit Walker was apparently from Swiss. and in the early 1500s he was on a boat when it was attacked by pirates and landed stranded on an Indonesian island. Well first of all to land up on an Indonesian island he had to be attacked in either the Pacific Ocean or the Indian Ocean. That was before anyone in Europe even really knew about the Pacific. Vasco da Gama was the first to sail around Africa to get to India and that was around 1500. With the technology back then, it was a huge task just to get to India by boat. Even in 1536 there were no stable merchant routes between India and Europe by sea, which means there were no pirates in the Indian Ocean because there'd be nobody to plunder. Another thing, it would take months and probably over a year to sail from Indonesia back to Europe even with the best crew and navigational equipment of that age. The operation would have to consist of dozens of men and a pretty large boat. Of course he would not be able to get that on the island so how the hell did he get back to Swiss and fight crime? FYI, the in original Phantom, the Bangella island is located somewhere in Africa which makes much more sense.

Oh another thing, if he was from Swiss he shouldn't use English to write his diaries. Most likely he would've used German, which is confirmed by the way they pronounced Kit Walker when they picked the 22nd up and took him to the car crash site. Again in the original Phantom, Kit Walker is of British descent.

Ummmmm and yeah at the last scene. So he's all trained up for months to fight mercenaries and ex-military guys working for a worldwide crime syndicate and the gets tossed around by some tribal men like a toy. Seems like he's not ready lol And he picks up a a red hot metal ring and puts it right on. That thing should melt his fricken flesh...

I'm just mentioning the big gaping holes leaving out the more subtle stuff...

over all I'm giving it a 2 because of the acting which was decent. The rest was just so bad I couldn't get into the movie. Sure, I'm one who likes mystery thrillers pieced together flawlessly but the thing to note is that even huge blockbuster movies with almost no plot make sure they don't leave any obvious holes. It is always better to have no plot or details to put holes in than make a lousy one with tons of holes.

The short version: Absolutely awful cheap low budget brain-dead wannabe pilot! The longer version: So SyFy has a lot of really good stuff, but this was just dreadful. Cheaply made with a horrible inconsistent script, plot twists you can see coming before the opening credits have finished. Not everything has to cost a "Cameron" budget, but at least bother to get you're own logic straight. Every minute of this B TV rubbish screams "let's not think about this too much, it's a comic so we can do whatever cheap cliché we like" The main character with its bleached beach-bum hair is pretty pathetic, the supporting cast is actually OK. But all the nonsense like taking a glowing hot ring out of a fire, cheap wire acts, the stupid fights. Awful, awful and awful. The whole 3 hours was probably made on the same budget they did a single Flash Gordon episode.

Here is a tip to SyFy: if you don't want to spend the money to get the quality it deserves, then don't bother.

Watching this two-part TV movie, one might honestly wonder what all the fuss was about and how this oldest of comic book superheroes has endured. This Phantom is not the Phantom of the comics and bears absolutely no relation to previous Phantom movies from the 1940s and 1990s. Even using the Phantom's name for the character in this telemovie is disgraceful and dishonest. A young man turns out to be a descendant of the original Phantom and is whisked off to a foreign land for training. Instead of sporting the familiar purple and blue spandex outfit, he wears what appears to be a Rastafarian knit cap with a dark plastic pulldown visor. And his costume is evidently bulletproof. As bad as the X-MEN movie costumes were, this one is far worse, light years worse. In many scenes, the kid walks around with that Rastafarian chapeau on, which makes him look like the doofus he truly is. Most of the movie is people standing around and talking. I could not make it to the end of this two-parter, so I am not sure if the kid ever got his familiar white stallion and police dog, but I somehow doubt it. Skip this abomination and catch either the Tom Tyler or Billy Zane versions. The Phantom's real costume may look a bit silly and even fruity in this day and age, but it is a sight better than the indescribably bad outfit worn by the Phantom is this 2009 telemovie.

I saw this on SyFy today and though to myself, "I LIKE IT!!". Set in a more modern day time than Billy Zane's Phantom (1996), this miniseries looks at the newest Kit Walker and how he came to be the new Phantom. I found the movie on a whole entertaining, and did I mention I love parkour! The characters, while not completely developed, were likable enough for me want to continue watching. Yes, its not the typical Phantom movies and comics, but times do change. We are in a new century, new technologies, and hence a new Phantom. I like how it was all incorporated. I have a penchant for liking the old storyline comics with a modern time twist.