The Shadow

HELLO. THERE'S A MAN HERE WHO THINKS HE CAN HELP YOU. BATMAN? NO. HE'S A SHADOW. BATMAN'S A SHADOW. IT'S NOT BATMAN!

I guess I'm in the minority here but The Shadow is a pretty damn fun film. No, it's nothing stupendously great but the central character has a great power with an equally great weakness. Additionally I have to say it's quite unintentionally hilarious watching the Shadow try and mind-wipe someone and then have it not work. "YOU WILL FORGET EVERYTHING ABOUT ME." "Why would I do that?" "I uh... I... I have to go."

I can see what they were trying to do here but it doesn't work. It needed to be darker. An excellent cast though makes it almost decent.

While the grounding of the film isn't that bad and the visual components work quite well, it really isn't all that interesting between the occasional action scene. Baldwin spends his time looking dark and sinister while fighting levitating daggers with teeth and some strange rejects from Mongol. The comedy elements mostly fall flat, although there are a couple of sniggers to be had at the film's expense. Basically held up by the cast and budget, elevating it just above the B-movie standard.

Points because I had an action figure of the Shadow that was really cool.

If I were to go back and watch this today it would probably get a lower score, but i have fond memories of this movie from my childhood. Alec Baldwin is great as the shadow, although I never understood the purpose of the crazy prosthetic nose that he wears.

Excellently acted by an excellent cast...what ever happened to John Lone?

This is so close to being a true cheese classic, with a delightful villain, excellent sets, music video cinematography, surprisingly good cheesy CGI, funny lines, homoerotic tension, Ian McKellen and Tim Curry; but it's dragged down by, first, a truly exceptional amount of racist iconography, more than even the 1930s version had; and second, Alec Baldwin's complete lack of charisma. He shouldn't be playing a pulp hero, even with the antihero aspects this film jammed in.

Goofy, dated and kind of fun despite being really dumb.

We would have needed to see more of the Shadow's skills and powers and personality before they started flooding the screen time with the generic villain adventures of a ham Khan. It would have been better if much darker, else it looks like Batman running in broad daylight with nice clean places, it's not the same mood at all. Also that CGI knife, lol. But at least the ending is good

Baldwin? More like Hairwin.

Well made film of a character that seems a little tough to put on the big screen, though I must say say I don't know the source material so I could be wrong. Baldwin is decent in his role and most of the other supporting actors are good, except I didn't like the casting for the Shiwan Khan character.

(Viewed in 2012): Comparisons to Burton's Batman films are inevitable, and like those films The Shadow is an aesthetic creation built around strong set pieces. Mulcahy and co create a dark and exotic atmosphere resembling old Universal horrors that's superbly stylish and inextricably linked to cinema's past.The script is a mess, but they conjure an effectively dark mythos around its central character that, unlike Marvel's films, respects the imaginative visual power of its pulpy origins.

okay

It's just too silly to work. The low key noirish moments are pretty good, but when it goes for action or comedy it just falters mightily. Still an ok way to pass the time, but it feels like a lot of wasted talent.

Penelope Anne Miller should have been a perfect Margo Lane, but wasn't.

40.750

This is a movie I can't help but like. The concept is really interesting to me and I love the cast. I just wish the screenplay was better and the film itself was in the hands of a more capable director. Its a fun movie that when its problems are overlooked makes for an enjoyable viewing. I just think they missed an opportunity to make a truly unique amazing film.

Starts out extremely cheesy, with sets so fake that at one point a character slams up a rail and shows that it's made of rubber. Baldwin is comically miscast as well. But it gets better. When it can't be taken seriously, it has enough intentional and unintentional humor to provide good entertainment anyway.

Ok, just ignore the logistics to it (i.e. what year is it? why chinese? why new york? telepathy, really? the list goes on) and enjoy it for what it is: a fun Saturday afternoon matinee-type flick. No character development, oscar-worthy performances or pretentious messaging, just solid funness.

Pulpy and surprisingly cute.

It's definitely watchable, but a bit too Beatty-Dick Tracycish. If you like the whole 30's/40's pulp thing and don't have high expectations you might be pleasantly surprised. In an ideal world this would be remade with someone who's actually believable as a psychotic in the lead, and go wayyy darker with the psychic stuff and violence.

Haven't seen it in awhile but I thought it was okay at the time

Though they try to make it "true" to the character (by far the only point in the movie where they accomplish this is the bridge scene in the beginning) its based on too much the radio version and not enough of the original pulp character for my tastes. Numerous continuity errors make it even worse.

An underrated fantasy adventure with a smart script and some great visuals.

Mildly entertaining, but a poor adaptation, not very well made.

A cool fun movie based on the radio plays and comic book character of the same name. Alec Baldwin turns a suprisingly good performance, which is unexpected for this type of film, and we get the sexy Penelope Ann Miller as his love interest. The plot fits this brilliantly, and makes you think why hasn't there been a resurgence of interest in this property as of late, or why was there never a sequel. But this is a fun movie to watch, and would greatly complement an evening of super hero films.

A ghastly disappointment. This should have been easy. They actually lifted great hunks of material from the pulps -- but then tried to combine the radio and pulp versions of the character and ended up getting them both wrong. Alec Baldwin's ego dictates that he won't wear the face except for a few fleeting moments. Mix in some really lousy comedy setpieces and you have a complete mess. I wonder what it feels like to screw The Shadow.

I have a replica of the dagger from this movie... and absolutely no idea how I obtained it. But this movie seemed like a movie similar to the dark superhero movies they make today, like sin city, the spirit, and the watchmen. But this one just fails at it. I was fairly bored throughout.

A dull cliché.

Det gode består i, at det er en forholdsvis ubeskrevet "superhelt". Filmen virker ikke, kommer aldrig rigtigt igang og er ganske bare for kedelig og "tynd"..

All elements taken into consideration, this should have been a much better movie. Some great ideas and fab production design are wasted on a dumb story and an utterly silly villain

A strangely good cast in a terrible, terrible movie.

I usualy like this kind of movies, but this is bad.

A poor attempt at trying to bring back a pulp classic. Alec Baldwin is good, though, since he is required by law to never be bad.

This actually sounded like a totally badass movie, but it was pretty awful.

hokey, but kinda cool

So bad, it's pretty entertaining.

ok

Barely watchable, but only for the decent casting. Otherwise, skip this one.

A really great concept for a film, just nothing seemed to come together the way it should have. Movie is absolutely disappointing.

bad attempt to jump in the hits of crime fighting movies.

I remember seeing this film, but don't remember anything about it. So I'm guessing it must've been pretty bad.

They certainly tried their best adapting The Shadow (the radio show in which was the inspiration for Batman.) It's an okay endeavor as far as 90s fare goes, but it's not particularly memorable.

I really wanted to like it. Some good elements, but on a whole too goofy.

Decent homage to old radio/movie serials. Good fun.

I loved this movie when I was growing up. It has a flying dagger with teeth, doesn't get much better than that.