The Shadow (1994)

The Shadow is an overlooked film that never actually got the attention it deserved. Sure, this is a film which does has it's flaws, and it has plenty, but in the end it is entertaining and good looking fun ride to sit through. Actually i myself even prefer The Shadow over Tim Burton's vision of Batman, which was much more popular creation as a film back in 90's.
As a character The Shadow bears many similarities to Batman. These both are handsome and rich bachelors who under their daily presence hold dark secrets and powers that not many would even dare to speak of. Biggest difference between Batman and The Shadow is their origin story. Alec Baldwin's Lamont Cranston is a gentleman with a tortured soul and a tortured psyche. He is a man who has done his share of evil and now he is sort of trying to redeem himself. Bruce Wayne was instead complete opposite, he himself was a victim and tried to revenge his parents death by cloaking himself as a Batman. What these both men share is their wounded psyche and that makes them quite interesting as a characers.
Russell Mulcahy is a perfect choice for this kind of material. He has proven to be talented when it comes to this kind of visually lavish films. He might not be the best director when it comes to actors or coherent plot, but at least he knows who to make good looking entertainment. This is a film so great looking that at times it seems that it could have been directed by great Brian De Palma and when you look at the credits you actually begin to wonder why it isn't. There are so many frequent collaborators of De Palma like cinematographer Stephen H. Burum, writer David Koepp and producer Martin Bregman here in the credits. Some of the camera angles and techniques are also strikingly similiar to those in De Palma's films, but that is only understandable because at least it was filmed by talented Burum, who has very unique style as cinematographer.
The Shadow is fun to watch but there times when the acting is just plain corny. For example names like Ian McKellen and John Lone are mostly wasted in a thankless and one dimensional roles. Film relies on the shoulders of Alec Baldwin and he does not disappoint. Penelope Ann Miller is ok as an story's love interest and The Shadow's unexpected sidekick.
Overall this film feels a bit too rushed and messy to be entirely satisfying as a pure entertainment. It does have it's strenghts too and i would definetly recommend it to anyone who like these kind of noirish comic book adaptations.