The Phantom - 1996

We had some time and noticed this was available to watch for free. It looked like something we would enjoy, so we put it on.

The Phantom is "the ghost who walks." He's been around for 400 years, so he has a reputation of being immortal. In reality, it's a legacy passed from father to son. When Smiling Kit comes into possession of the title, he leaves behind Diana. She went to college with Kit, doesn't know how to park a car, and she's "edgy." In the present, Kit is trying to stop an evil man from collecting skulls that will create a deadly weapon that could threaten humanity. Or a thin disintegrating ray. That works too.

This movie was so weird. I don't know why Phantom was smiling all the time. It was so weird. My daughter was commenting on the strange shade of purple they chose for his costume. It was an odd hue for sure. Also, a lot of bad decisions were made for no apparent reason. Our favorite character had to be the taxi driver. He was very dedicated to Kit (Phantom's normal name), and when a purple-clad man hops into the back of his cab claiming to be a friend of Kit's, Taximan is immediately on board. The other strange thing was mumbling. I've watched the 1943 serial and really loved it, so I knew the dog's name was Devil. But with the mumbling, it sounded like they were saying "Devin," so we called the wolf Devin for the entire movie.

I was surprised to see Kristy Swanson (Diana). She also plays a character on one of the greatest shows of all time: Psych. She fit in much better on that show for sure. The actor playing Kit had actually signed up for two sequels before this movie performed poorly. I think Kristy knew what she was doing what she was doing when she flew away from the island at the end.