The Phantom

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: June 7, 1996

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

53	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Roger Ebert

The movie is wonderfully entertaining, red-blooded and rousing, and with a production design that makes it uncommonly handsome. Read full review

R.L. Shaffer

If you're able to suspend disbelief, the film's strengths outweigh the many weaknesses. The action sequences are a lot of the fun. The adventure is exciting. And the story perfectly replicates the style and tone of a classic adventure or Saturday matinee serial. Read full review

Kenneth Turan

Everything about The Phantom is pleasantly old-fashioned, the opposite of avant-garde and cutting edge. Not intended for those who yearn for greatness, this unassuming adventure film is so cheerful and sweet-natured it's difficult to resist warming up to its modest charms. [7 June 1996, p.CF]

William Arnold

Perhaps because I expected nothing - the movie struck me as one of the better comic-strip translations, and one of the better films of the genre. It's fast, colorful, entertaining and a clear cut above its most immediate predecessor, 1994's "The Shadow." [7 June 1996]

Marc Savlov

The Nintendo generation may not “get” The Phantom any more than those original Thirties fans would have understood Bruce Wayne's tortured psyche, but that aside, Wincer's updating of an old warhorse is lovingly done. It's a Saturday afternoon matinee for the Nineties, 60 years old and totally new. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Although The Phantom is more often enjoyable than not, it lacks that special characteristic necessary to provide it with a unique identity. Arriving in the midst of so many "can't miss" offerings, I expect it to sink like a rock, moving quickly to "dollar theaters" then to video. I'd like to be able to champion this film, but the truth is that I'm tiring of the genre as a whole, and, while The Phantom opts for a different tone than most of its brethren, it's still not an especially memorable motion picture. This is the kind of movie that offers modest entertainment while you're in the theater, but is forgotten by the time you get home. Read full review

John Hartl

The Phantom has more potential as an audience-participation show than as a straight movie, so try to see it in a packed theater with a crowd that can have fun with it. Or wait for the videotape so you can build your own "Mystery Science Theater" party around it. [7 June 1996]