“I’ll be there, around every corner in every empty room, as inevitable as your guilty conscience.”

Justin’s rating: Not as fun as Bill and Ted’s Ghenkis Khan

Justin’s review: One day I may actually write a book on the amazing spread of ’90s film genres. We were so spoiled for choice and didn’t realize it until it was long over, and that shame is upon us. And if I do write that book, rest assured that there will be a chapter devoted to the odd big-budget renaissance of old timey pulp fiction heroes, from Dick Tracy to The Mummy to The Phantom to The Rocketeer. Maybe even Darkman.* And, yes, I’ll be including The Shadow in that chapter, don’t you know?

The Shadow knows. He always knows.

This mini-genre of daring adventurers in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s no doubt was trying to become the next Indiana Jones, but there was something more besides. I see a great love of art deco and fancy outfits and gorgeous classic settings on the verge of the modern age — elements that make for striking cinematography. The stumbling block here was that Hollywood either needed to whip up a brand-new character or seize upon an established IP that was so old your (great?) grandpa probably didn’t remember it.

For this film, Universal went all the way back to 1930, where the titular character emerged as a radio hour, comic book, and paperback hero. The Shadow wasn’t quite a superhero of the traditional Superman sort, but he did share a lot in common with a certain Dark Knight.** The only problem was that The Shadow went out of vogue by the 1950s, whereas Batman and other contemporaries kept picking up steam. There were some films shot in the ’30s and ’40s, but the property went fallow in Hollywood until the ’90s rolled around and studios decided to make this forgotten character a center stage star.

Let’s push to the side the fact that this movie didn’t break even or hit it big in pop culture and look at what The Shadow does have going for it. This mid-budget ($40M) flick looks absolutely incredible as it drenches us in 1930s New York City (using the huge Universal backlot at Hollywood), has a cast that includes Alec Baldwin, Ian McKellen, Penelope Ann Miller, and Tim Curry, and delivers one of Jerry Goldsmith’s most underrated film scores.

The Shadow also starts quite unorthodox, as Baldwin’s Lamont Cranston is a Tibetan drug lord with a straggly hairdo and a murderous nature. But soon he’s kidnapped by a holy man who sees an opportunity for Cranston to “use his black shadow” to fight evil and become a force for good.

Thus brainwashed reformed, Cranston returns to New York City with a new secret identity: The Shadow. He’s got a pretty decent array of abilities and assets, including:

• A cackling laugh in Dolby digital surround sound
• The ability to “cloud men’s minds,” becoming a near-invisible phantom
• He can also sort of read people’s minds? I think? Or at least pry through their email to know what they’re up to these days
• Jedi mind tricks to change weak-minded views
• Twin .45 pistols that he double-fists like a pro
• A trench coat, a scarf, a cape, and a fedora. It’s a good look.
• Eyebrows about twice the size of Alec Baldwin’s real eyebrows
• A special taxi cab driven by Peter Boyle
• A radio network and technologically advanced Sanctum

As The Shadow saves and helps people, he builds a network among those who owe him a life debt who can help him continue his crusade against crime. Among these is Margo Lane, an alluring — if odd — woman who may have mind reading abilities of her own.

And he’s going to need all of that help, because Ghengis Khan’s last living relative just kidnapped Gandalf (McKellen), Margo’s father who’s on the verge of building an atomic bomb. He also has mind powers and has assembled a team of other weirdoes, including Tim Curry, which makes me all kinds of happy. If you’re going to be Team Evil, spring for the bug-eyed cackling Tim Curry on your squad and accept no substitutes.

I’ve only seen this movie a handful of times, but it left a deep impression. The visuals are astoundingly good, and even the early CGI is done — for the most part — pretty well. I’ll never forget the angry flying dagger (now with teeth!) and the pneumatic tube system for message delivery that used to be a thing in the city.

It’s not a particularly deep movie — this is pulp to the core — but it is easy to follow, almost always interesting, and contains a whole lot of imaginative world-building. Marvel may pump hundreds of millions into its superhero flicks but not be a tenth as a good time as The Shadow manages to be.

There are forward-reaching threads from this into the superhero genre of the 2000s, most notably Batman Begins and Doctor Strange, but few people would know or care to remember in order to give The Shadow credit for pioneering some of these plots.

If you love a good dose of pulp adventure, film noir tropes, and absolutely gorgeous eye candy, The Shadow deserves at least one watch to see if it’s your bag. It’s a movie soaked in style and old-fashioned fun, and even though it didn’t revitalize the franchise, it left behind a glorious oddity that is a joy to rediscover.

*Sam Raimi actually tried to get a Shadow revival going but didn’t gain traction with that project, so he did Darkman instead.

**The Shadow was an actual inspiration for Bob Kane’s Batman, believe it or not.

Intermission!

• “Shoot through him.” dang
• The temple of the big ol’ cobra
• I’ll never forget the flying dagger that bites Alec Baldwin’s hand. Great use of CGI, too.
• An opening crawl after the prelude? Huh.
• Literal concrete shoes
• “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit.”
• OK you didn’t need to shoot up the car, Duke
• “I saved your life, Roy Tam. It now belongs to me.”
• “The sun is shining… but the ice is slippery.”
• These aren’t the droids, er, Shadows you’re looking for!
• Hey it’s ALF’s weak-willed landlord
• Girls aren’t always interested in your “spheres”
• The very old Pepsi bottle
• I love pneumatic tube-cam!
• The smoking bilboard is creepy
• Don’t bring crossbows to a pistols fight
• “Hey, that’s the US 0f A you’re talking about.”
• “Oh that knife.”
• The bullets hitting each other and the two guys being astonished is a nice moment
• Time to pull off your own face!
• “You have problems.” “I’m aware of that.”
• “Psychically, I’m very well endowed.” “I bet you are.”
• The falling body smacking onto the ledges… twice
• Oh the eye-bulging madness of Tim Curry is a glory to behold
• All good evil villains should install a rotating tilting crazy floor in their lair
• You can take a knife to the gut and a mirror shard to the brain and still survive this movie