Movie Plot – The Shadow (1994): In 1930s New York City, The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) has to stop an atomic bomb, who is played by his nemesis, Shiwan Khan (John Lone).

Director: Russell Mulcahy
Writers: Walter B. Gibson, David Koepp
Cast: Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Ian McKellen

First time watching The Shadow

Once again, thanks to my Fantasy Movie Watchlist I’ve discovered this movie. Unlike The Crow, I’ve never heard about this film before. So I didn’t know what to expect at all. I’ve heard it also bombed at the box office but had to compete with movies like Forest Gump and The Lion King.

The hero made appearances on the radio before release. That was even before Superman. Yeah, crazy right? They were telling superhero stories through the radio.

Lamont Cranston starts out as an evil “warlord” that gets powers of a mysterious man. With these powers, he should redeem himself from all the crimes he’s done. Therefore he becomes the hero “The Shadow.” So you can tell he’s actually an anti-hero.

Alec Baldwin was the director’s first choice for playing the role. I did love the guy and his suit. Without the costume, he looks like a handsome man. However, with the outfit, he looks like another man an as a bad guy. Honestly, I wouldn’t recognize him at all.

The Shadow (1994) had some awesome visuals. It somehow reminded me of Gotham, but played in New York.

The Shadow’s powers

Now, The Shadow has some pretty awesome powers. First, he can hide in the dark or shadow, which you could have guessed by his name. However, there are some ways to discover where he is.

Second, he also has some telepathic powers, where he can influence people’s minds. He can make you forget about stuff or even let you do things.

Also, he can break glass by … shouting? Well, I’m not sure about this one thou. If some of you are more acquainted with him, let me know in the comment section below.

On top of those powers, with every human life he saves, he makes them his subordinate. Well, not in a bad way, but he uses their services or skills to help him out. One of them is even a taxi driver, who he uses a bit too often. The guy still has to make a living!

Despite all his powers, he meets one woman where his powers don’t work on. He even feels threatened by while she’s not an evil threat, however, she can read his mind somehow.

The special effects were okay for its time. Well, sometimes it felt off when he was using his shadows powers. On the other hand, you had a flying dagger that acted like a creature and is maybe a bit weird to see now. However, back then, it was pretty good.

The Shadow vs. Shiwan Khan

Storywise, it’s an average superhero movie where the protagonist meets his nemesis Shiwan Khan with similar powers. And also, his enemy wants to blow up the city because why not? It’s like the typical villain kind of plan.

Shiwan Khan hypnotize people to work for him to build a bomb to destroy the city. One of those is Ian McKellen’s character, who plays a scientist. During the film, he hypnotizes other people to kill themselves to demonstrate his powers.

While the Shadow wants to use his power for good, Khan uses it for his own interest and continues with his evil plans.

Now, The Shadow has to stop Khan for good.

Conclusion

I’ve watched The Shadow (1994) for the first time, and I thought it was fine. My expectations were low, as I never heard about it before. However, this is not at the same level as the other comic book movies.

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