Alec Baldwin's Superhero Movie With Ian McKellen Was A Critical And Commercial Flop

Given that Batman "plagiarized" The Shadow in his early days, it only seems fair that the latter returned the favor down the line. To be sure, the Dark Knight had far eclipsed his fellow pulp hero (who was created by writer Walter B. Gibson in the 1930s) by the end of the 20th century. Nevertheless, director Tim Burton's "Batman" rocking the box office in 1989 was all the incentive that Hollywood needed to reimagine the paterfamilias of noir-flavored vigilantes (specifically those who love waxing darkly poetic and slinking around major cities as they thwart evildoers at night) for the big screen.

Enter 1994's "The Shadow," a film that looks like a million bucks (unfortunate 1990s-era CGI aside). And well it should: It was directed by Russell Mulcahy (who helmed landmark music videos featuring the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Bonnie Tyler, and Elton John before breaking out as a filmmaker with 1986's "Highlander") and shot by Stephen H. Burum, the cinematographer behind the evocative black-and-white visuals of "Rumble Fish" and the slow motion wonder that is the Union Station stairway shootout in "The Untouchables." Toss in some shiny, exaggerated production design by Joseph C. Nemec II ("Terminator 2: Judgement Day"), and the movie depicts The Shadow's backyard of 1930s (or so) New York City as an "Art Deco nightmare," to quote Roger Ebert's enthusiastic review for the film.

In this case, though, Ebert was one of the rare critics who appreciated "The Shadow" and its crusade to one-up the shadowy superhero atmosphere and psychological visuals of Burton's "Batman." Even Alec Baldwin functioning at the height of his action star powers as the titular crime-fighter, along with an ensemble that included illustrious names like Ian McKellen and my man Tim Curry, couldn't save the movie from flopping both critically and commercially.

Different films took varying approaches to adapting pre-WWII pulp heroes in the '90s as studios chased the ghost of Tim Burton's "Batman." Where 1990's "Dick Tracy" brought more emotional nuance to its square-jawed namesake, the 1996 Billy Zane-led flop "The Phantom" embraced its underlying whimsy. Then you have "The Shadow," a heightened hodgepodge of screwball comedy and hard-boiled supernatural adventure that feels like it actually could've come out of the 1930s (complete with, I'm sorry to say, some casual Orientalism). That was seemingly what screenwriter David Koepp, then fresh off scripting "Jurassic Park," intended, too (minus the Orientalism).

That might be why "The Shadow" doesn't quite work in a post-Burton "Batman" world. Its story is fairly blasé (despite involving mystic flying daggers and invisible luxury hotels), while Alec Baldwin as Lamont Cranston — the slick-haired NYC playboy who secretly battles criminals as The Shadow with the aid of psychic powers he developed overseas (as you do) — is a proto-Bruce Wayne who lacks the distinct quirks that made Michael Keaton's Caped Crusader in Burton's "Batman" interesting. Really, most of the heroes in "The Shadow" could use more personality, Penelope Ann Miller as Cranston's romantic interest and Ian McKellen as her wayward scientist father included. It's the baddies who are more fun, particularly John Lone as a sneering, power-hungry descendant of Genghis Khan and, obviously, Tim Curry as a sweaty, scheming scientist.

At the same time, Ebert was right: "Style and tone are everything with a movie like this," as he noted, and "The Shadow" certainly has that. That wasn't enough to set it apart in a sea of "Batman" wannabes in 1994, but when it comes to old-fashioned pulp hero adaptations, you could absolutely do worse. Isn't that right, "The Spirit?"