`The Ghost and the Darkness' is a movie overflowing with promise . . . but, ultimately, it fails to even remotely deliver on that promise. Set in the late nineteenth century, it's the story Colonel John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) man hired to supervise the building of a bridge in British-colonial Africa. Upon arriving in Africa, Patterson learns that the bridge must be built within five months his supervisor (and the man formerly in charge of building the bridge), Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson), has set this unreasonable deadline just so Patterson will fail. Undaunted by this challenge, Patterson pushes on, and actually enjoys a slight amount of success, until some native workers are mauled to death by a lion. The native workers believe that the lion is a spirit sent to punish the British, but Patterson believe that the lion is just an old male lion that has been kicked out of its pride, left to die of old age. To shut the natives, up, Patterson hires one of the greatest game hunters living in Africa, Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), to kill the beast. Remington hunts down the lion, but finds that he's not after one decrepit old lion, but two young, vicious male lions that hunt as a team. A game of hunter versus hunted ensues between Remington, Patterson, and the killer lions, and the twists and turns that ensue are often quite entertaining.
Unfortunately, the movie is usually only interesting when the lions are present. The first third of the movie, setting up the conflict between man and beast, drags along at a painfully slow rate. Val Kilmer is woefully miscast as Patterson, coming across as spoiled and ineffective instead of as a man desperately struggling against the odds. Michael Douglas' performance as Remington, while entertaining, was cartoonish and out of place with the rest of the film. The character of Remington would've benefited greatly from either being toned down or from a reduction in screen time.
Ultimately, the lions are the true stars of the film. The scenes where they attack, or where Remington and Patterson are forced to prepare for an attack, are gritty and suspenseful. The animatronic lions created by Stan Winston are unbelievably good watching their eyes focus on their prey in the African twilight is chilling, to say the least. Also, once the lions had been established as a real threat, they could be used to create menace in a scene without even being there. But the lions are supposed to be the villains, not the whole movie, and as such `The Ghost and the Darkness' fails miserably.
There's a few scenes that are fantastic, but for the most part, this film's a boring mess. If you're going to watch it, get the DVD, so you can skip ahead to the good scenes and save yourself from a good hour of terminal boredom. C-
Unfortunately, the movie is usually only interesting when the lions are present. The first third of the movie, setting up the conflict between man and beast, drags along at a painfully slow rate. Val Kilmer is woefully miscast as Patterson, coming across as spoiled and ineffective instead of as a man desperately struggling against the odds. Michael Douglas' performance as Remington, while entertaining, was cartoonish and out of place with the rest of the film. The character of Remington would've benefited greatly from either being toned down or from a reduction in screen time.
Ultimately, the lions are the true stars of the film. The scenes where they attack, or where Remington and Patterson are forced to prepare for an attack, are gritty and suspenseful. The animatronic lions created by Stan Winston are unbelievably good watching their eyes focus on their prey in the African twilight is chilling, to say the least. Also, once the lions had been established as a real threat, they could be used to create menace in a scene without even being there. But the lions are supposed to be the villains, not the whole movie, and as such `The Ghost and the Darkness' fails miserably.
There's a few scenes that are fantastic, but for the most part, this film's a boring mess. If you're going to watch it, get the DVD, so you can skip ahead to the good scenes and save yourself from a good hour of terminal boredom. C-