The Ghost And The Darkness (1996)
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 5.5 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 10/11/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:50 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas, John Kani, Tom Wilkinson, Bernard Hill, Brian McCardi, Om Puri, Emily Mortimer Director: Stephen Hopkins Producers: Gale Ann Hurd, Paul Radin, and A. Kitman Ho Screenplay: William Goldman Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond Music: Jerry Goldsmith U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
If it does nothing else, THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS will make you realize just how brilliant Steven Spielberg's execution of JAWS is. Using a similar (albeit land-bound) premise -- hunting down bloodthirsty predators -- this movie devolves into a silly series of animal attacks and chases. The camerawork is frenetic and confusing, and the big confrontations are as likely to provoke unintentional laughter as edge- of-the-seat excitement.
"Evil lions terrorize workers building a turn-of-the-century railroad in Africa" doesn't sound all that promising, but, then again, neither does "Giant shark terrorizes vacationers at a quiet seaside resort." In his 1975 thriller, Spielberg proved that the man-against- beast struggle, if done properly, can make for a compelling motion picture. With THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, director Stephen Hopkins tries unsuccessfully to generate the same level of tension. While Hopkins' film making skills aren't of the same caliber as Spielberg's (one man made A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5; the other, SCHINDLER'S LIST), the lion's share of the blame for this movie's failure can be laid squarely on the shoulders of veteran screenwriter William Goldman, whose script is contrived and inadequate. In JAWS, it was thrilling to watch the failed attempts to kill the enemy; here, it's just frustrating.
THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS takes place during the waning years of the nineteenth century, when England, France, and Germany were racing to complete the first cross-Africa railroad to facilitate the ivory trade. Colonel John Patterson (Val Kilmer), an Irishman with an inconsistent accent, is the engineer employed to build England's bridge across Uganda's Tsavo River. As if he doesn't have enough problems with feuding, stereotyped workers and a bombastic boss named Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson), two man-eating lions begin stalking Patterson's camp. More than one-hundred die, often horribly, including the camp's resident evangelist (Brian McCardi), and when Patterson's attempts to kill the lions fail, Beaumont calls in an expert hunter, Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), to resolve the situation.
Actually, taken as high camp, it's possible to enjoy THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS on a reasonably consistent basis. In addition to giving Kilmer and Douglas some wonderfully loony lines of dialogue, the script spends a lot of time on unnecessarily convoluted schemes to kill the beasts. Then there's Patterson's "ultimate solution" -- take his gun, climb on top of a rickety platform, wait for the lion, then, when the beast is charging, get knocked off the platform by an aggressive bird. Somehow, I don't think Hopkins intended this scene to be as funny as it is.
There is a promising, although largely unexplored, story buried within THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS. Building a railroad bridge across the Tsavo River has the potential to generate some potent drama. Of course, THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS is only interested in this material as background, so no attempt is made to examine the pressures and difficulties of railroad construction. We're told that the Africans don't get along with the Indians, and the Muslims fight with the Hindus, but the ramifications of these internal struggles are left unexplored. And, man-eating animals aside, what about the inherent difficulties of raising such an imposing structure under stringent time and environmental constraints?
The lions in THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, like the shark in JAWS, are invested with near-mythical powers. At first, I thought the film makers' reluctance to give us a good, clear view of them was to build suspense. Unfortunately, it becomes clear that the real reason has more to do with poor special effects than a desire to tease the audience. The animatronic lions look terrible. (Remember the apes in CONGO?) One wonders why, with all the impressive twisters and spaceships that were zipping around on screens this summer, THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS can't come up with a pair of credible lions.
Val Kilmer is either badly miscast, bored, or a combination of the two. His Patterson is dull and largely unsympathetic. As a hero, he leaves a lot to be desired. Michael Douglas is the exact opposite, drawing the camera like a magnet with his over-the-top portrayal of the big game hunter, THE GHOST IN THE DARKNESS' answer to Robert Shaw's JAWS character. Unfortunately, Douglas doesn't show up until the film is half over, so it's necessary to struggle through the first forty-five minutes without his energetic boost.
For those who are interested in observing the habits of real lions and viewing genuine life-and-death struggles in Africa, I direct your attention to THE LEOPARD SON, which is still in theatrical release. That well-constructed documentary has stronger drama, tension, and cinematography than the supposedly-real story told in THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS. True, it's missing Tom Wilkinson sneering, Michael Douglas smirking, and Val Kilmer looking bored, but no movie can boast everything.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
"We go away from our parents in youth and then we gradually come back to them; and in that moment, we have grown up." -- Ingmar Bergman
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