Movie Notes: The Ghost And The Darkness

March 6th, 2008

= 2 stars

Starring Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas, Tom Wilkinson
Directed by Stephen Hopkins

Synopsis

Semi-true story of John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer), dispatched to 1890s Africa to build a railway. Unfortunately, the project goes awry when two lions (the “Tsavo maneaters”) begin lunching on the workers. Professional hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas) helps Patterson hunt down the predators.

The Good

• Open air, adventure feel, which soon shifts to a horror / action flick as the lions kill several people and the hunt begins.
• There’s a relatively solid premise of danger. Patterson is in the heart of Africa with a bitchy boss bearing down on him, so he can’t turn and run. Far away from the British Empire, he’s low on resources and armed only with shotguns.
• A timely theme of humans encroaching on nature, and being eaten in return. Shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

The Bad

• Val Kilmer literally sleepwalks through this flick. Only near the end when he decides to take care of business is there a glimmer of life. He was more animated in The Island Of Dr. Moreau.
• Michael Douglas’ appearance is welcome, but his character doesn’t appear for quite some time. His character also seems terribly out of place, almost as if he’s in another film — a western, most likely. I was a bit miffed to later learn that his character was totally fictionalized. I thought this was supposed to be a true story?
• Poor Emily Watson, looking all Mary Steenburgeny, is abruptly yanked off camera in an unintentionally funny bit.

Conclusion

Despite starring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer, I had never heard of this flick until it showed up as a $0.99 iTunes rental. I think there’s a reason for both my ignorance and Apple’s cheapness. Even at that price, I feel like I lost two hours.

IMDB: The Ghost And The Darkness
Wikipedia: The Ghost And The Darkness
Rotten Tomatoes: The Ghost And The Darkness 53%