Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Shadow’

Written by Scott Edwards 

There are only a handful of times in life when you truly get a second chance at making things right. So, when that opportunity is given to you, you have to jump at it, because it may never come back around again. But what if your second chance is forced upon you? Will you be ready to make your path back to redemption or will you fight it with all of your power and remain the person that you are? If you are given a choice, you may be able to look deep inside and see who you are supposed to be and if you choose a new path, it may be more beneficial to you and your followers. 

The powerful Ying Ko, once known as Lamont Cranston, is planning his next barbaric adventure when he is kidnapped by agents of the mysterious Tulku. With his great power, Ying Ko believes that he can accomplish anything he puts his mind to, but when the much smaller Tulku is able to infect his mind and show him how to harness his power for good, his life takes a drastic turn. Returning to New York, Ying has returned to his former identity and Lamont now lives the high life, but he has hidden his past from everyone that he cares about. Becoming The Shadow and having no equal in the city, the criminal element and police are not the only ones looking for his true identity. 

When a new sarcophagus is delivered to the museum, the curator sees that it may be the final resting place of Genghis Kahn and he leaves to make a few calls about this recent discovery, but when he comes back to see that the coffin is gone and one of his men has been killed, he has to call in the police. After arriving on the scene, the police do not know how to categorize the crime and one of The Shadow’s agents sends word to his boss to make sure he is on the case as well. Arriving at his secret sanctum, Lamont is greeted by Shiwan Khan who tries to recruit the old war lord to fight for his cause. Lamont is not willing to give up the life that he has built and now knows the face of his enemy and will have to stop Khan before he is able to fulfill his destiny. 

As Shiwan Kahn has his plan to level the city to demonstrate his power, he needs to find people to help make the bomb a reality. Finding out that scientist Reinhardt Lane is working on a project that could benefit him, Kahn is able to enter the old man’s mind and get a finished product before time runs out. With the help of Farley Claymore, Kahn has a regular person on his team that does not need to be controlled, since he has the same aspirations of absolute power. But The Shadow is not far behind in the hunt for Kahn and with his own private army of agents, he is able to find out what Kahn is planning and now with the help of Margo Lane, he is able to crack to code and make a final push on Kahn before time runs out and his city is destroyed. 
​
I had never heard about The Shadow before this movie came out and I am ashamed. Such a powerful character, it is great to see what the movie did for his reputation. There are a ton of haters for this movie and I do not understand why since it flows the way a superhero movie should, and you have a very strong supporting cast that brings this story to life. You have got to love the interactions between Margo and Lamont in this movie, but you have also got two huge scene stealers in Farley Claymore and Moe Shrevnitz (The Shadow’s driver), I don’t think the movie would have been the same without them. With plenty of action, you also gather some street smarts about what it was like to live in the 1930’s and possibly how to defeat evil if it ever comes knocking at your door. Not a bad hero to have on your side when things hit the fan and maybe you will be able to see past his shadow and find out that there is just a regular guy trying to do something right for himself and the innocents of the city.

---