
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 2, 1994                   TAG: 9407040116
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: B10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

'SHADOW' KNOWS, BUT JUST DON'T TAKE HIM TOO SERIOUSLY

The obvious inspiration for ``The Shadow'' is ``Batman.'' It has the same Gothic look and comic book characters. But writer David Koepp and director Russell Mulcahy also had ``Ghostbusters'' in mind.

This tongue-in-cheek adventure is never completely serious. The humor has a surprisingly macabre edge that may make it too strong for younger audiences, but teen-agers and adults will welcome it.

As everyone must know, Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin) is The Shadow, ``who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.'' He also has the ability to ``cloud men's minds'' and thus is invisible to evil-doers in New York City. (He learned all this in Tibet.)

He's doing just fine until Shiwan Khan (John Lone), who also can cloud men's minds, shows up and announces that he's going to conquer the world. And then there's sexy newcomer Margo Lane (Penelope Ann Miller). She can read Cranston's mind, and he cannot cloud hers.

Obviously, there are some problems to be worked out with this clouding business.

Further complicating matters, Margo's father (Ian McKellen) has just invented the ``bronzium'' bomb. Guess who wants it?

The sets and special effects are properly polished and inventive. The whole cast handles the material with the lightest of touches. Peter Boyle, Tim Curry, Sab Shimono and Jonathan Winters turn in excellent supporting work.

For featherweight summer escapism, ``The Shadow'' is just the ticket.

by CNB