A great-looking film that fails to tell an exciting story in an exciting way.
Colonel John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) is sent by railroad tycoon Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) to build a bridge near the village of Tsavo in Kenya. Because the project is already behind schedule, Beaumont gives Patterson five months to complete the job. Patterson, a veteran military engineer, is confident he can get it done with time to spare. What Patterson doesn’t plan for is the presence of two lions that begin killing off the Indian laborers working on the bridge.
Soon after his arrival in Africa, Patterson has a panic on his hands as the Indians begin to leave the construction site to avoid being slaughtered by the pair of “devils.” Beaumont hires a hunter named Charles Remington (Michael Douglas) to aid Patterson in sorting out the lion problem so construction on the bridge can resume.
Between March and December, 1898, a British railroad construction site in Tsavo, Kenya (then called British East Africa) was attacked by a pair of lions, ominously nicknamed The Ghost and The Darkness. The lions supposedly killed over 130 people during that nine month period. The Ghost and The Darkness tells the story of the “Tsavo Man-Eaters” via a heavily fictionalized script by William Goldman.
Director Stephen Hopkins (Predator 2) exquisitely highlights the natural beauty of the African landscape and wildlife. During the lion attack sequences, real and animatronic lions blend together in an impressively seamless fashion. Sadly, though, most of the scenes involving human beings lack any kind of zip or chemistry.
When Michael Douglas’ Remington shows up midway through the film, the character acts and speaks as if he’s been transported from the future. And, in a way, he was because he was created specifically for the movie. From his arrival forward, the tone of the movie changes from a well-paced adventure film into an adventure-themed comic book story.
Based on what I’ve read of the actual account of the Tsavo Man-Eaters, the un-embellished story would have made for a more interesting movie. Patterson didn’t need a fictional partner and the story had the same outcome.
As it is, The Ghost and The Darkness is a great-looking film that fails to tell an exciting story in an exciting way.
2.5 out of 5.0 stars
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