Review of The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) by Jonny P — 02 Aug 2015

Good movie. This could have easily been the Predator meets Jaws movie of lions, but it actually plays out quite nicely. Michael Douglas is the star of this movie, hands down! The movie really does not come alive until he shows up somewhere in the 2nd act to assist Val Kilmer who I think was definitely miscast as the Irish engineer who is assigned to built a bridge in Africa, until certain wildlife in Africa interfere, and that wild life is a lion.

A lion that preys upon that village in Africa, and Val Kilmer must try and kill the lion before his rein of terror grows out of control, but that is unfortunately until Kilmer discovers that it is not one lion that preys upon the village of Africa, but two! Sounds intriguing right? That's when Michael Douglas comes along as the professional hunter to assist Kilmer in killing the two lion before realizing that they are up for a big challenge.

These are no ordinary lions, as the people in the village call them the ghost and the darkness because these lions kill for pleasure, and do not have any fear what so ever, but when you think about it, what lion would? The movie actually gets good within' the 2nd act once Michael Douglas shows up as he truly does make the movie and looks like an aging figure of the character he played in Robert Zemeckis's film "Romancing The Stone," but that's why it works! And taht is why Michael Douglas is so perfectly casted in this movie that it is so hard to not take your eyes off him as he truly embodies his character in this film.

However, watching Val Kilmer and really wishing they picked a better actor who can perform a much better Irish accent, I was trying to figure who else could have played the part in the time this movie was made, and at first I couldn't think of anybody, but now it just hit me that Daniel Day-Lewis would have been perfect for the role.

Perfect! What we're they thinking? Sure Val Kilmer wasn't terrible, he does kind of own up to the part on some level, especially when he talks about his love for Africa, and how he will never forget it, you can see then why the makers of the movie decided to cast him, but now that I'm thinking Daniel Day-Lewis and Michael Douglas together in a movie.

..that would be an awesome match up. Now that I would pay top dollar to see.