No one will deny that the costumes, the sets and the makeup are Oscar winning – many times over.  But even without the visual extravaganza, this film is definitely the second-best of the year, after “The Passion of the Christ.”  Unfortunately, Martin Scorsese is well overdue for his golden idol, so he’s probably the director that will take it home, for his good-but-not-nearly-as-brilliant “The Aviator.”

Whether you’re a novice, a theatrical connoisseur or a true “phan” (as those who adore the musical have dubbed themselves), you’re likely to agree that Schumacher’s “Phantom” offers a phantastic legacy, now available to the masses.
 
AUDIENCE:  Mature adolescents and adults

OBJECTIONABLE CONTENT:

• Drugs/Alcohol Content:    Various people drink wine/beer/champagne, once from a shoe; characters smoke cigars and pipe.
• Language/Profanity:    Less than half a dozen mild obscenities and several profanities (mostly “OMG”);
• Sexual Content/Nudity:    Scantily-clad female characters in several scenes (including much cleavage); characters kiss/embrace/caress suggestively; several songs contain sexual allusions (but not innuendo); various statues with bare breasts and buttocks; rear male nudity when male character “moons” another; various actors/stagehands make rude (but not lewd) sexual gestures; brief dialogue exchange between two characters about “lust of the flesh.”
• Violence:   Phantom kidnaps a willing victim and takes her underground to his lair; phantom and love interest fight a dual with swords, where one is injured; background painting depicting a severed head; woman slaps a young girl for gossiping; man pushes young woman to floor in anger; child is physically abused by kidnappers, then escapes and strangles his tormentor; man commits murder by chasing his victim then allowing him to be strangled; man knocks another man unconscious; man falls and is trapped underwater and must fight for his life; man ties up another man, seemingly to kill him, but does not.