R-rated superhero movies used to be deemed as a risky proposition until the Deadpool franchise, Logan, and Joker changed that perception, even if you do still get the occasional flop like Birds of Prey. Outside of Marvel and DC, though, offerings like Shadow Master underline why gratuitously violent tales of omnipotent heroes didn’t fare so well.
With shades of The Crow, RoboCop, and even cult favorite TV series Manimal for some reason, the film finds a man murdered by a vicious gang of criminals, which obviously leads to him being resurrected with animal-esque powers, which are then weaponized to right the wrong of a city steeped in crime and chaos.
You may not be surprised to discover that Shadow Master did not set the world alight from a critical perspective, but action-packed tales of fantasy and fistfights often tend to find a much bigger audience on streaming, which is exactly what’s happened yet again in the case of a production that’s completely insane, for better and worse.
Per FlixPatrol, Shadow Master has emerged victorious in the battle to convince Starz subscribers that it’s worth their time, even if it’s hardly destined for cult classic status either in the short or long-term future. It’s certifiably nuts and very unusual, to be fair, something that may actually be working in its favor.
Who cares about the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the DCU when there’s an animal-infused vigilante wreaking havoc on-demand as we speak? Based on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s box office numbers, quite a lot of people, but that’s not really the point.
