Year: 1993
Runtime: 76 min
Director: Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Dana Delany, Stacy Keach, Hart Bochner, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Dick Miller, Abe Vigoda
Batman The Animated Series was/is a popular rendition of everyone’s favorite brooding vigilante, crafted by a terrific creative team that changed the face of animated programming forever. It was based upon the Tim Burton Batman movie but took plenty of cues from the comics, particularly the Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams era from the 1970s.
The television series was popular enough to spawn a movie, this movie in fact, and what a movie it is!
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is absolutely one of the greatest Batman movies ever made. I don’t need to beat around the bush or play with your expectations, if you dare call yourself a Batman fan and haven’t seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to stop whatever you are doing (reading this review included) and go watch the damn thing right now. It’s that good.
If you have hang-ups because it is animated and you, for some reason, cannot stand animation, then that is your problem and you should go see a doctor because I think they can prescribe pills for your condition.
Mask of the Phantasm is a lean but smart retelling of the Batman origin story, skipping out all the boring bits you already know in favor of a delicious new direction. It has some basis in the comic Batman Year Two, though it makes plenty of changes to become its own beast.
When we start the movie, Gotham’s underworld denizens, each played by a noted character actor, find themselves under siege from a new threat, a threat that dresses in a costume like Batman but who does not care to spare their lives in any display of morality. The mob becomes terrified and Batman becomes curious, seeking answers as to who this mysterious Phantasm might be, while dodging the law officers who believe that the mafia deaths are Batman’s fault.
As the story progresses, we get flashbacks to Batman’s first year as a vigilante, before he claimed the Batman persona. We get to meet the young Bruce Wayne, not yet broken into the hardened crime fighter we know today, and we get to meet the one woman who might have changed his life forever. Andrea Beaumont is beautiful, smart, and a revelation to Bruce. They fall in love.
But this is Batman. Tragedy is in vogue on the streets of Gotham.
The story isn’t brilliant, but it’s incredibly well-told, with no pacing issues despite the frequent use of flashbacks. And it packs its 76 minutes with plenty of twists and turns to keep the audience invested. Directors Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm carry the movie forward with practiced ease, knowing where to drop in an extra fight scene or linger a bit longer on a character beat.
And there’s plenty of character to go around!
Kevin Conroy delivers a superb performance as Bruce Wayne and his alter ego, delivering one of his most honest and pathos-filled takes on the iconic character. He spends more time as Bruce Wayne in this film, something most modern takes on Batman ignore in favor of more growling, brooding, punching man. But this more human turn provides an almost Shakespearean element to the proceedings, particularly in one rainy scene where a distraught Wayne begs at his parent’s grave to be released from his vow of vengeance so that he might actually be happy. It’s impossible to watch this scene and not think of the Melancholy Dane.
But don’t assume the whole movie is just drama and sad rich men being lonely! This is still a superhero film and as such it follows the age old traditions to which we have grown accustomed. Meaning explosions, punching, shooting, and all manner of action. In fact, whenever the movie threatens to become weighted too severely in the realm of the dramatic, it breaks out another fantastically animated action sequence.
And these scenes are all superb. The animation is stellar, far more polished than that of the average episode of the television show. Characters move with fluidity from frame to frame, the backgrounds suitably dark and gritty without succumbing to outright gloom. Each action scene is appropriately big and hard to imagine looking any better in live action, especially the explosive finale which sees a rusting old amusement park blown to smithereens. This is a comic book come to life.
And before any fans of the animated series asks, yes, Mark Hamill is back as the Joker. Brilliantly, the writers managed to work this classic Batman villain into the main plot without the Clown Prince of Crime stealing the show, though he does tend to chew scenery as only Mark Hamill can. His sadistic glee at every awful thing he does is contrasted nicely by the stoic, single-minded killing brought about by the Phantasm.
Yes, I did say “killing”. Despite holding a PG rating in the U.S., Mask of the Phantasm is much more violent than the show. Not to a dangerous level, but people actually die here, albeit off-camera, and there are many fight scenes that end with a character spitting out teeth and wiping away blood. It lends an extra air of gravitas to the proceedings without going too far.
It’s a fine tightrope to walk and not everyone who has brought the Bat to life over the years understands it. Most go too far into darkness, becoming too gritty and stumbling into self-parody. This movie is still perfectly acceptable for most youngsters but it also has plenty of meat for adults to chew over. It should be required viewing for anyone even thinking about leaving their mark on Batman.
The only blemish on this otherwise excellent film is a little bit of a stumble at the very end. Most of the finale is hot stuff, quite literally from all the explosions, but we get a hiccup shortly before the credits that leaves things just a bit too open-ended for my tastes. It’s one thing for a comic book to leave things dangling, because there will be more issues down the line to finish the story, but a movie should have a little more resolution, especially a superhero movie.
But this is a small complaint. From the action, to the melancholy plotting, to the fantastic animation, this is the complete package. If you like Batman, you need to see this movie, plain and simple. In fact, if you like comic books or superheroes, this is one of the best animated renditions of a beloved character and even non-Bat fans should check it out.
