After hearing all the buzz surrounding DC’s new direct-to-video Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, I found myself digging up Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, an animated film released in 1993 that spun out of the highly regarded Batman: The Animated Series. Having grown up watching The Animated Series, I’ve watched this movie many times throughout my life, and I swear it gets better with each viewing. Follow the jump to see why I feel that Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was undoubtedly the best Batman-related film until the release of 2005’s Batman Begins.
The DC Animated Universe’s strong points have always been in character design and voice acting, both of which are very well done in Mask of the Phantasm. Bruce Timm’s style is incredibly iconic, and I’m sure I’m not the only person that grew up in the 1990’s whose mental image of Batman is very Timm-influenced. The design of the titular Phantasm is particularly interesting, for even though it has a very gritty 90’s look it avoids becoming over-the-top extreme, like so many other things from the comic industry of the 90’s suffered from (plus, that hand-scythe thing is badass). In terms of voice acting, Kevin Conroy’s portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne has always been one of my favorites, and his subtle change of voice between the two personas is much better than Christian Bale’s gravelly growl. I’m sure that most would agree with me in saying that Hamill is the definitive voice of the Joker, and Mask of the Phantasm only furthers this point (the scene near the end when the island is exploding particularly sticks out in my mind). However, the most intriguing performance in the film is that of Dana Delany, who plays Bruce’s former lover and would-be fiancée Andrea Beaumont. Delany does an excellent job of conveying emotion and eliciting a response from the audience, and so it is no surprised she was called back to portray the role of Lois Lane in the later Superman: The Animated Series.
Mask of the Phantasm is a wonderful fusion of action and drama, and avoids many cliches that otherwise plague the superhero genre. The film is very well scripted, from the natural bits of conversation to the very emotive dramatic moments, with many well done fight scenes in between. The use of flashbacks to Batman’s origins are essential to the plot as whole, and not just simple exposition used to eat up a few minutes. No matter how many times we see the origin of an iconic character such as Batman, it is always rewarding to see the evolution from basic vigilante to Caped Crusader. More Importantly, the character of the Phantasm serves as a foil to Batman, highlighting the delicate line between vengeance and justice that Bruce so precariously walks. Unlike what the viewer of a superhero movie with a masked villain might expect, the Phantasm’s identity isn’t revealed in the overused method of the hero removing a mask and yelling “You!”; rather, when the viewer has probably deduced the secret we are given a glimpse of the half-costumed Phantasm. This method carries the same weight as any “dramatic reveal”, and suits the story much better. However, the most poignant element of the film by far is the tragic romance of Bruce and Andrea, and how their relationship affects Bruce’s already very delicate balance of mind. Andrea is a very strong female lead, and the viewer almost wants her to succeed in getting Bruce to give up crime-fighting and live a life with her. I had kind of hoped that if Christopher Nolan had to involve a romantic interest in Begins and The Dark Knight it would have been based on the strong and interesting character of Andrea. Instead we got Rachel Dawes. Such is life.
On a minor note (or chord), the film score is just great. I’ve listened to Shirley Walker’s arrangement of Danny Elfman’s Batman theme so many times it should be criminal, but you can’t blame me for loving a choral rendition of that memorable tune in faux-Latin. The music does an excellent job of setting the tone, and the instrumentation choices are particularly well done. The Soundtracking industry lost a talented composer with Walker’s death in 2006.
The film’s ending is slightly weak, but understandably so. The Joker had to be left alive to continue being used in The Animated Series, and so the Phantasm had to survive rather than die in a pointless sacrifice. Beyond that, I have little qualms with the movie, and highly recommend it to fans of both Batman and animation in general. Younger viewers (like me many years ago) will enjoy the action-packed adventures of Batman, while the older fans will enjoy a great story about how vengeance can blacken the soul. Films like this and Pixar’s serve as excellent proof that animation can be used as a vehicle for all sorts of mature themes, so long as audiences can abandon their belief that animated films are just “kid stuff.”
