DIRECTED BY: Eric Radomski and Bruce W. Timm
STARRING: Kevin Conroy, Dana Delaney, Hart Bochner, Stacy Keach, Abe Vigoda, Dick Miller, John P. Ryan, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Bob Hastings, Robert Costanzo and Mark Hamill
BUDGET: $6m
EARNED (Worldwide): $5.6m
AWARDS: None
SYNOPSIS
Batman is wrongly implicated in a series of murders of mob bosses actually done by a new vigilante assassin.
Batman is in a spot of bother in Gotham as he’s getting blamed for the deaths of mob leaders who are getting killed by someone or something in an eerie costume, vanishing and reappearing like a ghost, with eyewitnesses insisting that it’s Batman. Hunted wherever he goes by Gotham Police Department, Batman must solve the mystery of the Phantasm. Meanwhile his alter-ego Bruce Wayne has to deal with an old flame named Andrea Beaumont, as she returns to the city and we see the old wounds open up and given flashbacks to their love affair.
At the time of its release, who would’ve thought that the animated feature film would capture the tormented psychological state of Bruce Wayne better than the live action films. At the centre of it all, Mask of the Phantasm is more of a tragic love story between Bruce Wayne and Andrea Beaumont, told in flashbacks of how great the love was blossoming, to the point where Bruce is fighting with his inner dilemma of hanging the cape and mask forever or lead a normal life. Obviously we know in the present that he’s still the caped crusader, but it’s a dilemma that’s been handled and never bettered by the live action films (Yes, including Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy). The film is based around the Batman: The Animated Series so it’s expected that a young audience will follow the film, which is dark in tone and violent in parts (particularly the final act). For me the flashbacks work, not only for the Bruce/Andrea angle but for the origins of how Bruce came to be Batman. The overall animated is terrific to me, though I’m biased on that since it is the animation that I grew up with as well as the key voice cast such as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as they are Batman and Joker to me (and not Michael Keaton & other Batmans or Jack Nicholson & other Jokers for some others). The voice acting is great, as is the pace of the film as it’s pretty short so everything counts in every scene and the reveal of the Phantasm (at the time) was a surprise yet justified. In terms of Batman films, animated and live action that exist, it’s definitely in my top 3.
FAVOURITE SCENE: With some great moments in the film, my personal favourite would be Bruce dealing with the ultimate dilemma of continuing as Batman or to lead a life of happiness with Andrea…which leads to him going to his parents grave and pleading with them for the opportunity to try and live a happy life…’I didn’t count on being happy’. Bruce at his most vulnerable.
FAVOURITE QUOTE: ‘Joker: You’re crazy! I’m your only chance to get out of here! Let me go or we’ll both die!
Batman: Whatever it takes!’
DID YOU KNOW?: It’s the only comic book film nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature. It lost out to The Lion King (1994).
Irish Cinephile 