Comic Book Movies 101: Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm

• 20th Mar 2011

Still the greatest animated Batman – this feature came out of the Batman: The Animated Series from the early 90s. A truly beautifully directed and animated film with strong praise going to the writers who built on an already established world and characters created in the TV show. This version of Batman was very popular, but is still perhaps ridiculously under-seen by the adult crowd.  Thankfully the crowd back then watching the show are all adults now.

This tale finds a strange new character (The Phantasm) on the scene offing crime bosses.  Blame is laid on the Bat, and it’s up to the caped crusader and his alter ego to figure out just who is behind the mask of this would-be assassin. A former love is also in town which leads Bruce to flashbacks to the very beginnings of when he decided to take on the mantle of the bat.

It’s perhaps around the mid-point that the game is raised when the Joker makes his maniacal appearance.  Mark Hamill is owed so much by the people that made the animated series as his Joker is truly very original.  But then again, since when have we seen a BAD Joker on screen.  What seems to be so good is that the character has been interpreted in so many ways. Cesar Romero got kudos for the initial 60s offering. Nicholson got rave reviews for stealing the first reboot in 1989. Hamill continues to provide the voice for animation and now also game adaptations (and always slightly altering the performance of the character depending on how dark the project he is working on). And Heath Ledger of course won an Oscar for his performance in The Dark Knight.  It’s a failsafe character, and one you can interpret almost as much as Shakespeare’s.

The television show kept the standard up with its great art deco approach, and the focus on character driven stories kept it interesting. The show did eventually include Robin – and then when it needed a change they altered the animation style to make it look even more simplistic (to be honest – I hated the simplistic downsizing of the designs).

This package came together in terms of its design, character writing, voice acting and music. It’s a solid tone that works for Batman and his gallery of rogues and allies. There are more and more animated shows and films that try to show this in a different light. Sometimes retro; sometimes comical. But this remains the defining animated Batman. Perhaps the only way out is to follow the graphic novels (such as the The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum) or even the game franchise (again, Arkham Asylum) to bring us a more realistic animated style and a tone much more aimed at adults

The feature length animated ventures also continued but eventually began to drop in quality. Mask of The Phantasm though is as worthy as any of the better live action adaptations. We spend more time in Batman’s past than even Batman Begins dared to do. And here we also get to see more of the emotional side of Bruce Wayne. His potential life outside of being a crime-buster is laid on the cards for him and is made very appealing to him through the love interest of Andrea.

As we all know – it doesn’t all go to plan. What we’re left with is a reunion between the two that ends with revelations and a glorious showdown with the Joker at a broken down future world theme park. It still looks good even today!

The feature length animated ventures also continued but eventually began to drop in quality. Mask of The Phantasm though is as worthy as any of the better live action adaptations. We spend more time in Batman’s past than even Batman Begins dared to do. And here we also get to see more of the emotional side of Bruce Wayne. His potential life outside of being a crime-buster is laid on the cards for him and is made very appealing to him through the love interest of Andrea.

As we all know – it doesn’t all go to plan. What we’re left with is a reunion between the two that ends with revelations and a glorious showdown with the Joker at a broken down future world theme park. It still looks good even today!

The television show kept the standard up with its great art deco approach, and the focus on character driven stories kept it interesting. The show did eventually include Robin – and then when it needed a change they altered the animation style to make it look even more simplistic (to be honest – I hated the simplistic downsizing of the designs).

This package came together in terms of its design, character writing, voice acting and music. It’s a solid tone that works for Batman and his gallery of rogues and allies. There are more and more animated shows and films that try to show this in a different light. Sometimes retro; sometimes comical. But this remains the defining animated Batman. Perhaps the only way out is to follow the graphic novels (such as the The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum) or even the game franchise (again, Arkham Asylum) to bring us a more realistic animated style and a tone much more aimed at adults.

The feature length animated ventures also continued but eventually began to drop in quality. Mask of The Phantasm though is as worthy as any of the better live action adaptations. We spend more time in Batman’s past than even Batman Begins dared to do. And here we also get to see more of the emotional side of Bruce Wayne. His potential life outside of being a crime-buster is laid on the cards for him and is made very appealing to him through the love interest of Andrea.

As we all know – it doesn’t all go to plan. What we’re left with is a reunion between the two that ends with revelations and a glorious showdown with the Joker at a broken down future world theme park. It still looks good even today!

This is as epic as it gets – but there’s still time for a bittersweet ending before the credits role. If you haven’t checked out this version then you’re missing out. Go pick it up; it can be bought cheap enough now, but even at full retail price it’s worth every penny. This is the kind of Batman we like. It comes with both style and substance.

Steven Hurst