Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Promotional poster of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Directed by	Eric Radomski Bruce Timm
Produced by	Tom Ruegger Michael E. Uslan
Written by	Comic Book: Bob Kane Screenplay: Alan Burnett Paul Dini Martin Pasko Michael Reaves
Starring	Kevin Conroy Dana Delany Mark Hamill
Music by	Shirley Walker
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	December 25, 1993
Running time	76 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is an animated film first released on December 25, 1993. Although released in the Tim Burton era, it is completely unrelated to the live-action movies. It was created by the same cast and crew as Batman: The Animated Series, having been originally intended as a direct-to-video spin-off from the series. The cartoon series was initially a marketing tie-in for the Batman Returns movie.

[edit] Plot

The film's story divides into two parts: one in the film's "present", and one, told through flashbacks, in the early days of Bruce Wayne's crimefighting career.

Bruce Wayne's fledgeling career faces two major obstacles: first, he is having trouble getting criminals to take him seriously at first sight (not having yet hit upon the bat motif); second, he has fallen in love. The recipient of his affections is Andrea Beaumont, red-haired and blue-eyed, not only beautiful but seemingly his equal in every way. Realizing that an ongoing relationship with Andrea would massively complicate his crusade against crime, Bruce decides that one of them has to go. After a long internal struggle, the crusade loses. Bruce proposes to Andrea, and she accepts. The next day, however, Andrea sends her engagement ring back with a note telling Bruce to forget her, and leaves the country. Devastated, Bruce throws himself back into crimefighting, and after discovering a large bat-haunted cavern in his backyard, becomes Batman.

In the present, a mysterious cloaked figure is stalking and killing Gotham City mob bosses. The murders are the work of a new vigilante, the Phantasm, who resembles the Grim Reaper in appearance, but many attribute them to Batman, who becomes the target of a police manhunt. The situation becomes complicated when Andrea Beaumont returns to Gotham, forcing Bruce Wayne to deal with the feelings he still has for her. Things are further complicated when Batman discovers that the link between the slain mob bosses is Andrea's now-deceased father, who had business dealings with all of them before his mysterious death. Also present is the Joker, who in the days before his life-changing accident worked for one of the mob bosses. Not only is he the last of the Phantasm's targets, but also the last man still living in Gotham who can explain what the Phantasm is up to. Batman traces the Joker to his hideout, the abandoned site of the Gotham World's Fair, to get some answers and at the same time, save his nemesis from death.

And get them he does. The Joker may be the last man who understands the Phantasm's crusade, but one woman does as well: Andrea Beaumont, who is the Phantasm; she has returned to Gotham City to complete her vengeance against her father's murderers, the last of which is the Joker himself, the man who actually did the deed. She finally catches him as the fair grounds begin to crumble in flame around them. Wayne invites her to return with him, but she refuses, keeping ahold of the struggling Joker to prevent his escape; Batman gets out of the park through the sewer just before it explodes. As the movie closes, Bruce, now permanently alone, returns to his crime fighting ways; while, at the Gotham harbors, a cruise liner pulls away, carrying on it Andrea, a sad expression on her face.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Critical reaction

The movie was extremely well received by fans of Batman: The Animated Series, and earned a positive review from almost every critic. For instance, film critics Siskel & Ebert, while regretting that they originally ignored the film in its initial release, gave the film a two-thumbs up, the only Batman film to be given such praise until Batman Begins. Rotten Tomatoes lists it as having 13 positive reviews out of 13 posted, thus earning a 100% rating. It has since become a cult classic.

The dark nature of the film has also been respected by animation fans, in particular the film noir-esque storyline and frame structure

In tone and theme, this is one of the most authentic Batman films ever. It has an authentic noir structure involving death, love, betrayal and a bitter ending.

• Redemption - The film depicts Bruce Wayne as a classically conflicted and emotionally tortured character. His constant pursuit of redemption is ongoing, and no matter how many criminals he reins in, the peace he desires is just out of his reach. Indeed, at his parents' grave, after meeting Andrea, he kneels in the rain and begs them to release him from his promise - "I'll give the city money to hire more cops"; however, he can never really be free. The film closes with an image of Batman hunched on a rooftop, tensed and reflective. The bat-signal shines in the distance behind him, he comes to life, rising tall. The juxtaposition of such images suggests that Bruce Wayne will indeed always be Batman.

• Betrayal - The betrayal (specifically, for money) of Andrea Beaumont's father by his mob boss colleagues is a pivotal event, and serves as the basis for Andrea's later murdering of Chuckie Sol and Buzz Bronski.

• Love - Bruce and Andrea have a passing moment of happiness - this, however, is Noir and love never lasts. Even when Bruce proposes, a flurry of bats appear from a crack in the earth to surround them.

The film shifts in time with many flashbacks . The "past" is initially a time of optimism symbolised by Bruce falling for Andrea while the present is a time of pessimism. The Gotham World's Fair exists as a key motif, namely in a glimmering exhibition of future domestic technologies visited by Bruce and Andrea. Technology ostensibly promises a better tomorrow. The present reality, however, reveals the site of the World's Fair as a set of rotten teeth, serving as a hiding place for the Joker.

[edit] Box office

Despite all the positive reviews the movie received, it was not a huge success at the box office. Costing less than a million dollars to produce and promote, it only grossed $5 million domestically and $11 million worldwide, and due to its low earnings, most theatres stopped showing it after only one or two weeks. Blame could be laid on the lack of advertisement and the rush decision to put it in theatres at all; up until mere weeks before its premiere, directors Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski believed it was going to be a DTV effort only. All future animated Batman movies would be released direct-to-video.

However, when the film was released to video on April 26, 1994, it turned a substantially higher profit, earning millions more than in its limited theatrical release.

[edit] Trivia

• Originally, Mask of the Phantasm was going to be the finale to Batman: The Animated Series. It has been claimed that a deleted scene from the movie shows the Joker's final battle with the Phantasm and his escape.
• The storyline of Mask of the Phantasm utilises elements of the comic Batman: Year Two, although it creates a very different story out of them.
• Due to the much more relaxed standards and practices of a motion picture, Timm and company could get away with more violence than on TV. Therefore, the film marks the first time the DCAU's Joker was actually allowed to kill somebody, a crime lord (Salvatore Valestra) via laughing gas, and, offscreen, Andrea Beaumont's father (Carl Beaumont). It is implied that the corrupt city councilman, Arthur Reeves, died from laughing gas also. (In the case of Arthur Reeves, however, he is still proven to be alive in a comic book "sequel" to the movie that was published a few years later.) Two other deaths also occur in the film.
• Alfred's hair changes from gray to black (and vice versa) several times.
• The soundtrack to Mask of the Phantasm is highly acclaimed among fans of the motion picture. The opening theme's lyrics are said to be the names of the design staff, sung backwards. The ending theme, "I Never Even Told You" was performed by actress Tia Carrere.
• During the scene where Batman is trying to find Joker in the Futuristic Gotham City section of the park, you can clearly see a WB logo on one of the model buildings.
• The word "Phantasm" is never spoken in the film.
• In the scene in which Batman links Buzz Bronsky and Chuckie Sol, he mentions the front companies O'Neil Funding Corporation and Adam's Tool and Die. These names are references to the legendary Batman writer / artist team from the 1970s, Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams
• It's interesting to point out that the "Phantasm" character could have been inspired by another similar Batman character known as Azrael (comics). Both characters have hooded masks, white eyes, covered mouths, and both use weapons attached to their hands. Azrael is also a term used to define an "angel of death". The "Phantasm" says the phrase, "Your angel of death awaits..." multiple times throughout the movie.
• The Phantasm reappears in the last episode of Season 1 of Justice League Unlimited (titled "Epilogue".) In that episode, it is revealed that Terry McGinnis is actually the product of a genetic experiment by Amanda Waller to produce a near-clone of Bruce Wayne to continue the Batman legacy. As part of this plot, Waller intended to have McGinnis' parents murdered in his childhood. In the episode, Waller arranges to have Andrea Beaumont, as the Phantasm, commit the murders, but Beaumont refuses at the last moment to go through with it, knowing such an act would be slap in the face to the very legacy Batman himself upheld.

[edit] References

• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm at Box Office Mojo
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] External links

• Batman Mask Of The Phantasm @ BYTB: Batman Yesterday, Today and Beyond