• Directed by: Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski
• Written by: Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, Martin Pasko, Michael Reaves
• Release Date: December 25, 1993
• 78 Minutes

    1989 saw the release of a film that;
1) had a still relatively new-ish director at the helm, this being his third film,
2) was meant to reinvent its main character in the eyes of the mainstream populace, and
3) received a massive amount of hate in regards to the casting of its lead.

     The studio behind it put together a quick teaser to hopefully combat the negative rumours that were coming off of the production, and put the mass audience at ease. How did this pay off for them when the movie came out that June?

The thug broke multiple bones from Batman simply speaking to him.

     Batman made over $400 million off of its $35 million budget, but that wasn’t the only thing Warner Bros. had to celebrate. The movie also made a pretty penny off of merchandising sales. Pretty penny, of course, translating to roughly $750 million. So, yeah, things went pretty well. Warner Bros. decided that, besides the obviousness of a sequel, they should go forward with some more Batman oriented works to capture the wave of success they were having. One has wonder if they even had any idea how this decision would change things.

     September of 1992 saw the debut of Batman: The Animated Series a mere 3 months after the release of Batman Returns. And it did change things. I’m not going to go into too much detail on the show as I hope to someday take a mass look at the series, but its affects and influence are wide. Even though Warners had intended to make a more 'grounded' superhero show than any of the ones that had come before, here was something that was essentially still made to be “children’s programming”, but it was filled with adult themes and problems. It wasn’t a show that catered to what people thought as “children’s entertainment”. It treated children as individuals that could follow and be immersed and understand what the show tackled, and not be bored or disinterested by them. We had gotten plenty of animated films that treated children with the respect they deserve in what was produced for them, but shows tended to still opt for the easy fun. Not that that’s a bad thing. The crew behind the series knew effort in work intended for children wasn’t a waste, in terms of fulfilling plots and characters that, well, were actually deep characters.
     The show was a massive success in its initial season and Warner Bros decided; “Hey! You guys should make a movie, a nice little direct-to-video film.” Then, while in production, they came around again and said; “Hey! How about making this a theatrical release?” This gave the production a very small amount of time to run back to what they had finished and convert it to the proper aspect ratio for theaters. And while this was stressful, everyone on the crew was excited, as they were given a few million dollars more to be able to expand on what they wanted, as well as maintaining creative control. All in all, from the beginning of production to the end, the film was made in a scant eight months. So with that quick of a timeline for work and changes once more money was given to them, how did the film turn out? Not only is it my favourite Batman film, but it is arguably the best Batman film ever released.

     Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was released on Christmas Day of 1993, and it was not a commercial success. Though it would eventually make its fair share of money back on home video, in theaters it only made $5.6 million off of its $6 million budget. Now, in times like these, it is normal to start seeing fingers being pointed, but here it isn’t the obvious oft-experienced kind of people avoiding blame, and is rooted in legitimate frustrations. The frustrations being of the filmmakers over the fact that Warner Bros. didn’t do a proper job marketing the movie for its release, the way it should’ve been once the decision was made to actually release it in theaters. This wasn’t a case of a muddled production leading to “what the hell happened here, holy crap”, but a group of people making something they were, rightly, proud of and were let down by those that were expected to do their end. This happens, it’s not an isolated incident here, but it just goes to show that some finger-pointing, for lack of a better term, that comes from anger and frustration is understandable, especially when the theatrical release was a short notice idea on Warners part so expectations and hopes were raised for those involved.

     The film was a critical success, though, a lot of the praise being put upon what made the animated series a success, of course. Themes, writing, acting, it was even called by some as being superior to the at-the-time two live action films. But what makes it so great? Besides what I just listed, I’m going to talk about three things, technically two but…eh, in particular that stand out for me without getting too spoiler-y as a whole. Which, if you haven’t seen the movie, I recommend watching it, immensely, even before this. The internet can wait!

    The first, and quickest, area to discuss involves taking a leap into the plot. What’s Mask of the Phantasm about?

If this guy visited Ebenezer first, that entire fiasco would've ended quick.

     A new, mysterious figure has shown up in Gotham City for the sole purpose of murdering mob bosses. And I don’t mean ‘murder’ in the clean, kids entertainment sort, no, The Phantasm does not mess around, in a holy horrific way. In a ‘pushing-angel-gravestones-onto-people-inside-open-graves’ way. The first instance of the Phantasm (who’s never referred to as such in the film) murdering a mob boss is complicated by Batman showing up a tad late and being witnessed at the scene, leading to a frenzy around the city, especially with the mobsters, over the fact that Batman has seemingly snapped. Meanwhile, we are introduced to Andrea Beaumont, an old girlfriend of Bruce’s, who is returning to the city for business.
    As the film goes on we see flashbacks of the two meeting, falling in love, and even getting engaged, before Andrea abruptly leaves with her father. It is also through these flashbacks that we see Bruce getting his vigilante persona together and how Batman comes to be. In the present, whilst doing his detecting, he confronts Andrea, believing her to have a connection to this Phantasm fellow. Meanwhile-meanwhile, the eldest mob boss, Salvatore Valestra, scared out of his wits over Batman seemingly murdering mobsters now, takes a briefcase full of money to get help from the one man that may be the most suited to help; The Joker.

     That takes us to the halfway point, and that alone should give an idea of why I have always respected the film. It’s 76 minutes long, less with credits, and not a second is wasted. There is so much going on. What it succeeds at, though, is that it never feels rushed, or as if there is too much crammed in. Scenes, moments, and characters are still given time to breath and have an impact on the audience. I know that animation is difficult and different from live-action storytelling, that they can’t afford to waste a single frame, but Mask of the Phantasm is a perfect example of story structure and building. This is a 70-minute ride of emotions, mystery, and, of course, thrills, but it is also an effective character drama and, in terms of ones being used, character study, in subtle ways.
     This leads to number two… and three… I honestly, from my heart, believe Mask of the Phantasm should be watched by anyone who wishes to write any kind of adaptation, specifically when it comes to, like mentioned, character writing. The series creators have always had an impeccable understanding of the characters, and you can tell that they used this opportunity of extra time to dig deep into the most important character.

     The film allowed the makers to touch on Bruce Wayne’s past in a way that, with the overarching plot tying into it, doesn’t feel like it’s 'there', or just a way to cover his past because the crew thought they would eventually or that they 'might as well'. Through this they were able to, in their own way, explore something that the live action films really haven’t head on.

    Here’s the thing; Yes, Batman is awesome. We’re on the internet, we know. People love Batman. But what needs to be remembered is that, in all seriousness, Batman is a disease. Bruce Wayne is, of course, a psychologically hurt individual. I say hurt because I don’t like saying damaged. Don’t describe people with mental health problems as damaged, it’s an awful thing to do. Bruce Wayne is lost through his own belief that this is something he must do. Depending on what point you look into his life, he has spent about a good 30% of it training for everything possible, and knowing how to deal with whatever comes his way, except you can’t prepare for this silly little thing called life. So when Andrea does walk into his life, it is understandable why he would be at odds and confused about his feelings and what to do. That’s when we’re given heartbreaking scenes like Bruce at his parents’ grave asking for forgiveness, feeling he has gone back on his promise to them, saying he never expected to be happy.

Don't mind me and my quiet sobbing.

     The most well written pieces, and what makes Mask of the Phantasm have the power it does, is that it puts us in a very specific place as the audience. Again, yes, Batman is great, but there is someone underneath the cowl. Remembering this, we end up feeling towards Bruce the way his parents would. We want him to be happy, and he deserves to be happy, especially since he is a genuinely nice person. I always loved the Animated Series portrayal of Bruce. He’s a billionaire playboy, sure, but he is still presented as respected, to a degree, and likeable. Any disrespect that may be aimed towards him is either from rich people who see him as a young partier that doesn’t fit into their ‘prestige’ crowd, or the lower class who think he may be just another cocky rich man type, because that’s what they expect. But he’s never full on showcased as making his public persona as an overbearing jerk to throw people off his trail if the question of him as Batman ever comes up. Instead, he’s kind of more of a guy who’s 'there'. He has his charm and charisma and likability, but he downplays his intelligence at times. He can take part in important business conversations, but at the same time be easily distracted by a swooning lady that catches his eye. He’s a goof, essentially, skirting that line of people knowing they have to take him seriously, but also rolling their eyes whenever he’s in the room.

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     So since Bruce is portrayed as an actual person, one who’s likable, he’s someone we want to see have good things happen to. But Bruce is someone who needs help. His obsession with what he feels obligated to do destroying any aspect of him having a life. What makes this worse is the fact that this is something he believes he has to do. He has completely worked it into his head that it’s something his parents would want, but we know that that isn’t the case, as his parents, like any good parent, would want nothing more than their child to have a happy life before anything else.
     The stranglehold of this belief is why, when Andrea leaves and Bruce feels there’s nothing more for him to do but what he had originally planned anyway, the entire thing doesn’t come off as a ‘woe is me, brooding, auugh, darkness’ kind of moment that we always joke about Batman being. It’s more of a sad moment for us. This leads to the first instance of Bruce dressing up as Batman, in a flashback, and it also gives us, in my mind, the most effective moment ever put onto screen when it comes to the character. Bruce holds his hand out, clad in darkness, and Alfred hands him the mask that he puts on for the first time. Alfred reacts with shock, and a “My God!”

No jokes here, just a very sad moment.

     That right there sums up what Batman is. The scene doesn’t have us reacting with excitement towards a hero we love, by this point more-so filling us with a sort of pensive sadness. Batman isn’t this awesome “hell yeah, let’s go” moment in terms of character, it’s the complete loss of Bruce Wayne as himself, essentially. What makes this sadder is the fact that, as the audience, we are knowledgeable in Bruce’s history, from comics and the like, and we know that this isn’t going to make things any better like he thinks it will. As a matter of fact, Batman makes things worse for Bruce and anyone who enters his life that loves and cares about him. This is an incredibly deep thing to explore and look at, even with the subtlety that Mask of the Phantasm does it with, especially in terms of something that came to life as still aiming for that “children’s demographic.”

>     But hey! Now that we have covered how the film is perfect in its interesting and deep portrayal of Bruce Wayne, let’s take a look at something… I was going to say more uppity but no, not at all. Very much the opposite, actually.

I'm sure this fellow is incredibly trustworthy.

     The Joker arrives about 37 minutes into the film, halfway through, and hangs over the rest of it like a guillotine, though he doesn’t have a massive amount of screen-time. And even though he seems like the most obvious choice for “who to add in this from Batman”, he in no way, at no time, feels like he may be shoe-horned in. The creators were, in their own words, very careful about such an inclusion, and found that they could do things with him here you may not necessarily be able to do in live action. He is made to fit perfectly into the story, the two complementing each other incredibly. As a matter of fact, there are a few very interesting places they end up going with him, places that make you understand the filmmakers decisions.
     It seems, as time goes on, in terms of films, people write Joker as a consistently threatening and creepy individual, always reminding you of who he is and how scaaaary he is (*Cough-August 2016-Cough*). But for me, that slightly ruins the character. The thing about the Joker is, he’s the Joker. You don’t have to make him always on edge and oh-so odd and dangerous. The most effective way the Joker is used is when he is calm and jokey with his sense of humour and, for lack of a better word, understated in his evil. What makes the Joker terrifying is the fact that we know what he is capable of, everyone does, but you don’t know what can set him off and when. Him giddily having conversations with people and patting them on the back makes him way more nerve-racking at any given moment than trying to make him overbearingly threatening. That turns into trying too hard. It’s this form of characterizing that the people behind the animated series were great at using. The perfect example of that from the movie being the moment Sal Valestra goes to him for help against the thought of Batman killing mobsters, offering him millions to do so. Of course, Joker’s mind is a little bit elsewhere when it comes to reports of Batman possibly going off the deep-end, and Valestra doesn’t have time for that. While Joker is giggling to himself about quite possibly being the one to finally make Batsy crack, Valestra grabs him by the collar to talk him down. At first Joker is caught off guard, then he becomes infuriated, yelling at the old man not to touch him, before laughing and, with an arm over his shoulder, making a joke to Sal to ease the tension. It's only a few seconds long altogether, but it's more terrifying than any other instance where people try to make him intimidating or scary.

     The reason why this works so well in making the Joker effective is simple. Joker is, by all accounts, a psychopath that wants nothing more than to cause pain and destruction for kicks. These types of people exist and are out there. But it is this fly-off-the-handle-at-any-point demeanor that makes him scary to us because it’s the most explicitly human thing that we can connect to. This can be attested to by anyone who has lived in a domestic abusive environment, or just an abusive household in general. There’s nothing more terrifying than having to be around someone who you know can fly into a violent rage at any moment for no particular reason, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You don’t know what will set them off because there isn’t anything in particular that will do so. They just will. And it’s these calm and quiet moments that are incredibly pressuring and absolutely awful. On a quick note, in case anyone is wondering about it now, I’m not touching on it here but I will at some point write about Joker and Harley Quinn. All I will say for now is, whosever idea it was to make those Joker and Harley hashtag-relationship goals wristbands, you make me go on a string of expletives whenever I thought about those stupid, ill-conceived, anger-inducing things.

Hashtag goFyourselves!

     Needless to say, The Joker is an intelligent individual. And just like people who are abusive, he gleefully knows fully well that he has those around him constantly on edge because of this. He uses it to his advantage. You don’t have to explicitly try hard in making Joker terrifying for him to be terrifying. It’s built in, and this is something the creators of the animated series always understood and used effectively. Also, the only thing scarier than someone like this being calm and collected? “Sincerity.” So Joker reassuring Valestra that he is going to help him, and no one will “hurt his pal, Sal”, is unnerving. Especially when it’s followed with a close-up of Joker’s face saying “That’s what I like to see, a nice, big smile.”

Personal space, good Lord, personal space!

     Mask of the Phantasm, same as the show, is kind of this adaptation godsend. Again, the creators understood their characters and how to use them and what stories worked best for each and every one, and it’s why they were able to give us, essentially, the perfect look into the core of its main character. Batman is why we’re here, but it is Bruce Wayne that’s Batman, and that is something they never forgot. Because of this, the film, in my opinion, is the best pure look into this individual we love on the screen. We see him hurt and, in a lot of ways, defeated, but in Mask of the Phantasm it’s genuine. It doesn’t come off as a whole as some things written by people who believe “darkness” is the defining trait of Batman. There’s substance to that darkness, and if you don’t have it, that’s when you get a character who is nothing more than a one note brooding jerk, which Lego Batman satirized amazingly.
     It’s this movie that originally made me fascinated with legitimately writing the character, specifically in novel form to explore more over time. You can give people the badass Caped Crusader, but still explore the struggles of this person as a person. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine to have ‘dark’ Batman, or just light and fun Batman, I don’t want you thinking I want all seriousness all the time, but there needs to be more to it, and it’s disheartening a lot of the time when there isn’t, just because this film goes to show that the foundation is there, and easily accessible.

     Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is what you get when you have people that don’t just want to put Batman on screen for easy success, they want to put love and care into telling an interesting, deep, heartfelt story. And they succeed. There’s a reason why this film pops up on many lists of underrated films, not just animated but in general. The praise that it has gotten over the years, as well as its following, is very much earned. The reason behind this is simple; Batman: Mask of the Phantasm isn’t just a great Batman movie, it’s a great movie period.