BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM
January 7th 2010 05:11
Category: Videos
Based on the DC Comics Batman character created by Bob Kane
Directors: Eric Radomski & Bruce W Timm
Screenplay by: Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko & Michael Reaves
Producers: Benjamin Melniker & Michael Uslan
Starring: Kevin Conroy (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Dana Delaney (Andrea Beaumont), Mark Hamil (the Joker), Efrem Zimbalist Jnr (Albert Pennyworth), Stacey Keach Jnr (Phantasm/Carl Beaumont), Hart Bochner (Arthur Reeves) & Abe Vigoda (Salvatore Valestra)
Produced by: Warner Brothers
Released by: Warner Home Entertainment
Running Time: 73 minutes Rating: PG
It’s interesting to note that I saw this particular move first on VHS format a fair while back, it was rather spectacular then and it still maintains its atmosphere and gravitas in DVD format. In fact if memory serves me correctly my first viewing of this film was back in the days when DVD were still in their infancy, players and discs were only just coming into circulation. Oh well my sudden diversion down memory lane aside, when you watch this particular animated feature you can see that the filmmakers and voice actors and scriptwriters have got everything just right, a tight taut story complete with stunning visuals and spot on character acting. A sure fire recipe for success, although I have to say it’s not one that has been carried on but again I digress.
This particular feature is effectively one where it is relatively early in the career of the Dark Knight, he has finally gotten his methodology down pat but he is still not accepted by those in positions of power, namely certain elements amongst the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) and the city council. These elements are only too happy to see the Detective as some kind of crazed vicious vigilante pursuing a misguided psychotic vendetta. Of course in one persons case this suits their own agenda, they have a reason for wanting such a campaign to be undertaken, dark secrets that they not want brought into the bright light of day.
Essentially at some point in the early days of his crime fighting career Bruce Wayne, the man who would eventually become the Dark Knight was still feeling his way, seeking to find his modus operandi by which he could effectively fulfil his vow to his brutally murdered parents. Confusion suddenly puts a serious spanner in his works and agenda in that most basic of all forms…love. He meets an attractive young woman, Andrea Beaumont, daughter of the wealthy financier Carl Beaumont. Ms Beaumont seems to be the ideal match for the brooding and somewhat moody Bruce Wayne and for a while he finds himself enjoying life, and as soon as he realises what happens he begins to question the path on which he has embarked.
Shock horror, the Dark Knight contemplating that perhaps a life with a beautiful woman and blissful domesticity is a better path than stalking the night’s shadows and beating up on bad guys!? Surely it can’t be happening, but this is a dilemma that in those early halcyon days our protagonist finds himself confronted with. Strangely though having to make a decision on this matter seems to be taken from his very hands and Andrea Beaumont leaves the United States for continental Europe. Phew a close one that, but the interesting thing is that this failed relationship is an indicator of things to come, it is pointer that serves to give the audience a degree of pathos in the drama. Without this particular moment in the history of Batman we would not be able to understand the rest of what is presented before our eyes in the story.
Several crime bosses of the old school variety are all being killed off, and it seems to some that it is the Batman who is doing this. A cry that swiftly taken up by the media and is echoed by a vigorous young councillor on the Gotham City council as well as a few elements within the GCPD. Said councillor, one Arthur Reeves, has his reason for jumping on the Batman bashing bandwagon, no doubt election time is coming up but there are also dark factors in his past, factors he would prefer not revealed. Naturally though the Batman himself is curious as to who is taking out these old school crime bosses, and they’re literally old school. These are crime bosses who are into snappy suits, fedoras and Havana cigars – not weird costumes and gadgets and none of them have super abilities. So when someone who has a few seeming supernatural abilities decides to take the law into their own hands, a mysterious figure known as the Phantasm then they find themselves out of their league.
Lex Luthor felt he had it bad with Superman, but at least Superman never tried to put him in a coffin unlike this particular individual. Seeking vengeance this enigmatic figure engages in a methodical campaign in eliminating a chain of old school crime figures. Of course when this figure finishes cleaning up these oldsters there is one last figure they have to take care of…the Joker. Back in the day before he became the infamous nemesis of the Dark Knight he used to be a minion of the several crime bosses who have been shuffling off into the afterlife. His involvement with these figures saw him become a target of this vengeful vigilante.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a truly enjoyable feature flick complete with the right atmosphere and gravitas that suits its story. There is just the right mix of over the top classical music complete with the right mix of dark brooding moments, lightning flashes and moments of happiness and joy, a finely crafted masterpiece of an animated feature. As I said early on in this review, they got the recipe just right but I cannot understand why it was not followed on in subsequent features by Warner Brothers, namely Superman: Doomsday. Still if you are a fan of the Batman then this is well worth watching.
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