Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Movie Review
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a 1993 superhero film directed by Bruce Timm and starring Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. It’s the best Batman movie released so far.
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“Vengeance blackens the soul, Bruce.
I’ve always feared that you would become
that which you fought against.
You walk the edge of that abyss every night,
but you haven’t fallen in and I thank heaven for that“
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The storyline is truly excellent. I loved the whole mystery and that detective angle was so well played. This is what a Batman movie should be as it is pleasantly reminiscent to ‘Batman Arkham Asylum’ to me. It is faithful to the comics in its characters and approach. And the twist I found to be excellent myself.
Let’s talk about the characters. Batman is great. I loved the flashbacks that feature his beginnings and to me the movie really got Batman and his pain of losing his parents. That final line of Alfred’s truly is remarkable and very poignant as well as important – he is constantly on the precipice of falling down that vengeance path, and the fact that he never does is what makes him a great hero and a moral man.
As for Alfred, he’s excellent too and also quite amusing in a couple of sequences. I found Andrea Beaumont truly terrific, and her story is both tragic and very memorable, with the backstory and everything being superbly crafted. The other criminals also serve their purpose in this somewhat crime-resembling movie which is still a detective film above all else.
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As for The Joker, of course he steals the show with his amusing lines of dialogue and a crazy personality. Most of his schemes really worked out and he’s very memorable in this entire movie… well, the second half where he appeared. This is my Joker and Mark Hamill will always remain the best Joker by a mile as he sounds entirely like the character, plus the character is written as crazy and as goofy as he should act. Kevin Conroy is also the best Batman.
Both are excellent here as the entire cast did a terrific job. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm also features splendid animation. This is not only very cool looking, but also genuinely artistic. The shadows are accentuated, the black or dark blue colors really pop and the entire aesthetic is very much reminiscent of the noir genre which goes in tandem with its detective, crime and mystery elements. The character design is terrific across the board too.
The score is also superb and very thrilling and at times even grand with its Medieval and/or operatic pieces. The action sequences are a bit too abundant at some parts of the movie, but overall they were gloriously executed and thrilling to follow. Especially some of the set pieces were really powerful. The entire production is very cool, confident, mature and objectively excellent. The dialogue is also very strong and the theme of vengeance is so well explored.
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Mask of the Phantasm acts as a continuation to the show ‘Batman: The Animated Series’. That show is so good and I definitely found the movie in line with its aesthetic and overall comics-accurate approach. I would say that at times the movie obviously seemed too episodic and scattershot a bit in its structure and pace, but overall it resembled the finest episodes of the show in terms of the quality, and it remains my favorite and in my opinion the best theatrically released Batman movie.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a bit episodic in nature and short, but otherwise superb across the board. It features the best Batman ever played by Kevin Conroy and the greatest Joker played by Mark Hamill. The animation is gloriously artistic, the dialogue is very good, the theme of vengeance is well explored and the score is excellent. It features very strong action and storytelling while its entire atmosphere is very much reminiscent of the noir genre with its detective, mystery and crime elements all being splendid. It is in my opinion the best Batman movie of all time, the one that is better than any live-action offering we’ve got so far.
