Review of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) by Iain M — 04 Nov 2011

A fine animated feature, and one of the better Batman movies that's up there with the Tim Burton adaptations. Hard to believe that this is almost 20 years old though, or even that it's been more than that since we were introduced to Batman: The Animated Series, which this film is an accompaniment to.

The story sees Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy, possibly the definitive Batman) being framed for the murders of mob bosses who are really being picked off by a strange new anti-hero known as the Phantasm (Stacy Keach). As Bruce Wayne, Batman thinks back to a few years before the current events, when he first decided to try and fight crime, but at the same time finds love in Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delany), the daughter of a businessman who owed a lot of money to the mob (the same mobsters being offed by Phantasm). Switching between the present day, when Andrea comes back into his life and the past, when Andrea, having forced to flee the country with her dad, breaks up with Bruce, setting him on the path to becoming the Caped Crusader, the story then takes a dark turn when introducing the Joker (a career defining role for Mark Hamill). A well written film with a great plot and amazing voice acting parts, this is definitely a Batman movie that goes ahead of the Christopher Nolan adaptations.