Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) - Comic to Movie #17

"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."

Directors

Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm

Cast

Kevin Conroy - Batman/ Bruce Wayne 

Dana Delany - Andrea Beaumont

Mark Hamill - The Joker

Abe Vigoda - Sal Valestra

Dick Miller - Chuckie Sol

Efrem Zimbalist - Alfred Pennyworth

Bob Hastings - Commissioner James Gordon

 

The animated film, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm," released in 1993, feels like an attempt by Warner Bros. to correct some of the shortcomings they made in their earlier Batman films - namely, Tim Burton's 1989 film "Batman" and its 1992 sequel, "Batman Returns." That's just an assumption. If that was the intention of their executives back then, kudos to them. 
By the time this movie came out in theaters, I was at the threshold of my teenage years. Animated movies simply didn't interest me like they used to. So, I passed on seeing "Mask of the Phantasm" until years later. 
This movie comes by way of "Batman: The Animated Series" which aired of the Fox Kids network from 1992 to 1995. I watched the first season fairly regularly. By the time the second season began airing, other things must have grabbed my attention. 
"Batman: The Animated Series" picked up later with a sequel called "The New Adventures of Batman." This ran on the Kids WB Network from 1997 to 1999, and was a sort of third season. 
It's followed by the animated "Batman Beyond" which ran from 1999 to 2001. Other series follow such as "The Batman" (2004-2005), "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" (2008-2011), and "Beware the Batman" (2013-2014).   
Honestly, I haven't seen any of these except for the original animated series.
The film starts as Batman (Kevin Conroy) crashes in on a meeting of Gotham City crime bosses, led by Chuckie Sol (Dick Miller).

Amidst all the chaos of Batman beating everyone up, Sol makes a run for it to the parking garage. As he gets in his car and tries to get away, he sees a mysterious masked figure shrouded in smoke - the Phantasm - a new masked vigilante spreading fear into the criminal gangland of Gotham City.
As Sol tries to ram his car into this mysterious person, the Phantasm dodges his attempt causing him to die in a fatal crash. 
A witness sees Batman at the scene in the garage. Therefor, he's blamed for Sol's death.
City councilman Arthur Reeves, whose on the mob's payroll, wants Batman arrested but Commission James Gordon is quick to defend Batman as he's convinced of Batman's innocence.
The story cuts back to ten years prior, as Bruce Wayne reminisces about Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delany), a young, attractive woman whom he met at the cemetery while visiting his parents' grave. 
The two start a relationship rather quickly. He soon proposes to her, which she initially accepts. But she ends up leaving town with her father, businessman Carl Beaumont (Stacy Keach).  
She ends their engagement with a letter, breaking Wayne's heart.
At this same time, Wayne begins his secret of life of vigilantism. Initially, he doesn't take on the Batman identity. His simple presence at the scene of the crime, even when beating up criminals, isn't instilling fear among the criminals of Gotham City. So, he tries to come up with a way that'll accomplish that.

Soon after, he takes on the identity of "Batman." And fear spreads quickly through the criminal underworld of Gotham City. 

After the incident in the parking garage with Sol, the Phantasm kills gangster, Buzz Bronski (John P. Ryan), at the same cemetery where Wayne met Beaumont years ago. 
Bronski's bodyguards witness the Phantasm and think it's Batman. 
When Batman investigates the crime scene, he wanders over to his parents gravesite. Nearby, he sees Beaumont. When she sees him, he unwittingly reveals his true identity to her because he's standing next to the Wayne's gravesite. 
Hearing the news of all these criminal deaths, another crime boss, Salvatore Valestra (Abe Vigoda) finds an old picture of himself with the now deceased boss. This terrifies him as he now thinks Batman is coming for him next. He turns to the Joker (Mark Hamill) for protection.
When the Phantasm comes to Valestra's house to kill him, he finds that the Joker beat him to it with some of his own deadly venom.
The Joker spots the Phantasm on a security camera. As he realizes that Batman isn't the culprit killing off all these crime lords, he blows up Valestra's mansion with a trap he set to ultimately take out Batman.
The Phantasm escapes the blast, and Batman pursues him. During the chase, Batman finds himself bruised and cornered by police. 
Beaumont happens to drive by the scene, and rescues Batman at the last second.
Bruce Wayne thinks Carl Beaumont is the Phantasm. But when he finds the photograph Valestra had in his possession, he recognizes one of the mobsters in the picture as the Joker. 
He soon determines the Joker is behind the Phantasm. However, the truth will turn out to be something Wayne never anticipated.

There is a lot of effort behind "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" to make a compelling film and it shows.

This film presents Batman/ Bruce Wayne in a more tragic way not necessarily scene before in movies. That might not be the case when it comes to the pages of comic books. 

When I first saw this movie, it was the first time I saw Batman as a truly torn figure. It was the first time I saw more into his origin than what Tim Burton presented in his movie. Burton's "Batman" touches upon Bruce Wayne's chilling and sad past, but the focus is unevenly split between him and the criminal shenanigans of Jack Napier/ Joker. There's more focus on the Joker than on Batman/ Bruce Wayne. 

Batman films after 1993 also touch upon the superhero's origin, especially Christopher Nolan's film, "Batman Begins." 

"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" makes this aspect of Batman a major focus.  

And, what's great about it is that this animated movie works. It provides a backstory to Batman/ Bruce Wayne, depicting him in a manner different from those scene in movies before.
Batman is truly human in this story. For a crimefighter, he's much more vulnerable, emotionally speaking. 

The animation is well done. The sound track fits in well. And the storyline is nicely balanced between drama and action. Thankfully, this movie doesn't overdo it with a lengthy run time. It's only 78 minutes long. That's perfect!

In the story, Bruce doesn't become Batman until after he receives Andrea's note. And the two are very similar people, at least as far as where their personal tragedies pushes them. 

In one scene, when Bruce puts on his mask for the first time, his butler, Alfred Pennyworth (Efrem Zimbalist) stops dead in his tracks and gasps. 

"My God!" Alfred says, reacting at the sight of Bruce, whom he's known all his life, as he embraces a life of retribution to the fullest extent. 

This reflects another scene where Bruce tells Alfred, "You think you know everything about me, don't you?"

"I diapered your bottom. I bloody well ought to, sir," Alfred says.

I seem to recall this movie wasn't marketed well when it was released. The story line is deeper than an average animated movie directed at children. Even Siskel and Ebert gave it positive reviews. Still, it bombed at the box office, which is a shame. 

This Batman story deserves recognition along side other well-loved and admired Batman films that have come before and after. It presents the caped crusader with depth, anguish and pain that carries on even past the story. As far as the Batman films of the 1990s, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" is the best we got. I'll add that I still have a special place in my heart for Burton's '89 film.