An exciting, humanistic Caped Crusader tale

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM (1993)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I always appreciated the old Max Fleischer Superman cartoons from back in the day - they were fast, colorful and hugely entertaining. They also afforded the viewer (back in the 1940's) the opportunity to see Superman flying and performing daring feats against the enemies. Those cartoons, some which lasted no more than 10 minutes, didn't allow much time for character development. "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" has the Art Deco style of Max Fleischer and it is colorful and buckets of fun to watch, but it also affords the viewer the time to invest in its characters.

The Bruce Wayne character of this animated film looks a lot like Clark Kent, but that is only a minor flaw. Batman (with the menacing white eyes in his mask, voiced by Kevin Conroy) has been blamed for the deaths of a few goodfellas in Gotham City. It is not Batman who is killing them, it is some figure in a cape and a skull mask known as the Phantasm (calling itself the Grim Reaper who approaches his victims in an emerging fog bank), who is doing away with some 1940's-type gangsters. There is also Bruce's old flame to contend with, a certain Andrea Beaumont (voiced by Dana Delaney), who is back in Gotham for rather cryptic reasons. Andrea's father owed money to a few gangsters and his disappearance thickens the plot. Added to the Caped Crusader's personal demons (and a load of flashbacks to his origins and his once romantic relationship with Andrea) is the return of the mean Joker (a kooky voice and kookier laugh by Mark Hamill!) who knows Batman could never kill.

"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" is beautifully, structurally animated in its sonic sweep of Gotham City and its various characters (the finale is a scorcher in terms of sound, picture and detail) and it is all anchored by sharp pacing and editing and even sharper dialogue (some of it drips with the irony of the best of 1940's noir). Plus, there is a welcome insight into the dichotomy of Bruce Wayne and Batman. The film makes this duality come alive in ways that Tim Burton's own Batman films or the sequels that followed never quite mustered. You actually care about both Bruce (who hopes to eradicate his crime-fighting skills) and the Dark Knight himself and that makes this 76-minute film sing. "Batman" also works as a love story between Bruce and Andrea, and it ends with a slight note of despair. Still, no worries, kids will love this film as well as adults. Aside from Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight interpretations, "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" is a strong contender for one of the best Batman flicks ever.