Retrospective
Often
considered not only one of the best animated Batman films but also one
of the best Batman films period, Mask of the Phantasm didn’t
receive all of the love and attention that the other theatrical
Bat-flicks did. The decision to turn it theatrical came well into the
film’s production and as a result the film wasn’t originally conceived
to be as “epic” as it could have been. Still, fans were delighted and
critics generally loved it, although the eventual box office intake
would prove to be disappointing, despite receiving a Christmas Day
release. Marketed simply too much towards children, the film never had a
hope of attracting the more mature audience it deserved based solely on
the trailer.
In fact, that may have been the film's biggest issue. The trailer, which
can be viewed here under the “Backstage” area, is perhaps one of the
worst conceived in the history of film. Horrible cutting, unfinished
sound effects and dialogue and just an overall shoddy production made
this film look truly like a giant waste of time. It’s not even worthy to
be a trailer for a DTV, which it was originally conceived to be, as it
simply made for some truly head-scratching viewing; why is Batman’s
“greatest danger” followed up with a clip of him turning the corner and
looking at an empty door and why are random clips thrown together with
no cohesion? Why is Phantasm his greatest threat? What exactly is this
film even about? You wouldn’t get an idea of that from the trailer and
parents likely didn’t want to suffer through what they assumed would be
a lifeless film, so they simply chose not to go.
Then again, the budget for this film couldn’t have been much more than
three or four episodes, as the animation didn’t receive any real bump in
quality, so the $5.6 million it did make at the box office probably more
than covered the entire production and marketing budget the film
received. Of course, to me the fact this film had anything to do with
Batman was more than enough and my six year old self was dying to see
it. My household was strict on what we were allowed to watch and the
animated series was off limits due to all of the reports that my parents
read about the violence level and as a result I wasn’t allowed to see it
during its original theatrical run. Yet for some strange reason when it
hit VHS down the line, my dad bought it for me and to this day I can
still remember going to Wal-Mart to buy it and taking it home to watch
it. I remember the exact spot I sat down to watch it and while I don’t
remember much from my first viewing, I do remembering just loving it.
And also being kind of confused as to what was going on with all of the
flashbacks and whatnot, but what did I care? It was Batman and I’d
finally gotten to see it after all of these years. From then I would
watch the film a ridiculous number of times, wearing out the VHS tape
and putting creases in the cover, spine and pages of the accompanying
comic book adaptation that was included with the original VHS release.
In many ways I ate, slept and dreamt Phantasm for years as that
was the only animated Batman I was allowed to watch, which is quite
baffling and a testament to how screwed up my parents censoring of what
my eyes saw was: Phantasm was leagues in violence and scary
imagery past what you saw on the animated series itself, so in essence
I’d already seen the worst that the show had to offer before anything
else.
But,
as I said, I was six at the time. This is all retrospect and, thus far,
has jack squat to do with the film itself. In the course of doing this
retrospective I knew I’d get off track and talk about my own experiences
with the film rather than the film itself, but that’s what helps you
appreciate these things more, isn’t it? Growing up with them and then
dissecting the hell out of them later on if you’re so inclined. Many of
my strongest memories of Batman as a kid stemmed from this film, whether
it was the aforementioned first viewing of it on the upstairs 13” TV
that sat in the corner or finally finding the Phantasm figure produced
in the toy line. In fact, I picked her figure up before I even saw the
film and I can remember being surprised by finding out that it was a
woman underneath the costume based on the figure alone. For months I
looked for that damn figure and I would always come up empty, with a sea
of Batmen from the line and the occasional rocket pack Joker to be
found, but never Phantasm. Then there she was one day (also at
Wal-Mart…that was a truly great store to me when it came to fueling my
childhood desire for everything Batman) and I was really ecstatic to get
her. The figure then of course became the “every female” each time I
played with my figures, since Kenner’s ability to make female action
figures was nearly non-existent. “They never sell!” they say. Sure, then
why did it take me forever to find Phantasm? Quit putting one to the
case and maybe kids would’ve had something more to play with…
But enough about my play habits as a kid (I could go on, really…my best
friend and I had some truly memorable times with the myriad of figures
and batmobiles I had). Phantasm, in essence, is really what
started my entire love affair with the animated series. While it would
be Return of the Joker that brought me to The World’s Finest and,
in essence, that’s the reason why I’m even writing this today, Mask
of the Phantasm is the “one” that started it all. As I grew up and
continued to watch the film, I picked up on the adult tones that went
over my head when I was young and began to watch it for more than just
the violence of it. I slowly began to unravel the intensity of the
relationship between Andrea and Bruce and by my teen years I’d already
seen the film well over two dozen times. At that point it became second
nature to me that I’d watch it repeatedly simply because it was like a
tradition.
What kept me coming back to Mask of the Phantasm, even after
watching the entire animated series and the subsequent New
Adventures and Batman Beyond was that it was a truly unique
Batman story for the series. Never again did we see Phantasm (well, we
did later on, but I’ll get to that) in the animated world and it really
made the film feel “special” in that regard. It was such an adult
focused story, with nary a line thrown in for the kids outside of
Joker’s segments (oddly enough, he was just about the only ray of
light in this film), that it managed to distance itself from some of the
goofier animates stories seen in the series itself. Phantasm was a
unique character and we never saw Batman’s emotions breakthrough in the
same way again. No doubt Alan Burnett, who devised the story, is the one
really responsible for this as the six stories he wrote for the animated
series were some of the most emotional and darkest episodes of the
entire series. Not to say no one else had the same impact that he had,
but if Burnett hadn’t devised this film with the love story driven plot,
I doubt it would have much resonance as it does among fans of the
series.
Then
of course there is the animation for this film. While it’s not
remarkably better than what we see from the animated series (and in fact
isn’t even as good as some of its best), the whole tone and construction
of the film in terms of visuals is astonishing. Some of the city shots
as well as the graveyard sequence are elements that were never again
seen in the film and Gotham itself came alive like we hadn’t seen
previously either. Often in the series we saw more of the “slum” areas
of Gotham, but in the film we saw the grander, more expansive Gotham. In
fact, I dare say we saw more of downtown Gotham in this film than we
ever had, with the daytime sequences with Arthur Reeves and Salvatore
Valestra showing off a side of Gotham we’d never seen previously. While
it’s definitely not incredibly impressive because of the animation
included, the inclusion of various new background plates and locations
still remains to this day as the film’s most unique elements that set it
apart from the rest of the series. Graveyard, highway, downtown, the
“World of Tomorrow” and even the end sequence with Andrea on the boat
showed pieces of Gotham that were never again seen. Just about the only
thing that was similar was the batcave, but that’s to be expected. Oddly
enough the fact that this film was later re-framed from 4x3 to 16x9
doesn’t even crop up and I have a hard time deciding whether to grab the
4x3 version as opposed to the 16x9 since there’s more animation to be
seen in 4x3. Truth be told I actually grabbed both, but ended up using
the 4x3 version only on the website; perhaps if we ever get a new
remastered release I’ll include widescreen shots as well, as the current
transfer available for this film on DVD is grainy as hell.
As riveting as the visuals or action of the film is, however, nothing
can compare to the character of Phantasm herself. A solid mystery is
kept and it’s one of few films that can genuinely string the viewer
along as to the true identity of Phantasm and this same device was later
used in Return of the Joker with the red herring being a
character played by Mark Hamill (who obviously also voices The Joker).
Though I may be glamorizing it with my memory of it as a child, but the
revelation of Phantasm never seemed all that obvious, even if I did
already have an action figure telling me who it was. On top of that
everything about the character was deeply emotional, from her
relationship with Bruce to her reason for becoming an assassin. As
rushed as this film’s production apparently was, I am truly surprised by
how tight the plot is in this film; none of it feels half-assed or
unfinished and I truly feel that this is still one of the best efforts
from the crew of the animated series. Could it have been better? Yes,
everything could have, but even looking at the film with rose tinted
glasses on after all these years of watching it, I still fail to find
anything wrong with it. And that’s actually very hard for me to do,
especially in terms of animation, as after loading the image database on
this site up with images from each of the animated series, I’m still
able to watch Phantasm without picking up on glitches or story
quirks that feel odd to me.
Truly,
everything from the story itself to the performances by the voice actors
here (and all of them do an absolutely fantastic job) help make
the film what it is and what it continues to be today. But another
driving force for my enjoyment of this film was the soundtrack, composed
by the late and absolutely wonderful Shirley Walker. This was one of few
animated CDs released for the various DC animated series (and, only
recently have we received a soundtrack release for BTAS after all
of these years) and it was one I repeatedly listened to when I was
young. As previously stated, Phantasm was everything to me at the
time and I picked up the soundtrack to it pretty early on. I probably
listened to this score about as many times as I watched the film and
everything from the opening chant to the climatic final music of the
Phantasm/Joker/Batman battle still gives me goosebumps to this day.
Words cannot express the level that Walker’s score alone brought this
film up to, as it not only set itself apart from the animated series, as
the settings of the film itself did, but the composition of everything
period just blew me away. Down the line I had the chance to listen to
the extended score for the film and was surprised by how much music was
left off of the official soundtrack release (and I’m also listening to
it as I type this and find it interesting how I can follow the entire
film along, shot for shot, including audio effects, by listening to the
isolated score). Hopefully we can see a full official release at some
point, but I’m just glad that the films score itself was made available
as it is some of the best music to ever grace the beautiful animation
that this series consistently brought us. In an odd twist, there is also
a song with lyrics that accompanies this film and is performed by Tia
Carerra, most known for her role as the girlfriend in the Wayne's
World films. An odd place for her to perform to be sure, yet the
song itself is rather touching and fits the tone of the film. I couldn't
imagine it playing during the film itself, but as an end credits piece
it works.
While this film was originally being produced under the auspices of a
direct-to-video feature, it still managed to feel a great deal more
powerful than the standard animated episode of the series. The general
animation, yes, was about the same, but the story, characters, music and
locations of the film were all unique and are elements that help make
this film continue to be the classic it is. Sure, I’m romanticizing this
all and probably trumpeting up the film more than many others would, but
that’s only because I essentially grew up with this film. More than
Burton’s flicks or the Schumacher films that followed, Mask of the
Phantasm influenced my love of Batman more than I ever realized. It
wasn’t until I began work on this website did I realize how much time
I’ve invested in just this film alone—and I haven’t regretted a single
minute of it.
Of
course, Phantasm’s reach didn’t stop at this film. There was an official
follow-up in the “Batman & Robin Adventures Annual #1” (review) that continued her story. Not only was it written by Paul Dini,
but it also featured art by the late Mike Parobeck, possibly one of the
best artists to ever draw the animated Batman. The issue included a very
touching letter from Paul Dini that discussed his time working with him
and to this day it can bring a tear to your eye, as it’s clear from the
special that a lot of time and effort was put into it and Parobeck’s
work really shines. Of course driving the story was the return of
Phantasm and it’s about as fantastic and exciting as you would expect,
complete with a new mystery about the identity of a new Phantasm in
Gotham. Admittedly if the film was a follow-up in animated form it may
feel a bit weak, as I honestly believe that Phantasm worked best simply
because she was a single appearance and never heard from again so the
mystery surrounding her was kept alive.
Fortunately I’m about as fickle as the next bat-fan, so every appearance
that she had after the Annual was still met with joy. Sadly there would
only be two more appearances afterwards, with a three issue run in the
fan-adored Batman Adventures (review) series by Dan Slott where she once again returned to Gotham and became a member of
Black Mask’s gang before once again disappearing from Gotham. Finally
she showed up in Justice League Unlimited’s “Epilogue” (review), which marked her return to animated form with the briefest of
appearances. It didn’t matter though…any Phantasm was welcomed and her
surprise appearance in “Epilogue” sent my jaw agape as it was something
I thought I’d never see. True that whole episode was one giant fan-gasm
after another, but Phantasm’s appearance really took the cake as it kind
of solidified that she, in fact, did exist post-Mask of the
Phantasm in the animated series. Considering she never existed
outside of the comics, it was also a bit fishy where she fit in in terms
of DCAU canon, but since the entire thing wrapped up with her in what
was presumed to be the DCAU’s swan song, then it all felt right and
brought a very satisfying cap to it all.
Even
with her continued existence in DCAU comics and animation, I can’t help
but feel a bit surprised she hasn’t cropped up anywhere else. Harley
Quinn made the jump from animation to comic book canon effortlessly,
yet Phantasm has yet to show up in the comics at all. Perhaps DC Comics
has too much respect for the character (though considering how they’ve
frankly bastardized others, I don’t think that’s really the case) to use
her in a story arc, but I honestly think canonizing in the comic book
would hurt nothing. It’d provide a believable story to use in the comics
and since we’ve resorted to flat out killing Batman now, I’m sure
they’re going to need something to get people to pick up the comic again
(I know I’d rush out to pick it up, even if it was just a simple
re-telling of the animated film).
But, again, that might just be me wanting more Phantasm, so who
knows. I could very well be alone in thinking the above is a good idea.
In the end I don’t think you’ll find anyone who really has a bone to
pick with this film. In all aspects it is quintessentially the “perfect”
animated telling, with engaging and original characters, brilliant
visuals, a great story and absolutely riveting music to accompany it
all. With the film now fifteen years old this December 25th, 2008, now
has never been a better time to get out your copy of Mask of the
Phantasm to enjoy. I am of course saddened that we’ve only a
lackluster DVD release from 1999 to watch, as Warner Home Video has
curiously made no move to re-release this film. It is incredibly
surprising that no effort was made this year, as not only was it
celebrating its 15th, but the theatrical release of The Dark Knight
would have been the perfect thing to tie this to. One can hope down the
road we see a new DVD release complete with commentary and all that good
stuff, but until then the near-ten year old DVD release will have to
suffice. So before the year ends, sit back, pop in Mask of the
Phantasm and help celebrate the films fifteenth anniversary. I doubt
anyone would ever object to watching this film one more time.
-Zach Demeter |
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