Deep Dive DC: Wes Looks at Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

In Loving Memory of Kevin Conroy (1955 - 2022)

It's Not Batman that makes you Worthwhile, it's the Other Way Around.

Never Tell Yourself Any Different

Welcome friends, to the final, Patreon exclusive installment of Deep Dive DC month. Today, we’re looking at the highly requested and critically acclaimed animated film, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm from 1993. While I personally still prefer Return of The Joker, this and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight are tied for a very close second, and many consider this movie to be the best cinematic Batman movie ever made, and honestly, I can see why since this movie is truly something special. Taking place in the continuity of Batman the Animated Series, Mask of the Phantasm is not a large and grandiose tale as one may expect but rather a personal and introspective story for our caped crusader. A newer, darker vigilante has arrived in Gotham, systematically murdering crime bosses with a connection to someone from Bruce Wayne’s past. His prompts several flashbacks to a time before Bruce donned the cowl of the Batman and the woman who may have been his only chance at a normal life. Batman must confront the shadows of his past, both literal and figurative as he unravels the mystery of this mysterious killer. And he better do it fast since all this chaos has attracted the attention of The Joker, who naturally can only make things worse. Let us waste no further time and dive right in to, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

Main Character:

Well, naturally, Batman is our main character here. However, unlike something like Batman Ninja, this is not just another Wednesday for Bruce. This is a deeply personal story that gives us more insight into this iteration of the character’s backstory than we’d seen up to this point. We see that before he officially became Batman, he had a chance to find love and live a normal life, which is probably what his departed mother and father would have wanted. He was prepared to marry this woman and give his life to her entirely, but when she left him, Batman was all he had left. It really does add this incredible element of tragedy to the character, even more than is normally associated with Batman to begin with. Naturally, Conroy is at his absolute best here and we get to see his full range of emotions. Conroy always played Bruce as very stoic and in control, but here, he hasn’t quite yet developed that, so we see him break down in tears or erupt in elation or anger. It really is one of the most unique looks at the DCAU Batman to date.

Villain:

Despite what you may have heard, the titular Phantasm (who I just realized is never actually referred to as such in the film itself) is not actually our main villain here. We’ll talk about The Phantasm in due course, but for now, let’s talk about the real main villain here, the only villain in Batman’s rogue’s gallery, or any rogue’s gallery for that matter, who can stroll into a movie half-way through and completely hijack the role of main baddie from the character who was built up as the main antagonist in all he advertisements. I speak of course of The Joker, played as always by the one and only Mark Hamill. Turns out, before old Mr. J fell into that vat of chemicals and emerged as the Clown Prince of Crime, he was a hit man working for Sal Valestra, one of the mob bosses targeted by The Phantasm. Initially, The Joker believes that it’s Batman who’s offing crime bosses, amusing the clown to no end since he loves the idea that he’s finally driven bats over the edge. When Joker learns it’s not the Bat icing the crime bosses, Joker decides it’s kill or be killed and goes on a warpath to take down the Phantasm before he’s the next victim on the list. I’d say Mark Hamill is great in this movie but at this point, that’s like saying snow is white. Seriously when has Hamill ever not brought his A Game to the role of The Joker. Okay, may The Killing Joke, but the less said about Bruce Timm Bastardizing Alan Moore’s masterpiece into fanfiction for his deeply disturbing Bruce/Barbara shipping, the better. Recently, Hamill announced that, following the passing of Kevin Conroy, he’s decided to officially retire from playing The Joker and knowing that the greatest Joker of all time will no longer grace our eyes and ears is truly sad to hear. Here’s to you Mark, thanks for the memories.

Side Characters:

As we’ve discussed many times in the past, while adaptations of Batman or The Joker have varied in quality over the years, there has never been a bad version of Alfred, and Efram Zimbalist’s iconic portrayal is certainly no exception. Alfred also seems to have upped the sass factor in this movie, zinging Master Bruce with some great one liners. He even gets easily the best line in the entire movie. Bruce says to Alfred “You think you know everything about me, don’t you?” to which Alfred replies, “I diapered your bottom, I bloody ought to, sir!” Classic.

There’s a few other characters kicking around, but they’re not as important as you might think, so let’s move right to the main attraction, Andrea Beaumont, the woman who Bruce was willing to give it all up for. I absolutely love Andrea, both as a character in her own right and as partner for Bruce. The two have great chemistry and are shown to be able to match each other on multiple levels. One thing I really liked about her is the way she talks to her mother’s grave in a casual, conversational manner, something I do when I visit my uncle. I also like how Andrea knows Bruce well enough to immediately figure out that he's Batman, showing how well she knows him. Honestly, Andrea here is one of the only characters I’ve seen other than Selina Kyle whom I can actually buy as the great love of Batman’s life. However, like most comic book relationships, it was doomed to tragedy as Andrea was forced to flee the country with her father when daddy couldn’t repay his debt to the mob. Years later, Andrea came home to find her father dead at the hands of the man who would one day become The Joker and, in the ultimate irony, the woman who once nearly got Bruce to give up his crusade for revenge began one of her own. If you’re good at filling in the blanks, or you’ve already seen the movie, then you’ve figured it out. Andrea is The Phantasm, back in Gotham seeking revenge on the mob bosses who arranged her father’s assassination. We’ll get into this in greater detail a bit later, but Andrea is meant to be a dark reflection of what Bruce could have become. I will say, I dig the design of The Phantasm. It’s a similar aesthetic to Batman, but with more of a Grim Reaper vibe. How she always appears in a cloud of smoke is a nice touch. Also, a big hand for Stacy Keach for providing the voice of The Phantasm while masked (as well as the voice of Andrea’s father). The voice is so creepy and fits the character very well.

Memorable Scenes:

Well, we got quite a few of them in this movie so let’s just run ‘em down one by one. I really love the scene where The Phantasm murders a mobster named Buzz Bronski in Gotham cemetery. The scene is appropriately creepy and The Phantasm makes her entrance in this truly chilling fashion before chasing Bronski into an open grave and crushing him with an angel statue. Nice!

The final showdown with The Joker is also pretty fun and a lot of that has to do with the setting. They’re fighting in a model city from the abandoned Gotham World’s Fair that Joker is using as his hideout so the whole thing looks like a big Kaiju fight.

The scene where Bruce is on his knees at his parent’s grave, begging them to release him from his promise is a truly haunting scene and some of the best acting the great Kevin Conroy ever gave us in this role. We the audience know that Bruce’s parents likely would have preferred it if Bruce had given up his crusade against Gotham’s criminal element and lived a happy life with Andrea, but in Bruce’s mind, he cannot let them go and let go of the promise he made to them, adding yet another element of tragedy to all of this. He says that he never believed that he would ever be happy again after they died, and now that he is, he feels guilty. It’s one of the best moments in the entire DCAU and I love it.

However, the best moment in this entire movie is easily when Bruce first dawns the cowl. At this point, Andrea has left him, and now, Bruce no longer has anyone to keep him from his crusade. And so, Bruce, entirely in shadow, dons the mask of Batman for the very first time, looks back at Alfred who reacts in utter horror. With this seemingly simple act, Bruce Wayne, or at least the version of Bruce Wayne who was capable of living a normal happy life, has truly died, and only The Batman remains.

Story:

As I said earlier, Andrea in this movie is meant to be a dark reflection of what Bruce could have become. Both Bruce and Andrea were overcome with rage when their family was taken from them by criminals. While Bruce was able to channel his rage and use it to create something that helped people, Andrea became consumed by it and became a monster. In perhaps the ultimate irony, there’s a quote from Spider-Man of all things that’s surprisingly appropriate here. “Revenge is like a poison. It can take you over and turn you into something ugly.” Both Andrea and Bruce desired revenge and both have stepped to the edge of the abyss in the quest for it. But while Bruce has kept himself from falling in, Andrea was not so lucky.

The Dark DC Factor:

Like Return of The Joker, this movie was allowed to be a little more bloody and violent than the series it was based on and it takes advantage of that nicely. There’s this one scene where Arthur Reeves, a former employee of Andrea’s father who sold him out to the mob in exchange for help with his campaign for city council, runs afoul of The Joker and ends up in the hospital laughing uncontrollably due to an overdose of Joker gas. Seeing him unable to stop laughing to the point where he can’t breath and is crying pained tears is pretty intense though not quite on par with the Robin laugh from Return of The Joker. There’s also this great moment when The Phantasm tries to kill Sal Valestra in his home, only to find a nightmarish smiling corpse with a bomb strapped to it courtesy of The Joker.

Final Thoughts: What do you want me to say? This movie is phenomenal. I love every second of it and it has more than earned the distinction of one of the greatest Batman. And that will do it for Deep Dive DC Month. I hope you all enjoyed, and stay tuned since next month will mark two years of the blog, and I have something special planned for the occasion. Also, I hope sometime before that to take a look at Disney's latest offering, Strange World. Until next time my friends