BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM (1993)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological*

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

So, I'll get one thing out of the way: the mysterious crook-murdering Phantasm's identity is Bruce Wayne's lost love Andrea Beaumont. (Readers of this blog ought to be used to my disregard for guarding secrets if they get in the way of analysis.)

PHANTASM was the first, though not the last, animated Batman film to make it into theaters, attempting to profit from the sterling reputation of the 1993-95 Batman cartoon show. It's far from the best animated Batman feature, but it does have the distinction of being the first cartoon to ask the question: what if Batman suffered a "last temptation" moment, giving up his dedication to crimefighting for family life? 

Of course, every time this temptation has arisen, whether in comics (1987's SON OF THE DEMON) or in film (2008's DARK KNIGHT), some exigency must come up that pushes Bruce Wayne's nose back to the Bat-grindstone. Here, the script by two animation pros (Paul Dini, Michael Reeves) and two comics-writers (Martin Pasko, Alan Burnett) claims that early in his career, Bruce fell so hard for Andrea that he almost did give up the cowl-- but one such exigency caused Andrea to depart suddenly, and so Gotham City did not lose its "dark knight." However, in current times Andrea returns to Gotham--and at the same time, a masked figure, the Phantasm, begins killing off the criminals who harried her father, one of these being none other than Batman's favorite fiend, the Joker.

I don't mean to make too much of the non-mystery of the Phantasm's identity, since I don't believe I guessed it on my first viewing. But although PHANTASM delivers the goods as far as lots of high-octane action with the Bat taking on two costumed killers, I didn't buy the dramatic aspect. Dini and the other writers try to make Andrea Beaumont seem so witty and resourceful that the viewer believes that she's "the one" for Bruce Wayne. But the truth is, they knew Andrea/Phantasm was a one-off character, and her psychological makeup is no more detailed than an animation cell.

Still, in addition to good action, PHANTASM offers yet another venue for the assemblage of the show's talented voice cast, with the usual list of standouts: Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as the Joker, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr as a delightfully acerbic Alfred.