Every week, Shelf Life sees Tom White select and talk about a movie that lives on his DVD shelf, one he thinks we should all see.
In the 90's, Batman's big screen outings seemed to be all style no substance (in Joel Schumacher's case, too much style). Sure they were entertaining as hell, but they weren't that faithful to the comics, instead possessing an increasingly goofy tone cribbed from Adam West's 60's portrayal. It seems that it wasn't till Christopher Nolan took over that we got the grounded tone more in keeping with the Dark Knight comic book exploits. But we would be wrong in thinking that, because Christmas Day 1993 brought the release of the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Spinning off from Batman: The Animated Series, itself a spin off of Batman Returns, Mask of the Phantasm was the first really faithful adaption of Batman to hit the big screen. It was the perfect marrying of Burton's art deco style and the more grown up story telling of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and it was made over a decade before Batman Begins. There are no over the top villains (o.k., The Joker, but this is Mark Hamill's wonderfully manic portrayal, run through with a hefty dose of menace), and it carries over the dark, grounded tone of the animated series (if you want sleepless nights, show your kids the two part Two Face origin story). The story sees Batman framed for the murder of some of Gotham City's most prominent mob bosses, and coming face to face with the sinister Phantasm. Unlike countless other superhero movies, including the Batman sequels, of the time, Mask of the Phantasm respects the audience enough to not hit us over the head with the hero's origin story. We know how Bruce Wayne became Batman. We know why Batman is afraid when he finds out Joker is involved. There is no hand holding, because these characters are so engrained in the public consciousness. Without any useless details bogging it down, the story is an extremely lean, well told affair, flashing back and forth from Bruce's early days, when Batman was just a germ of an idea.
The focus here is definitely on the Man in Batman, introducing us to Andrea Beaumont, the woman Bruce would consider settling down with. Watching Bruce falling for Andrea, to the point he has an extremely powerful monologue at his parent's grave trying to find a way out of the vow he made to them (complete with the heart breaking line "I didn't count on being happy"), carries a hefty amount of dramatic weight, more than any animated movie has any right to. On top of all that, it looks absolutely beautiful, the style of the Animated Series translated over perfectly. The action scenes absolutely pop, especially a heart pounding escape from the police that rivals the best the live action Batman movies have to offer, and are surprisingly brutal.
Originally conceived as been released direct to video, Warner Bros. made the decision to release the movie theatrically with only eight months left in the production. Released to critical acclaim, Mask of the Phantasm barely made back it's $6 Million budget, but went on to surpass it when released on home video, where it rightfully achieved cult classic status. This really should be in the collection of any Batman fan, a wonderfully told, incredibly faithful adaption of the well known character, proving that a good story transcends the medium its told in.
