"I Am the Night" Rewatch: "Mask of the Phantasm"

Batman: The Animated Series

It's Batman Day! Every year, DC sets aside a day in September to celebrate their most popular superhero. Sorry Superman, but you know it's true. Remember how they decided to make you all angsty and broody in the new shared movie universe? You know why they did that. And sure, Batman Day is a made up holiday to celebrate a fictional character and maybe get you to buy some of his merchandise, but you know what, there are a lot of made up holidays we celebrate: Valentine's Day, Donut Day, Easter. Why not celebrate the Caped Crusader? 

I can't think of a better way than by talking about the best Batman film of them all: "Mask of the Phantasm." Fight me, "The Dark Knight" fans. The film was originally planned for a direct-to-video release but due to the popularity of B: TAS WB execs decided to release the movie in theaters on December 25, 1993. Sadly, due to limited promotion and the rushed decision to release it in theaters, the film did poorly at the box office but received glowing reviews from critics. The film gained traction and a cult following when it was released on home video and routinely lands on lists of best Bat films. The plot is inspired by Mike W. Barr's "Batman: Year Two" storyline but they created the Phantasm to replace that stories original villain, "The Reaper."

Alfred: "Vengeance blackens the soul, Bruce. I've always feared that you would become that which you fought against. You walk the edge of that abyss every night, but you haven't fallen in and I thank heaven for that."

Batman: You think you know everything about me, don't you?"

Alfred: I diapered your bottom! I bloody well ought to, *sir*!"

A masked vigilante is murdering some of Gotham's most high profile mob bosses. Has Batman finally decided to take that next step? Nah. It's a new vigilante wearing a grim reaper inspired costume complete with sickle glove calling itself The Phantasm. Despite Gordon's protestations, blame is placed squarely on Batman and a witch hunt begins led by crooked city councilman, Arthur Reeves. Local mob boss, Sal Valestra, is the most uneasy since the bumped off crooks are all part of his old gang. While Batman investigates and tries to dodge the police, he's confronted with a ghost of his past in the form of Andrea Beaumont, the girl that got away and the one who could've turned Bruce away from his path of vengeance. When the Joker joins the fray, Batman knows if he doesn't stop Phantasm soon, Gotham City may never recover.

Smokey Joe

"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" does everything that a movie based on a cartoon series should do. This does read like an extended episode of the show, but bigger and better. The story it tells is mature and it really uses the expanded run time well. The show itself has focused very little on Bruce Wayne's time before he became Batman and the flashbacks woven into the story here, give us the clearest origin of Batman so far. It does it in a great way. Rather than replay the murder of the Wayne's, it shows a Bruce Wayne finished with his training and ready to take that final step. The step that, once he takes it, will change his life forever. The step there may be no coming back from. It's an angle that I hadn't really seen or read before and haven't seen since.

When Bruce meets Andrea Beaumont (voiced by the incomparable Dana Delany, who would go on to voice Lois Lane in "Superman: The Animated Series" along with other animated offshoots) Bruce thinks he may have found the one thing that will make he step off this path that he's believed for so long was predestined. In less deft hands, the boy abandons mission because of pretty girl, could be horribly clichéd, but writers Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, and Michael Reaves (a dream team of B: TAS writers) never allow that to happen. Yes, Bruce and Andrea's romance is accelerated but it never feels forced or like a plot point. Their scenes from the moment they meet in the graveyard to the gang fight where Andrea gets her first glimpse at the Bruce that will be Batman to their meeting  in her hotel room in the present crackle. I've always been curious if Dana Delany and Kevin Conroy were in the same room when they were recording their scenes together because you get the sense that they are playing off each other. I did some research but couldn't find an answer.

Smile!

In a normal B: TAS episode, things go just far enough without ever getting too dark. People are exposed to Joker's toxin, but they get better. Batman gets them the antidote in time. Sure they laugh a lot and it's creepy but no one dies from it.  You hear a lot about death but it's not seen. Talked about, sure, but still kept at arm's length. 

From the beginning of the film, "Mask of the Phantasm" shows we aren't on television anymore. The opening action sequence ends with the car mobster Chuckie Sol is driving vaulting out of a parking garage and crashing into the building opposite. The sound of his lifeless body laying on the horn while Batman watches is haunting. Batman finding Sal Valestra's dead body, face frozen in a Joker-like rictus grin is jarring. While this is new territory as far as B: TAS is concerned, it never feels gratuitous. It adds to the stakes and it's another great way to take advantage of what a film allows. 

Lucky dentist?

Piggybacking off of that, the action scenes in "Mask of the Phantasm" are some of the best in the series up to this point. They take them that extra few inches to really up the ante. The scene where Batman is being hunted by the GCPD is intense. The tension is super high and seeing Batman bloodied barely making it into Andrea's car is something that still puts my heart in my throat. Batman is this larger than life character and you always feel like even when the show is telling you that things are dire, you never don't believe Batman will get out of it. You don't necessarily feel that way here. 

The final battle at Joker's hideout, which was once the site of the Gotham World's Fair is another highlight. It's a nice call back to the earlier flashback of Andrea and Bruce's date there. It features another great visual of Joker's missing tooth after Andrea takes it out. The scene ends with the World's Fair blowing up and Andrea and Joker's fate up in the air. 

I feel like there is still so much I could say. The reveal that Joker was once Sal Valestra's top enforcer giving the Clown Prince the closest thing to an origin story up to this point. The gorgeous cinematography. My favorite shot being a profile of Batman watching Andrea and Reeves have dinner. A single drop of water sliding down his cheek from under his cowl. A single tear or just an errant drop of rain? 

I re-watched this with my husband and a couple of friends, the latter of which had never seen this before. When it was over, my friend Andrew mentioned that they never revealed how Phantasm's apparently magic smoke worked. I had never really thought of that or maybe I had and it just didn't bother me which is a testament to the quality of the film over all.

Grade: A

Next up, season two begins with the return of Killer Croc and an assassination attempt on Harvey Bullock.

I'd love to hear from you guys on this Batman Day. What's your favorite B: TAS episode? Your favorite Batman appearance in popular media? Do you agree that this is the high point of Batman's silver screen history or am I crazy? Hit the comments and let me know.