"I Am the Night" Re-watch: "Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero"

 Batman the Animated Series

You may have heard of a little film called "Batman & Robin." A film that was basically the nail in the coffin for the Batman film franchise until "Batman Begins" re-booted things in 2005. This movie was supposed to be released in July of 1997, prior to the start of "The New Batman Adventures," which was the continuation B: TAS. When the movie underperformed and was panned, "Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero" was pushed to March 17, 1998. 

It makes sense that they would want to release a second B: TAS film featuring Mr. Freeze, outside of the synergistic reasons that Warner Bros. had. Mr. Freeze was made the villain in "Batman & Robin" because of what B: TAS had done for the character, revamping his origin and making him much more sympathetic than he had been in the past. Unlike the first B: TAS film, "Mask of the Phantasm," "Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero" was released straight to VHS. Let's take a closer look at the only Batman movie starring Freeze, Robin and Batgirl that actually matters.

Dick Grayson: "Thank you, Alfred. I don't know what we'd do without you."

Alfred: "Frankly, neither do I."

Commissioner Gordon: "Come on, people! A guy in a weird suit with two polar bears can't be too hard to spot."

Victor Fries is living a quiet life in the Arctic with his cryogenically frozen wife, Nora, and an Inuit boy he's adopted named Koonak. He also has two pet polar bears. When a submarine unknowingly destroys this tranquility and breaks Nora's containment, Mr. Freeze takes his revenge and then returns to Gotham to help his wife. With the help of his crooked ex-partner, Dr. Gregory Belson, Freeze determines that Nora needs an organ transplant and the only matches are live donors. When the duplicitous doctors determine Barbara Gordon is the best match and kidnap her, it's a race against time for the Dynamic Duo to find her and stop Freeze.

Who needs Batman?

"Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero" is a much better film than "Batman & Robin." I know what you're going to say, low bar. But it's almost on par with the first B: TAS film, "Mask of the Phantasm." High bar. This movie was supposed to come out before "The New Batman Adventures" to sort of put a pin on B: TAS before moving on to this new era and it does a good job of that. 

This movie sort of puts Batman on the back burner. Don't get me wrong. He has his moments but a lot of the focus is on Dick and Babs and their burgeoning relationship. I love that they are dating. They did in the comics and I love seeing that relationship carry over to the animated series. The scenes between Dick and Babs at the children's hospital gala are super charming. I'm not sure if chemistry is the right word, but Loren Lester and Melissa Gilbert, along with the animators really sell this mutual attraction between the two and I love it.

I have to give it up for my girl, Barbara Gordon. She may be kidnapped by Freeze and Belson but Babs is not a helpless victim. She gets a great action scene taking out a group of muggers in a park as Batgirl, but for the rest she's Barbara Gordon, thorn in Mr. Freeze's side. She immediately tries to escape from Freeze and is successful. Had they not been holding her on an oil rig, Babs would have gotten away. She's also savvy enough to know that there's more to this than just a simple blood transfusion even before they try to put her out for it. She makes friends with Koonak, another smart decision. Even when Batman and Robin show up to "rescue" her, she's in the thick of the action, leading Batman through the fire to find Koonak and Nora Fries. Barbara is not a damsel in distress and I love that. It shows why she is a trusted member of the Bat family.

Not without Nora.

The action scenes in "Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero" are top notch. The chase scene with Dick on a motorcycle going after Freeze with Barbara in the back is thrilling. You're really on the edge of your seat. The climax on the oil rig is pretty great too. I loved the Dynamic Duo tricking Freeze's polar bears and getting them to jump off the side of the rig. 

The whole movie is fast paced but it doesn't skimp on action or nice character moments. We even get some nice detective work from Batman. 

If I have any gripes, they are relatively small. Whereas "Mask of the Phantasm" felt like a movie, "SubZero" feels more like a few episodes of the show strung together. Even with the nice character stuff that is a bit more adult than the series, it still feels like this could have been a three parter on B: TAS. It doesn't do quite enough to justify being a standalone film. The movie also employs some CGI effects that I'm sure were impressive in 1998, but feel a little cheesy and dated and take a little bit away from the scenes they are used in. It's unfortunate that these are scenes that are pretty important in the film like the submarine emerging or the chase scene or the Batwing scenes. It removes you a little bit watching it today and I kind of wished they had just animated everything the same.

All in all though, another win for B: TAS and a nice way to end this era of the show. 

Grade: B+

Next time, we move into "The New Batman Adventures" where we get Dick graduating to Nightwing and a new Robin.

Do you guys love "Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero?" Is there anyone out there who enjoys it more than "Mask of the Phantasm?" Let me know in the comments.