Movies - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

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	Movies - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is an animated film first released on December 25, 1993. Although released in the Tim Burton era, it is completely unrelated with the live-action movies. It was created by the same cast and crew as Batman: The Animated Series, having been originally intended as a direct-to-video spin-off from the series. The cartoon series was initially a marketing tie-in for the Batman Returns
movie.

Plotline

The film's story divides into two parts: one in the film's "present", and one, told through flashbacks, in the early days of Bruce Wayne's crimefighting career.

Bruce Wayne's fledgeling career faces two major obstacles: first, he is having trouble getting criminals to take him seriously at first sight (not having yet hit upon the bat motif); second, he has fallen in love. The recipient of his affections is Andrea Beaumont, red-haired and blue-eyed, not only beautiful but seemingly his equal in every way. Realizing that an ongoing relationship with Andrea would massively complicate his crusade against crime, Bruce decides that one of them has to go. After a long internal struggle, the crusade loses. Bruce proposes to Andrea, and she accepts. The next day, however, Andrea sends her engagement ring back with a note telling Bruce to forget her, and leaves the country. Devastated, Bruce throws himself back into crimefighting, discovers a large bat-haunted cavern in his backyard, and becomes the Batman.

In the present, a mysterious cloaked figure is stalking and killing Gotham City mob bosses. The murders are the work of a new vigilante, the Phantasm,who resembles the Grim Reaper, but many attribute them to Batman, who becomes the target of a police manhunt. The situation becomes complicated when Andrea Beaumont returns to Gotham, forcing Bruce Wayne to deal with the feelings he still has for her. Things are further complicated when Batman discovers that the link between the slain mob bosses is Andrea's now-deceased father, who had business dealings with all of them before his mysterious death. Also present is the Joker, who in the days before his life-changing accident worked for one of the mob bosses. Not only is he the last of the Phantasm's targets, but also the last man still living in Gotham who can explain what the Phantasm is up to. Batman traces the Joker to his hideout, the abandoned site of the Gotham World's Fair, to get answers.

And get them he does. The Joker may be the last man who understands the Phantasm's crusade, but one woman does as well: Andrea Beaumont, who is the Phantasm; she has returned to Gotham City to complete her vengeance against her father's murderers, the last of which is Napier, the man who actually did the deed. She finally catches him as the fair grounds begin to crumble in flame around them. Wayne invites her to return with him, but she refuses, keeping ahold of the struggling Joker to prevent his escape; Batman gets out of the park through the sewer just before it explodes. As the movie closes, Bruce, now permanently alone, returns to his crime fighting ways; while, at the Gotham harbors, a cruise liner pulls away, carrying on it Andrea, a sad expression on her face.

A deleted scene shows the Joker escape death and into hiding, setting the scene for series 2 (The New Batman Adventures).

Critical reaction

The movie was extremely well received by fans of Batman: The Animated Series, and earned a positive review from almost every critic. For instance, film critics Siskel & Ebert, while regretting that they originally ignored the film in its initial release, gave the film a two-thumbs up, the only Batman
film to be given such praise until Batman Begins
. Rotten Tomatoes lists it as having 13 positive reviews out of 13 posted, as well as earning a 100% rating. It has since become a cult classic.

The dark nature of the film has also been respected by animation fans, in particular the film noir-esque storyline and frame structure.

Box office

Despite all the positive reviews the movie got, it was a huge failure at the box office. It barely grossed $5 million domestically and $11 million worldwide, and due to its low earnings, most theatres stopped showing it after only one or two weeks. Blame could be laid on the lack of advertisement and the rush decision to put it in theatres at all; up until mere weeks before its premiere, directors Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski believed it was going to be a DTV effort only. Due to the film's failure, all future animated Batman movies were released direct-to-video.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Batman: Mask of the Phantasm ]

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