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| Warner Bros. | Release Date: December 25, 1993 |
Starring:
Abe Vigoda, Bob Hastings, Dana Delany, Dick Miller, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Hart Bochner, John P. Ryan, Kevin Conroy, Robert Costanzo, Stacy Keach
Summary:
Batman is wrongly implicated in a series of murders of mob bosses actually done by a new vigilante assassin.
Director:
Boyd Kirkland and Bruce Timm and Dan Riba and Eric Radomski and Frank Paur and Kevin Altieri
Genre(s):
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Crime, Animation, Family
Runtime:
76 min
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This animated feature is not a perfect movie, but it's an enjoyable one. Like the animated TV series it is based on, it strikes a balance between the adult darkness of the recent Tim Burton movies and the childish silliness of the old TV show. More than anything, this version of Batman recalls the original Bob Kane comic books of the 1940s: dark with light touches, cartoony yet realistic. [31 Dec 1993, p.3F]
But like Burton's films, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm also has a distinctly dark, lurid feel to it. Consider a love scene in which a playful wrestling match between Bruce and Andrea turns to open-mouthed smooching and then cuts to a satisfied- looking Andrea, wearing Bruce's shirt and little else. We've seen this gimmick before, although here it seems even more desperate.Could Batmania have finally run its course? [31 Dec 1993, p.G5]
With its pointed, cavernous backgrounds and a Gotham City setting that evokes a 1940's-style futurism, "Mask of the Phantasm" looks splendid. But its story is too complicated and the editing too jerky for the movie to achieve narrative coherence. And the resemblance between the movie's hero and its enigmatic arch-villain is so close that audiences are likely to be confused.
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Aug 27, 2022
Phantom is the single greatest animated comic book movie ever made. Period.
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Aug 25, 2022
Mask of the Phantasm is one of the best Batman movies ever made. Right up there with Begins.
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Feb 17, 2023
The first DC animated film is definitely one of the better ones. Mask of the Phantasm follows Batman as he hunts down a vigilante assassinating mob bosses in Gotham. It's a surprisingly emotional tale that fittingly jump-starts the animated universe.
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Aug 23, 2022
Phantasm wasn't bad, but after all of the circlejerk surrounding it before I saw it, with people claiming it's better than TDK, it was a huge let down. I don't really see what sets it apart from a good episode of the animated Batman series.
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Aug 29, 2022
The story is simple but well done. Good voice acting and love the art style. It reminded me that I need to go back and watch the animated series which I remember really enjoying as a child.
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Aug 29, 2022
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Aug 28, 2022
Twelve-year-old me remembers the Fox Batman cartoon series as being a masterpiece, but a full feature feels long with a juvenile script and mediocre animation.
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