It's become common knowledge among comic book fans that
most, if not all, of the animated movies made by Warner
Bros. behind the scenes are much better in terms of
storytelling, acting, and pure entertainment than any of the
original live action Batman movies ever hoped to be. It's
just accepted as fact and looked upon as a damn shame.
Because with such bloated budgets and big name actors, Tim
Burton barely covered any of the pure excellence that Bruce
Timm did with his voice cast. So, in preparation for the
much anticipated sequel to "Batman Begins" aptly called "The
Dark Knight," a sequel that is expected to top Nolan's first
film and thrill us with the new twisted joker, as well as
the upcoming DVD release of "The Gotham Knight" another
animated Batman film featuring Batman in his early years
fighting new versions of his rogue gallery, I thought it'd
be a great excuse to go over the list of animated Batman
films that have been on Video (and DVD) and in theaters.
Granted it was a very, very short theatrical run, but still,
it counts. So, on we go.
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Batman Mask of the Phantasm (1996)
Back in 1996, Warner aspired to provide fans (and
viewers of the hit series) with a theatrical
animated Batman movie, and sadly, the effort was
punished. Batman arrived into theaters with almost
no audience, barely made a dent in the box office,
and disappeared only to grab a VHS release. Which is
a damn shame. Because as it stands, "Batman: Mask of
the Phantasm" is a milestone of the character's
animation in the Bruce Timm universe permanently
paving the animator and storyteller as the ideal
wizard to bring the world of Gotham to life.
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"Mask of the Phantasm" is a
wonderful neo-noir thriller that chronicles Bruce
Wayne in his early years as Batman that inevitably
leads to the destruction of a relationship with a
mobster's daughter Andrea Beaumont.
Years later, a mysterious cloaked
vigilante emerges in Gotham murdering mob bosses,
and Batman is taking the fall for it. Batman becomes
the number one criminal in Gotham thanks to the
mistaken identity and similarity of the ritual
killings and MO. Soon enough he catches up with the
cloaked murderer and he tangles with the Phantasm, a
brilliant warrior who is neither an enemy, nor an
ally. The big reveal in the end is obvious, but
thankfully complex with the one and only Joker
taking an inadvertent part in the tragic romance
that leads to a stand off in an old amusement park.
"Mask of the Phantasm" may move too slowly for kids,
but for older audiences it's a briskly paced drama
thriller with great storytelling. Sadly, the low
budget and rushed production hold back this
potential masterpiece, and love it or not, you'll be
quick to notice the flaws that keep it down. But,
the voice work is top notch with everyone at their
all time highs. From Conroy to Hamill, to Dana
Delaney, Stacy Keach, and Efren Zimbalist Jr., this
introduction is rather great. I wish it were more
universally praised. After "Mask of the Phantasm,"
the Joker was officially dead, but re-emerged much
to the surprise of viewers in a hilarious episode
of the series where he and Ms. Harley Quinn continue to wreak
havoc.
(A-) |
Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998)
The
difference between Bruce Timm and Tim Burton is
that Timm took Batman seriously. Bruce Timm is
an avid lover of all things Batman related, and
proved it in his fantastic animated series that
then went into many years on television and the
turn to feature length format. His
series took Batman as a superior being of a
sorts who believed in justice and stopping
evil at its roots to prevent murder from ruining
another boy's life. Allegedly this was destined
to be released before "Batman & Robin" but to
"prevent confusion," Warner released this much
later. I still think they just wanted to prevent
audiences from knowing how awful their live
action movie was, and how excellent "SubZero"
was. In this sequel, Batman is on with business
as usual, but we focus more on the relationship
between Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. This
serves to be the most compelling element and
sub-plot of the
movie, as their chemistry and romance is sweet,
charming, and rather beautiful, while Timm puts
his noir set pieces to good use here aiming for
a late forties, mid-fifties motif. Mr. Freeze
emerges yet again with a plan to revive his
wife, and he's wreaking havoc all over Gotham to
find the right doctor to stage a liver
transplant.
Surprise Surprise:
Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) happens to be the
perfect match for Freeze's wife after looking
online for a donor. She's
then kidnapped willfully in an effort to prevent
Freeze from murdering innocent bystanders, in
spite of Dick's defiance. And then Batman and Robin go on the
hunt to find her and Stop Freeze. This is also a
successful bout of cat and mouse as Dick's
frantic search for his girlfriend makes for
gripping scenes as he chases Freeze on a
motorcycle evading his forces, and must struggle
to maintain his emotional entanglements with Barbara
lest he slip up. Batman plays second fiddle in
this sequel leaving most of the motivation and
drama to Dick as he rushes to save her, and
Barbara who tries to stall the forced surgery
and escape Freeze's armed guards, and pet polar
bears. Ending on a typical bittersweet sad note,
we're allowed one last look at Dr. Fries as he
staggers off into the snow with his pets after a
near fatal battle with Batman. And Timm shows
why Schumacher's film had nothing against Timm's
directorial prowess.
(A-) |
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World's Finest: The Batman/Superman Movie (1998)
What Bruce
Timm wants us to believe is that Batman can
match Superman pound for pound as an comic book
character,
which means we're supposed to believe he can
flip Superman with ease, considering Supes can
battle against a giant robot in the climax
without being bruised. Right. Sure. I buy that,
honest. Most arguments for this scene is that he
just caught him by surprise, but then many
criminals have punched Superman by surprise and
shattered their fists in the process. Suddenly
Batman is able to do so without breaking his
spine?
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Timm admitted constantly to powering Superman down
in the "Justice League" series, and in this
movie, but the problem is, while the concerns
for Superman being too powerful are valid,
there's no accounting for making him an outright
punk, either. If a punch from Metallo can't
render Superman weak, why does a flip from
Batman? Because it's Batman? Nah. Timm loves
Batman so much that he attempts many times to
debate his superiority in strength, speed, and
mental power against that of Superman, (and in
the "Justice League" series) the Flash,
and Martian Manhunter. In "World's Finest," when he goes up against Superman and comes
out on top nine times out of ten. Originally
presented as a movie, "World's Finest" dribbles
in both courts this time as Superman goes
against the Joker while Batman has to battle
against Lex Luthor. Both universes merge to the
point where characters run in and out of the
storylines with ease. The Joker acquires a jade
Dragon statue that turns out to be Kryptonite,
Harley Quinn and Mercy do battle in a hysterical
meeting of Joker and Lex Luthor, and both groups
learn ahead of time that the best way to defeat
their foes, is by teaming up. The animation is
top notch, and Superman thankfully gets his due,
but Timm wants us to know that this is Batman's
movies. He presents only the illusion of
equality with Superman's entrance, and sadly
that knocks this down a notch. With every
pairing, both heroes should be given equal
respect to their abilities. Sure, Batman is
great, but with Superman you also have to
appreciate.
(B-) |
Lurk over to Part Two of
The "Animated" Batman Report Card!
-
Felix Vasquez Jr.
6/16/08
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