Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 1993 by AverageMansReviews

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 1993 by AverageMansReviews

Review Time

Warning: there is flashing effects/colourful effects/squashing/shooting/disfigurement/drugs/breaking/vehicle crashing/running/animal cruelty/disintegrating/impaling/medical. For those that were born outside of this generation/decade this version Batman is of the golden age as it relates to TV programs/feature lengths, but even though it is of PG certificate I have to stress and those that have seen this version would agree it is perfection, but it may not be suitable for younger ages, all I am saying is; I would start from 12 and up, but you have been warned.

Are you sure you want to play that card?: Basically; a masked individual has come to Gotham City; but it isn't Bruce Wayne/Batman [voiced by Kevin Conroy:] a wealthy individual that owns Wayne Enterprises by day, but by night he is someone/something else he is Batman; fighting or solving the mysteries of the Gotham City dark underbelly. But it isn't Batman that is responsible; it is an individual that uses smoke to cover their tracks; that is taken care of these mob bosses, out of the desperation the last one goes to see an old friend for help; Jack Napier/Joker [voiced by Mark Hamill:] he is the one that is Wayne/Batman biggest adversary; they give each other purpose in their lives.

Generally speaking: the art, framework and pacing of this 78 minutes film is perfection as from beginning to end; they give everything they physically can to make this project a true spectacle; with creating this absolutely spot on classical instrumental music to create this atmosphere of Gotham being broken down society and visually I am confident in saying that these buildings are of 3-D effects and because they have taken time to put in attention to detail; it is still looking excellent [for those people that may be highly critical let's keep in mind that this project was released in 1993 and the 3-D effects are still looking eye-catching in a very much positive sense.] But slowly moving on we have with the instrumental music, darkness wherever we look; the weather is pretty much like British weather 80% of the time raining and miserable and alongside that we have the backdrop to the 1950s. The framework and pacing based on what I have said so far in this content; you can pretty much imagine that things move along at a good pace; and me saying that things move at a good pace is not meant to be a derogatory; it is just things have been instructed to move along when it is time to do so in this project for a brief example; we could have a memory recap so we need to explore that and then back into present times.

Character developments, comedy and voice performances; as I was just indicating because of memory recap the character developments get beautifully explored and they really do give so much depth to the characters or another way to give depth is in the dialogue exchanges as in the comedy Alfred Pennyworth [voiced by Efrem Zimbalist Jr.:] he is a long-time servant to the Wayne family/surrogate to Bruce Wayne and knowing all of his secrets, but I digress; reference to Wayne being sane or/and things he did for Wayne when he was much younger and for the voice performances as most of you would or should know these recurring characters in feature length or animated TV programs went on to make these roles their very own such as obviously Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Mark Hamill as Jack Napier/Joker; these two are the standard bearers for their respective characters and on a little bit of research I think it is safe to designate Efrem Zimbalist Jr. has Alfred Pennyworth on the same level considering he did his voice work for years.

Action; likewise obviously this is high octane action; be it a vehicle crashing through a building flying through the air just crash into another building, yes we get Napier/Joker doing his thing to more than one of his associates, this mystery individual shows off their abilities/skills and of course Wayne/Batman does his thing.

This film receives: 10/10, this film is top-notch entertainment; this providing your family is in the right age bracket is preferably built for family viewing, then again it would help if you are all into comic books at minimum to begin with, but I do stress please keep in mind what I said earlier. But let's be positive this title is of those that you must see once in your lives time and finally I got to watch this project in a cinema so that was well worth the money of a ticket. This film also has 1 award accredited to its name; 1 Nominee Annie Awards 1994 Annie Best Animated Film