Before I get into the review let me explain a few things. Welcome to my new segment Underrated Films. This is where I look at good movies that didn't get enough love from either the audience or critics or the movie flew under their radar. I'll explain why it's underrated, why the movie is worth watching, and a list of the film's accomplishments and since Batman: Mask of the Phantasm came out on Blu-Ray it will be the first movie for this new segment.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a 1993 animated neo-noir superhero mystery film produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The film's distributor is Warner Bros. Family Entertainment. The movie was written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, and Michael Reaves and directed by Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski.
The story is there's a series of murders to Gotham City's most dangerous crime bosses caused by someone known as The Phantasm. All of The Phantasm's kills have been pinned on Batman. Now it's up to him to find out who the mysterious killer is and clear he's name.
Why It's Underrated
What makes this movie underrated is it was a box office bomb despite having widespread critical acclaim with some critics saying it's on par or better than the Tim Burton Batman movies. What made it a box office bomb was Warner Bros' decision to give the film a theatrical release on such a short notice. It also didn't help that Warner Bros. had an unsuccessful marketing campaign.
Why It's Worth Watching
The voice performances are amazing. The best were Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Mark Hamill as The Joker, and Dana Delany as Andrea Beaumont and Stacy Keach as The Phantasm . All four of their performances were great and they played the characters very well. Although to be honest I wasn't that surprised with Kevin and Mark doing an awesome job since they basically are Batman and Joker. Also while The Phantasm doesn't have many lines Stacy still did an amazing job as the character. I always get chills when he said your angel of death awaits you.
Now while I do like a large majority of the live-action Batman movies they do lack something very special to Batman and that's him being a detective. This movie on the other hand gives us the best interpretation of him as a detective. Not only is he trying to figure out who The Phantasm is. He's also trying to find out why these specific crime bosses are being targeted.
The movie has two very memorable action scenes and they were the police chase and the fight between Batman and The Joker in an abandoned amusement park. The police chase was kind of intense. Batman's getting shot at, then they bring in tear gas, and then the GCPD accidentally blow up the building that Batman's in. It was a done perfectly. That fight with Batman and The Joker was definitely the best action scene. I loved how they looked like giants when they were fighting on a miniature city that was pretty cool.
Shirley Walker's score for this movie is beautiful. It really has a cinematic vibe to it. One of my favorites is the main theme song. To me it really set the tone and feel for the movie.
The biggest praise the Mask of the Phantasm earned was it's incredible animation. For a film that was released to theaters on a short notice the animators did an amazing job. When ever someone gets hit or cut it's almost like you felt the impact too. Even that CGI buildings of Gotham City look good and blend in well with the movie.
Accomplishments
Now I already brought up how it was loved by critics so let's talk about the film's other accolades. Now awhile Mask of the Phantasm didn't turn a profit at the box office it did do well on various home video releases. After the film was released on home video it would later developed a cult following which I am proudly apart of. Because of this success the movie would later get two stand-alome sequels Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero in 1998 and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman in 2003 both released direct-to-video and this would be the only animated Batman movie to be released in theaters until 2016 when Batman: The Killing Joke came out. The film was also nominated for an Annie Award in the category for Best Animated Feature alongside The Lion King and The Nightmare Before Christmas but lost to The Lion King.
So that was first post for this segment. I am definitely doing another one of these and the next movie will be The Nice Guys.
State of The Project (Jul 10th - Jul 29th)
Jul 10th - Spider-Man: Homecoming Easter Eggs
Jul 13th - No War for the Planet of the Apes Review. Sorry.
Jul 17th - Road to Justice League - Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Review
Jul 20th - Raiders of the Lost Media - Bully (Original Uncut Version)
Jul 22nd - Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Review
Jul 24th - Cinematic Disasters - Foodfight
Jul 27th - Underrated Films - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Review
Jul 29th - The Emoji Movie Review
NOTE: IF ANYTHING CHANGES I WILL TELL YOU.
What makes this movie underrated is it was a box office bomb despite having widespread critical acclaim with some critics saying it's on par or better than the Tim Burton Batman movies. What made it a box office bomb was Warner Bros' decision to give the film a theatrical release on such a short notice. It also didn't help that Warner Bros. had an unsuccessful marketing campaign.
Why It's Worth Watching
The voice performances are amazing. The best were Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Mark Hamill as The Joker, and Dana Delany as Andrea Beaumont and Stacy Keach as The Phantasm . All four of their performances were great and they played the characters very well. Although to be honest I wasn't that surprised with Kevin and Mark doing an awesome job since they basically are Batman and Joker. Also while The Phantasm doesn't have many lines Stacy still did an amazing job as the character. I always get chills when he said your angel of death awaits you.
Now while I do like a large majority of the live-action Batman movies they do lack something very special to Batman and that's him being a detective. This movie on the other hand gives us the best interpretation of him as a detective. Not only is he trying to figure out who The Phantasm is. He's also trying to find out why these specific crime bosses are being targeted.
The movie has two very memorable action scenes and they were the police chase and the fight between Batman and The Joker in an abandoned amusement park. The police chase was kind of intense. Batman's getting shot at, then they bring in tear gas, and then the GCPD accidentally blow up the building that Batman's in. It was a done perfectly. That fight with Batman and The Joker was definitely the best action scene. I loved how they looked like giants when they were fighting on a miniature city that was pretty cool.
Shirley Walker's score for this movie is beautiful. It really has a cinematic vibe to it. One of my favorites is the main theme song. To me it really set the tone and feel for the movie.
The biggest praise the Mask of the Phantasm earned was it's incredible animation. For a film that was released to theaters on a short notice the animators did an amazing job. When ever someone gets hit or cut it's almost like you felt the impact too. Even that CGI buildings of Gotham City look good and blend in well with the movie.
Accomplishments
Now I already brought up how it was loved by critics so let's talk about the film's other accolades. Now awhile Mask of the Phantasm didn't turn a profit at the box office it did do well on various home video releases. After the film was released on home video it would later developed a cult following which I am proudly apart of. Because of this success the movie would later get two stand-alome sequels Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero in 1998 and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman in 2003 both released direct-to-video and this would be the only animated Batman movie to be released in theaters until 2016 when Batman: The Killing Joke came out. The film was also nominated for an Annie Award in the category for Best Animated Feature alongside The Lion King and The Nightmare Before Christmas but lost to The Lion King.
So that was first post for this segment. I am definitely doing another one of these and the next movie will be The Nice Guys.
State of The Project (Jul 10th - Jul 29th)
Jul 10th - Spider-Man: Homecoming Easter Eggs
Jul 13th - No War for the Planet of the Apes Review. Sorry.
Jul 17th - Road to Justice League - Justice League: Throne of Atlantis Review
Jul 20th - Raiders of the Lost Media - Bully (Original Uncut Version)
Jul 22nd - Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Review
Jul 24th - Cinematic Disasters - Foodfight
Jul 27th - Underrated Films - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Review
Jul 29th - The Emoji Movie Review
NOTE: IF ANYTHING CHANGES I WILL TELL YOU.
No comments:
Post a Comment