Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Really good and well-made animation movie and one of the best Batman feature films. Kevin Conroy was of course amazing, and Dana Delaney leant some wonderful emotion while Mark Hamill was gleefully maniacal as always as The Joker. Kind of wish some elements of this would be implemented into a live action movie, maybe even Matt Reeves' sequel. In any case, I've seen this one several times and still is entertaining as ever. 4.25/5

This animation is very much in the vein of the comics I remember having as a kid. The angular faces with big eyes and broad shoulders atop entirely disproportionately small bodies. This is an embryonic story for the "Caped Crusader" - he hasn't quite finessed his costume as he finds himself embroiled in an identity crisis. It seems he's been out in "Gotham" terrorising and terminating senior figures from the mob. Of course this can't be tolerated, but they don't know his true identity anymore than the cops do. Meantime, his alter ego "Bruce Wayne" has taken a bit of a shine to "Andrea" who just happens to be the daughter of a wealthy man who is also caught up in the gangster shenanigans. Indeed, when he owes them a small fortune that he can't repay, he and his daughter have to flee to Europe. Can they stay safe, though? The two themes knit quite neatly together here as the alternative "Batman" character is quite easy for us to identify as the film progresses. There's some pith in the script, a tiny bit of quite clunky romance and plenty of comic-book menace as the story comes perilously close to an edition of "Scooby Do" at times. Car chases, gadgets, darkly lit streets and a bit of double dealing from "Artie Reeves" all helps this to move along quickly and quite entertainingly and though jeopardy isn't really on the cards, it's a solid story told basically, but well.