olivia_sutton: (Batman)
 Published on my movie blog on Sunday, 6 Feb. 2011
  • Title:  Batman Beyond Return of the Joker
  • Director:  Curt Geda
  • Voice Director:  Andrea Romano
  • Date:  2000
  • Studio:  Warner Brothers
  • Genre:  Action, Fantasy, Mystery
  • Cast:  Kevin Conroy, Will Friedle, Mark Hamill, Dean Stockwell, Teri Garr, Tara Strong, Frank Welker, Michael Rosenbum
  • Format:  Color Animation, Widescreen
  • DVD Format:  R1, NTSC
This film bridges the gap between Batman:  The Animated Series and Batman Beyond, answering some of  the unanswered questions.  And it brings back the most famous Batman villian -- the Joker.  Briefly, Batman Beyond was a television series set 50 years after Batman:  The Animated Series.  Bruce has gotten old and is now unable to fight crime.  Terry McGinnis becomes the new Batman, having at first stolen Bruce's latest Batsuit (used before his retirement) and then with Bruce's blessing.  Terry is a bit more light-hearted than Bruce but not as light-hearted as some of the Robins.  He has a mother and a younger brother (tho' his father was murdered) and even a girlfriend.  The solid black suit with a red bat symbol is more technically advanced, with jet packs that allow real flight (so the cape is gone).  It also has a video and audio link to the Cave where Bruce advises Terry.  Throughout the series The Joker's been missing but a gang of trouble-makers called Jokerz have caused Terry and the city of New Gotham trouble.  It's a cyber-punked/21st century Batman rather than the Art Deco/30s/Film Noir look of  Batman the Animated Series.

This film opens with Batman breaking up a theft of electronic equipment by the Jokerz.  All goes well, but when he discusses it later with Bruce, Terry's confused, because high-end electronics and computers aren't normally the Jokerz' style -- they usually go for quick cash.  Bruce dismisses the theft as "looking for stuff  they could fence".  Bruce, perhaps, has too much on his mind -- he's returning to be the active head of  Wayne Enterprises.

The Joker (again, voiced by Mark Hamill, as he was in B:TAS) breaks up the party welcoming back Bruce.  Terry changes into the Batsuit and rescues Bruce and the party-goers but the Joker gets away.  At the Cave, he insists Bruce fill him in on the background of the Joker.  Bruce merely insists that Joker is dead, saying he was there when it happened.  Terry jumps to the conclusion Bruce killed Joker, he had no choice, then stopped being Batman.  Bruce refuses to comment.  He also forbids Terry to go after Joker and even asks for the suit back.

Terry goes to see Barbara Gordon.  Barbara refuses to talk, only mentioning Tim Drake (Robin # 3).  Terry sees Tim, but gets no answers from him either.

Deciding he will quit, Terry is relieved to spend time with his family and Dana, his girlfriend.  But the Jokerz show up at the club Terry and Dana frequent and try to kidnap the girl.  They also try to kill Terry.  After speaking with the police, and checking on Dana, Terry goes to see Bruce.  But he's too late -- Ace, Bruce's protective Great Dane is injured, and Bruce is unconscious with a hideous smile on his face.  The Cave is a wreck, the costume displays destroyed, and "Ha Ha" written in red everywhere.  Bruce, between laughs, manages to point Terry to the anti-toxin for the Joker's laughing gas, and Terry gives him a shot, then calls Barbara.

Barbara Gordon, who was once Batgirl and is now Police Commissioner Gordon, decides to explain what happened in the past.  In a well-executed flashback, we learn what happened:  Harley Quinn had set-up young Robin, Tim Drake, and he is kidnapped by the Joker.  Batman and Batgirl search for him for three weeks.  Finally, Joker leaves them a blatant clue -- Batman and Batgirl follow, and discover the horrifying truth:  Tim/Robin was tortured, electrocuted, drugged, beaten, and finally programmed to be Joker Jr.  They find him complete with the white face, green hair, and a miniature purple suit.  But merely turning Robin into a copy of  himself  isn't enough for Joker -- he also orders the boy to shoot and kill Batman.  (Batgirl is meanwhile somewhere else in the now abandoned Arkham Asylum fighting Harley Quinn).  But Tim shoots, and kills, Joker instead.  Barbara rushes to Tim, as does Batman.

In the present, Barbara explains they buried Joker then took Tim to Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who took a year to put him back together again.  After that, Batman forbade him to ever put on the Robin suit.  It was the disastrous final clash with Joker that caused Bruce to forbid Terry from going after the super villain.

Terry, meanwhile, is trying to find out what's going on.  Evidence leads to Tim, yet Tim claims to be innocent.  However, in front of Terry (in the Batsuit) and Bruce's (at home in the cave, barely recovered) eyes Tim turns into Joker -- victim of a transmitter containing Joker DNA that takes over his subconscience and brain.  It's basically like a scientific explanation of  the "split personality" villain.  Tim isn't even aware that the Joker is piggy-backing in his body, thinking any memories are only bad dreams.  Joker plans to take over a government laser defense satellite, using telecom equipment stolen by the Jokerz and Tim's know-how to put it together.  He's already blown-up a boat, and now plans to strike close to home for Terry:  blowing up the hospital where Dana's recovering, blowing up Terry's home where his Mom and brother are, and blowing up Wayne Manor and Bruce -- just to get started.  However, Terry has discovered the secret to defeating the Joker, which is does, then he destroys the control chip in Tim's head, bringing the man back to normal.

An excellent movie, yes, it is like a longer version of  a Batman Beyond episode, but it was also quite dark -- especially the torture of  Tim Drake, and Bruce and Barbara covering up a murder.  There's also some extremely effective visuals.  The film is enjoyable tho', with the saucy dialog common to Batman Beyond, and it answered some questions -- where was the Joker?  What happened to Tim Drake?  What caused Bruce to give up the Batsuit? (something touched on in the series premiere as well).  But it also didn't answer everything -- Nightwing/Dick Grayson is mentioned, a couple of times, but it's never explained what happened to him.

Recommendation:  See it!  Buy it!
Rating:  4 of 5 stars
Next Film:  Beverly Hills Cop
olivia_sutton: (Batman)
Somehow, I forgot to cross-post this.  Remember, newest reviews are on my Movie Project blog first.  Posted Sunday 30 Jan 2011.

  • Title:  Batman Mask of  the Phantasm
  • Directors:  Eric Radomski, Bruce W. Timm
  • Voice Direction:  Andrea Romano
  • Date:  1993
  • Studio:  Warner Brothers
  • Genre:  Mystery, Adventure, Fantasy
  • Cast:  Kevin Conroy, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Dana Delany, Mark Hamill, Stacy Keach Jr., Abe Vigoda, Bob Hastings,
  • Format:  Color Animation, Widescreen
  • Length:  76 Minutes
  • DVD Format:  R1, NTSC, Double-sided Standard/Widescreen
"I know I made a promise, but I didn't see this coming.  I didn't count on being happy.  Please, tell me it's OK."  Bruce Wayne to his parents' grave

"The way I see it, the only one in this room controlled by his parents is you."  Andrea Beaumont to Batman

The first in a series of animated movies that followed the very successful DC Animated Universe on WB and it's associated networks (Cartoon Network, Boomerang), Batman  Mask of  the Phantasm is a promising start.  The film opens with wonderful art deco titles, and quickly moves into the plot:  someone is killing top gangsters in Gotham City, and a new congressman assumes it's Batman and makes him Public Enemy # 1.  Meanwhile, an old girlfriend of  Bruce's -- Andrea Beaumont, has returned to town.

Much of  the film is flashbacks to their blossoming relationship, from their first meeting in a graveyard - Bruce, visiting his parents, overhears Andrea talking to her (dead) mother - to their courtship, and Bruce eventually proposing (a proposal quickly shattered by the emergence of a huge number of  bats from a nearby cave).  Bruce even decides that he would put aside the cape and cowl, and his mission, to be with Andrea.  However, she sends his ring back the next day, and Bruce adapts the Bat as his symbol.  He'd been working on a costume, something to scare criminals, but hadn't quite gotten it perfected yet at that point in time.

In the present, Batman is trying to discover who is killing off  these old gangsters, a crime being pinned on him no less.  Gradually he discovers all the gangsters were clients of  Andrea's father (some sort of accountant or investment banker, it's not really spelled out), however, he assumes it's Andrea's father responsible for the crimes.

The Joker shows up, voiced by Mark Hamill, as he was in Batman:  The Animated Series, to wreak havoc.  The "Phantasm" (not actually named as such in the film) confronts Joker, the last one involved in Beaumont's forced exile from Gotham and eventual death, only to be unmasked - it's Andrea.  Batman arrives, and fights Joker in the now decrepit World's Fair grounds, which, ironically, was dedicated to portraying a brighter future.  Batman and Joker fight in the 1/3rd scale "city" appearing like Godzilla and King Kong - Joker even sends a group of toy airplanes after Batman.  But Joker has an ace up his sleeve -- he's rigged the entire place to explode.  Batman is able to stop Andrea from killing the Joker, and escapes himself, but fears Andrea is dead (she's not, we see her leaving Gotham by boat, but she's not talking either).

This film had the producers of  Batman:  The Animated Series experimenting with a longer format for the first time.  Aspects do work -- there's some great filming, and the plot is nice and complex with enough twists and turns for just over an hour.  There's one scene where Batman, having chased the "Phantasm" ends up in a graveyard -- he suddenly realizes he's in the graveyard where his parents are buried.  And there is a wonderful shot of  Batman looking at the Wayne grave, and we see the shadow of  Batman's outline fall on the grave.  It's a shot worthy of  Citizen Kane in all the complexity of  what it suggests:  about Bruce, about Thomas and Martha Wayne, about the effects one act of  violence had on a life.  And Andrea too was affected - the night Bruce proposes to her, her father announces they have to go on the run - the mob wants money from him, money he doesn't have.  Both Bruce and Andrea are robbed of  any chance of  being happy.  But the Bruce/Andrea romance is also, in a way, the downfall of  the story.  Bruce in love just doesn't work the way, say Clark Kent's romance with Lois Lane's does.  Or even Bruce's occasional flirting with Wonder Woman does (see Justice League and Justice League Unlimited).  Bruce may flirt, he deliberately brings "eye candy" to his social functions, but he's way too dedicated to his night job to get serious with any woman.

And, oddly enough, though well played by Mark Hamill, Joker seems almost like an after-thought to the film.  He's not orchestrating events at all, but merely reacting to them.  This makes him seem oddly under-used, though there are some great moments with the Joker anyway.

And, finally, for a mystery, the film ends with a giant plot-hole.  We know the "Phantasm" killed the mobsters, and that "he" is a "she"-- Andrea Beaumont.  Bruce knows this as well, and thinks she's dead at the end of the film.  But the cops don't know that.  Just how was Batman planning on convincing them?  When they'd chased him all over Gotham City trying to kill him?

But, overall, a good try - and successful enough for an additional string of  films to be made, many of which I have.

By the way, for the curious, the DC Animated Universe is:  Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Batman Beyond, plus various movies.  Don't ask me to put them in order -- I originally saw them widely out-of-order, tho' I now own all on DVD but Superman.

Recommendation:  For the serious Batman collector, a "should have", but otherwise rent it.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Next Film:  Batman Subzero

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