Plot summary: A mysterious masked figure is killing gangsters, but Batman is distracted by the return of his former fiancé, Andrea Beaumont. Perhaps the two are connected…
(Originally published on The Reel World February 20th, 2021)
Notes
Original Release Date: December 25th, 1993
Directed: Eric Radomski (4) & Bruce Timm (5)
Written: Alan Burnett (4) (story & screenplay), Paul Dini (13) (screenplay), Martin Pasko (3) (screenplay) and Michael Reaves (9) (screenplay)
Animation: Dong Yang Animation, Co, LTD. (26) & Spectrum Animation Studio (8)
Music: Shirley Walker (30)
Warner Bros. infamously gave the film a nigh-impossible eight month production schedule and changed it from direct-to-video to a theatrical release, essentially after realising how good the script was. I don’t think the staff had a good time making it though, as Timm had to REALLY crack the whip to meet the deadline. To cap all this off, WB failed to market it properly as a feature film (it didn’t have evening showings) making it a box office flop, but a home video smash hit.
Alan Burnett was tasked with writing the film from its inception, which is why he has minimal involvement in season one. Martin Pasko was responsible for most of the Bruce-centric flashbacks. Michael Reaves concentrated mostly on the big ending sequence. Paul Dini’s work was centred around most of the middle with Joker and the heavier romantic elements with Andrea, as well as other little touches here and there.
The first version of the script morphed into the upcoming episode, ‘The Trial’, so Burnett instead adapted a planned two-part episode called ‘Masks’ that would have served as the finale of the show, along with a separate episode by Reeves retelling Batman’s early days from Alfred’s point of view.
Hans Zimmer did the synthesiser work on the movie and was Shirley Walker’s biggest cheerleader, claiming she failed to receive the recognition she deserved in the 90s due to being a female composer. He frequently called on her to help him solve orchestration problems.
While Timm & Radomski get the official director credits, it was a group project, with Boyd Kirkland and Frank Paur doing the flashbacks, Kevin Altieri doing the big action scenes and Dan Riba doing interstitial stuff. Likewise basically all the recurring composers contributed orchestration to the soundtrack.
Recap
We begin with Batman taking out a bunch of counterfeiters. Their leader, Chuckie Sol, escapes, but is confronted by a mysterious grim reaper-esque individual, and ends up in a fatal car crash.
Gotham councilman Arthur Reeves lays the blame at Batman’s feet, as the Caped Crusader was spotted at the scene shortly afterward. Gordon defends his vigilante pal and is rewarded with barely being in the rest of the film 😦
At a fancy soiree, Bruce fends off various female admirers, until a redhead (who Bruce blew off in ‘Joker’s Wild’) warns them off and throws a drink in his face.
Reeves gets a good laugh out of it, and then asks about an old flame, Andrea Beaumont, taking us to a flashback of the two meeting while visiting their respective parents’ graves.
After his cemetery Meet-Cute, the young Bruce breaks up an attempted robbery wearing a balaclava as he has yet to create the Batman persona.
He has all of the skills, but lacks the sense of theatricality, complaining to Alfred that the thieves weren’t afraid of him. He does smooch Andrea though, so it’s not all bad.
Back in the present another mobster, Buzz Bronski, meets his end at the hands of The Phantasm while visiting Chuckie Sol’s grave. Batman is again a little late on the scene, resulting in his photograph on the front page as the prime suspect.
Returning to the graveyard to investigate Bronski’s death, Bats stumbles on Andrea talking to her mother’s grave like she did years ago. She sees our hero next to the Wayne headstone and immediately guesses his identity. It’s just that easy!
Andrea sleepwalks through a dinner date with Reeves while Bruce spies on them from afar. We flashback to him visiting Gotham World’s Fair with her, where the besotted couple wonder about the future.
He meets her father for the first time, assisted by a young, dorky Arthur Reeves. The meeting is interrupted by the arrival of obvious criminal Sal Valestra, forcing Bruce & Andi to take a hike.
Happening on a street gang mugging some poor schmoe, Bruce does his best to fight them off amidst Andi’s protests, but he catches a beating.
Frustrated, he wonders if he’s able to fight crime and maintain a happy relationship, visiting his parents’ grave and pleading to break his vow. It’s incredible.
A present day Sal Valestra meets with Reeves in secret, worried that Batman really is killing their people. Sure enough, Batman discovers secret business ties between Sol, Bronski and Valestra. Investigating Valestra’s office, he finds an old group photograph of the three, along with Andrea’s father.
We flash back again, with Bruce proposing to Andi. However the very next day while exploring what will become the Batcave, Bruce is handed his ring back and a ‘Dear John’ from Andrea. Devastated, he dons the Cape and Cowl for the first time, terrifying Alfred in the most iconic scene in the movie.
The elderly Valestra visits the abandoned World’s Fair, now a hideout for The Joker. Sal pleads for him to take out Batman once and for all, fearing for his life. Joker instead murders him, leaving a trap for The Phantasm.
Batman and Phantasm briefly battle, but the GCPD interrupt, with Reeves having pressured them to arrest Bats. They come very close, with Bruce gravely wounded in an intense SWAT shootout, only escaping thanks to Andrea picking him up.
Andi reluctantly tells Bruce the truth about her father’s involvement with the criminals; owing the mob a huge sum of cash, the Beaumonts were forced to flee to Europe. Bruce surmises that her father is the Phantasm. They kiss, because nothing is hotter than your ex-boyfriend theorising your father is a murderer.
Alfred hopes that their reconciliation may lead to retiring the Batman persona, but Bruce notices one of the younger mobsters in the old photograph is a pre-transformation Joker!
Speaking of the Clown Prince, he visits Arthur Reeves, trying to find out who has been killing their old crew. Reeves genuinely believes it’s Batman, but Joker suggests Arthur himself could be behind the mask, trying to keep his past associations secret to maintain his political position.
Hospitalised with a nasty case of Joker Toxin, Reeves is visited by Batman and made to confess that he sold out Andrea’s father to the mob to fund his re-election campaign for city council.
Andrea is at last revealed as The Phantasm, attacking Joker, as he was the one to carry out the hit on her father years previously. The two battle across The World’s Fair, with Batman eventually joining the fray to save his beloved.
Bruce confronts her over the mob murders. She reluctantly leaves the two insane freaks to battle it out amidst a model city… only to reappear and grab Joker ahead of a massive explosion that seemingly only Bruce survives.
In the aftermath, Bruce mopes (for a change). Alfred comforts him, stating that Andrea was lost to her mission of vengeance years ago. Bruce spots something twinkling in the cave, discovering Andrea’s locket with a picture of the two inside.
Out at sea, a happy chap cracks onto an enigmatic redhead, the very much alive Andrea! Back in Gotham, Batman shrugs off his sadness when he sees the Bat Signal, swinging off to his next adventure.
Best Performance
Kevin Conroy is so fantastic in the series that I didn’t think he would be able to up his game any further. But boy howdy did he put on his movie boots. He’s aged himself down for flashback scenes before, but is even better at it here, with the iconic “I didn’t count on being happy” speech perhaps the finest acting of his career.
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. never really gets enough love from me, as Alfred typically only gets a handful of lines per episode. He gets more to do here and threatens to steal the show several times with his trademark sarcasm and dry wit. More than that, he gets to truly emote for the first time, highlighting how under-utilised the character is in the series.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say Mark Hamill fails to bring it, but I don’t think he significantly elevated his work above what we’ve heard in the series in the same way that Conroy did. He adds some fun flourishes to his trademark laugh, and credits this film for helping him perfect it.
In terms of newcomers, Dana Delaney is outstanding, infusing Andrea with enormous dreamboat energy. She is effortlessly charming, funny and emotionally engaging. Honestly, she was my pick for a while.
Stacy Keach, Abe Vigoda and Hart Bochner round the cast out really nicely, with Bochner a particular standout. Also, a shout out to Arleen Sorkin, who Dini snuck in for the ‘engagement’ joke.
‘Episode’ Ranking
It goes without saying that the increased budget and longer run time afford the story some huge advantages in terms of visuals, soundtrack and pacing compared to a 22-minute episode of television. It’s not even either of the top two animation studios and it still looks amazing. The regular sound effects crew were replaced with a Hollywood team and you can tell. Most importantly the extended runtime allows a more elaborate and ambitious story where things get to breathe more.
The show has rarely delved into Bruce’s life before becoming Batman, and they should be commended for finally doing so without depicting his parents’ murder, which has been done to death over the years. Instead we get cute little touches like Harvey Bullock as a beat cop, Alfred with dark hair and Bruce getting inspired by the design of “The Car of the Future” at the World’s Fair. The best part for me is that right when he’s at the point we’re expecting him to create Batman, he’s instead at his closest to giving up on his entire crusade. But when a happy, normal life slips through his fingers, he’s instead finally able to fully commit to his decision by suiting up as Batman, horrifying Alfred in the process.
I’m sure me ‘only’ placing the film in second will raise eyebrows. This is the Batman film for many people, and is the best BTAS will ever look and sound. Furthermore, ‘The Laughing Fish’ rarely gets brought up as a contender for the top spot, which is only going to compound my choices. To me it’s a simple matter of elegent simplicity with ‘Fish’. It’s a perfect little 22-minute distillation of their take on Batman. It’s a Batman vs Joker story. It’s the most dangerous Joker ever looks. It’s got detective work, ridiculous ‘Batman is always one step ahead’ moments, it hugely elevates Harley Quinn (who I missed in this movie) and a fun moody fight in the rain. Conversely, I think there are actually elements of this film that don’t work as well as they might have.
I LOVE the flashbacks and look into Bruce’s past, his emotional struggles with creating and committing to Batman and his doomed romance with Andrea. Best parts of the film to me. I enjoyed the mystery element of the Phantasm as they bumped off mobsters one by one while eluding Batman physically and in terms of him being able to deduce their identity. The moves between the past and the present can be quite jarring on a first watch, so I assume kids did NOT enjoy this film (it’s also less action-oriented), but I personally think it’s quite slick, and would go as far as to say it improves with each viewing.
HOWEVER, I’ve always had some minor issues with Joker feeling like he’s there by obligation. There are differing accounts of how true that is from Alan Burnett and Paul Dini. They did find a way to weave him as elegently as they could, but to me this was and should have remained a Bruce and Andrea story, not a Batman vs Joker story. It’s not even that Joker shouldn’t be here at all, it’s that he completely takes over the film at a certain point and Andrea just… fades out until the end. This is where I feel they should have included Harley Quinn as Dini wanted (Timm insisted Joker work solo), so Andrea could have been a more active participant in the final fight. They crafted this gorgeous battleground that would have easily accomodated multiple skirmishes, and with the height and geography to play with, they could have done some fun ‘switch partners’ stuff where it becomes Bruce vs Harley and Andrea vs Joker and back again. Instead, the moment Phantasm’s identity is revealed, Andrea is essentially benched until she can force the murder/suicide at the end. I also would have liked more Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock.
I know I’m on an island with this, and even the people that agree with some of what I’m saying don’t think it’s enough to ‘ruin’ it, but that is what it boils down to for me. ‘Fish’ is going for something simpler and it nails it perfectly. ‘Phantasm’ is taking a MUCH larger swing, and doesn’t 100% stick the landing. It’s not a dig at the movie. I love the movie. The movie is immortal. I just love one particular episode a tiny bit more. I also think it speaks to the quality of this film that I spent more of the review justifying why it isn’t in first place rather than talking it up.
Finally, it should also be noted that this is a slightly more adult tale thanks to the relaxed censorship rules that come with film vs television. The Year One-inspired narrow escape from the GCPD is more brutal than anything in the series to date. Likewise Reeves’ reaction to Joker Toxin is far more extreme than the FCC would ever allow. Heck, Batman kicks Joker so hard he spits out a bloody tooth. I think Zack Snyder believes this is the kind of value he is adding by having Batman say “fuck” once in Justice League, but this is Actually Good.
- The Laughing Fish
- Mask of the Phantasm (NEW ENTRY)
- Almost Got ‘im
- Heart of Ice
- Shadow of the Bat Part I
- I Am the Night
- Robin’s Reckoning Part I
- The Man Who Killed Batman
- Perchance to Dream
- Two-Face Part I
- Joker’s Favor
- Read My Lips
- Feat of Clay Part II
- The Demon’s Quest Part II
- Harley and Ivy
- Robin’s Reckoning Part II
- Beware the Gray Ghost
- Mad as a Hatter
- Heart of Steel Part II
- Appointment In Crime Alley
- Two-Face Part II
- Pretty Poison
- Shadow of the Bat Part II
- Feat of Clay Part I
- His Silicon Soul
- Off Balance
- Vendetta
- Birds of a Feather
- Heart of Steel Part I
- On Leather Wings
- See No Evil
- The Clock King
- It’s Never Too Late
- Joker’s Wild
- Eternal Youth
- The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy
- The Cat and the Claw Part I
- Zatanna
- Day of the Samurai
- The Demon’s Quest Part I
- The Mechanic
- The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne
- Terror in the Sky
- P.O.V.
- Christmas with the Joker
- Fear of Victory
- Be a Clown
- The Worry Men
- What is Reality?
- Fire From Olympus
- Night of the Ninja
- Mudslide
- The Cat and the Claw Part II
- Nothing to Fear
- Prophecy of Doom
- Tyger, Tyger
- Blind as a Bat
- If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?
- Dreams In Darkness
- The Last Laugh
- Cat Scratch Fever
- Moon of the Wolf
- Paging the Crime Doctor
- The Under-Dwellers
- The Forgotten
- I’ve Got Batman in My Basement
Rogues Roundup
The Phantasm (Dana Delaney/Stacey Keach) (first appearance)
I really shouldn’t label Andrea Beaumont as The Phantasm, as that name is never spoken or written anywhere in the film. Also she’s more of an anti-hero, as she only kills the criminals responsible for her father’s death, but hey!
Anyway, she’s awesome. It’s a cool costume, with a smoke-based teleportation trick that’s never actually explained (until a Dini-penned comic), and it is nice that the male-presenting villain turns out to be a woman. And for once the mystery can’t be solved by simple Scooby-Doo logic, thanks to the film introducing more than one new character! This was all aided by having Stacey Keach voice the character when in costume, as he also provided the voice for Andrea’s father, who was Bruce’s top candidate for the man behind the mask. Cute.
She’s basically the show’s version of Catwoman, but better written and performed. In a world where they stick with their gut instinct to not include Joker (depending on which writers you believe), and Andrea got even more time to develop, she would rank even higher, but as it is, she’s knocking on the door of the elites.
The Joker (Mark Hamill) (eleventh appearance)
While I have my issues with his inclusion, Joker’s arrival certainly injects new energy at the end of the first act, terrorising his fellow criminals in a manner that underpins his place as one of fiction’s best villains. I particularly liked both his buffoonery subsiding in favour of murderous rage when Sal tries to threaten him, and him turning up on Reeves’ doorstep to apply pressure in a scene that feels like an homage to The Killing Joke.
But as mentioned earlier, I do feel for as great as he can be in those moments, he slightly detracts from the story they spend most of the runtime telling. I hated how Tim Burton retconned him to be responsible for the death of Bruce’s parents, and while this is executed in a more elegant fashion, I still don’t think that it’s necessary for him to be in the middle of everything.
Paul Dini had to be talked out of including Harley Quinn, with Bruce Timm believing it would make Joker seem more dangerous. I suppose that’s true, but I think he’s been better with her than without in the show, and if nothing else it would have allowed Bruce and Andrea to split up and keep switching dance partners in the final fight, rather than it becoming a prolonged one on one with the woman waiting patiently for the boys to finish their scrap. If this had been the finale to the whole series as planned, then it makes sense for the hero to battle his nemesis in one last epic showdown… but it wasn’t. So instead Joker ostensibly dies and then pops back up later without explanation (again, the aforementioned tie-in comic will explain all.)
- The Joker (-)
- Mr. Freeze
- Poison Ivy
- Harley Quinn
- Two-Face
- The Ventriloquist
- The Phantasm (NEW ENTRY)
- Mad Hatter
- Penguin
- Catwoman
- HARDAC (and Randa Duane)
- Clayface
- Ra’s al Ghul
- The Riddler
- Clock King
- Killer Croc
- Lloyd Ventrix
- Count Vertigo
- Josiah Wormwood
- Scarecrow
- Roland Daggett (and Germs & Bell!)
- Rupert Thorne
- Sid the Squid
- Maxie Zeus
- Jimmy ‘Jazzman’ Peake
- Tony Zucco
- Man-Bat
- Hugo Strange
- Red Claw
- Arnold Stromwell
- Mad Bomber
- Tygrus
- Rhino, Mugsy and Ratso
- Kyodai Ken
- Gil Mason
- Nostromos (and Lucas!)
- Cameron Kaiser
- Dr. Dorian (and Garth)
- Talia al Ghul
- Mad Dog
- Ubu
- Professor Milo
- Romulus
- Sewer King
- Boss Biggis
- Montague Kane
The Matt Signal 
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