Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a rare vision of Batman as a person

Taste Batman: Mask of the Ghost it’s a bit like being someone who’s super fond of vinyl. Tell people it’s your favorite Batman movie, and you risk sounding like an incredible snob; an opponent who somehow feels the need for him to like more than just a bunch of very good live-action movies that many other people love. Regardless, it’s a movie worth celebrating, not because it’s better than its live-action brothers, but because it’s perhaps the most complete version of Batman and Bruce Wayne in the movie.

Batman: Mask of the Ghost, now on Netflix, it was an attempt to capitalize on the Emmy-winning success of Batman: The Animated Series in a theatrical success. It wasn’t enough, bombarding the box office despite critical acclaim, but like many of the cult favorites, it gained a strong fan base on its home video release. As an extension of the show, Ghost mask He deftly walks the tightrope between an independent story and a movie that enriches some stories from the TV show.

Ghost mask It is a murder mystery. There is a new undercover vigilante in Gotham City, and they are killing some of the city’s most prominent gangsters. The eponymous Ghost’s fondness for shadows and theatricality leads people to mistake them for Batman (Kevin Conroy), who is later charged with murders he did not commit. However, all of these dead gangsters seem to be connected, and those connections date back to the early days of Bruce Wayne fighting crime, before he became Batman.

By following this thread, Ghost mask dive into something that The animated series never did, by design: the origin of Batman. And despite being in a movie that’s too short for 75 minutes, it’s the most complete portrayal of the character’s early days, because he’s willing to portray Bruce Wayne as serious and cheesy, someone who’s a bit ridiculous. Bruce Wayne’s Ghost maskflashbacks are not taken seriously by criminals; he is too jealous in his vigilance, so convinced of his own ferocity that he ends up being more fun than intimidating.

He’s also in love: A chance encounter with Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delaney) turns into full-blown romance, a relationship that makes him question his crime-fighting mission. Beaumont is Ghost maskThe biggest addition to the history of Batman, a tragic figure who suffers a trauma similar to the young Bruce Wayne and follows him on a different path.

Despite being a movie primarily for children, Ghost mask It is surprisingly complex in its characterization of its protagonist. It does not shy away from the idea of ​​Batman as something tragic and horrible for a human being. Like the Christopher Nolan movies at their best, it is a story that sees becoming Batman not as noble, but profoundly tragic. He also does this while doing all the other things. The animated series He was very good at his portrayal of Batman: introducing him as a presence that was both intimidating and ironic, a vigilante who could be somber or resourceful as he saw fit.

There’s not exactly a Batman shortage anywhere – he’s still among the most popular comic book superheroes out there, with another remake in the works, but when it comes to movies, his portrayal is often quite limited. It’s a relatively flat representation of a wonderfully complicated character, limited to a handful of emotions and story types when the story from his comic (and TV!) Has shown that the character is much more elastic than that. Batman: Mask of the Ghost It is a movie that has almost everything a person could want from the most popular live action movies, and a little bit more.