I sat down with high expectations for this movie and, on that front I was completely disappointed. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was merely a mediocre movie. I'd like to start off positive by saying the effort put into this movie was incredible. To see TV quality animation in a movie is rare. I guess what I'm saying is that visually, this movie is great. I also loved the darker tone and the violence. The voice acting was stellar. Those are the greatest aspects of this movie and, they keep it from hitting rock bottom. One of my main issues with the movie is it feels like a single stretched out episode of the TV show. It feels like 22 minutes laced with flashbacks to give context to the seen your watching. In this way Mask of the Phantasm feels longer than it is. The problem with this movie feeling to long is that it's only 76 minutes long. This is a major stilted pacing issue of Mask of the Phantasm. As for the final twist at the end of the movie it was nothing but predictable. Giving the Joker a locked down backstory in this canon is something I view rather neutrally. As I view most of the movie. The movie is at best very slightly above average if only for the dark tone. That's about the most I can say without spoiling the movie but, if you have a brain and, can remember things for a period of longer than 24 hours than you'll be able to be 40 minute ahead of this movie at all times.
Review of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
