Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Review

Episode Transcript
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This is a DynaMic Network podcast.

(00:24):
Welcome to the Dynamic Duel Podcast, a weeklyshow where we review superhero films and debate
the superiority between Marvel and DC by comparingtheir characters in stat-based battle simulations.
I'm Johnny DC. And I'm his twin brother, MarvelousJoe. And in this episode, we are doing a throwback
review to the 1993 animated theatrical film,Batman, Mask of the Phantasm. We were interested

(00:47):
in reviewing it now. because we just got donereviewing X-Men 97. And of course, both that
cartoon and Batman, the animated series forwhich this film is a tie in to were both popular
Saturday morning cartoons that a lot of us 90skids grew up with. Yeah, it's a nostalgia episode.
The question is, does Batman mask the phantasmhold up to the animated series in the same

(01:08):
way that X-Men 97 held up to the 90s series?We'll find out later on this episode. Before
that we're going to break down the comic bookmovie news from this past week, of which there
was only one major news item, and that was thetrailer for Venom 3. There was some casting
announcements made for the new Superman movie,but other than Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard,

(01:29):
I didn't really have too much to say about thecasting choices. But as always, we list our
segment times in our episode description, sofeel free to check out the show notes if you
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On the Sanjo World podcast, host Zachary Heppardspeculates on fights between fan favorite anime
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Mr. Incredible from the Incredibles video gameagainst the Thing from, I'm guessing the 2005
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(03:51):
the link in our show notes to listen to allof the shows in the DynaMic Podcast Network.
But with that out of the way, quick to the noprize. A no prize is an award Marvel used to
give out to fans. Our version, the Dynamic DuelNo Prize, is a digital award we post on Instagram
for the person that we feel gave the best answerto our question of the week. Last week's question

(04:13):
was, who's your favorite Green Lantern and why?And of course this was coming off of the news
that the showrunners for the upcoming Lanternstelevision series in the DCU was Damon Lindelof
and Chris Mundy. We got four different answersfor this week's question, so we're going to
break down our honorable mentions before announcingthis week's No Prize winner. Our first honorable

(04:33):
mention goes to Judson Batty who said, Hi guys,Judson Batty here. I'd say my favorite Green
Latin is Sinestro. I feel like the stories whenhe is a Green Latin and not yellow in the Sinestro
core just some of the most interesting, whetherit's the early ones where he's training how
Jordan or prequels with Abin Suh. or even thenew 52 when he gets the Green Lantern ring

(04:58):
back. I feel like they just make for a reallyinteresting reads because it really pushes
the boundaries of what the ring and the coreallow to happen. Good to hear from you again,
Jutsson from the land down under. For everyonewho is confused by us claiming that Jutsson
was from Austria or from New Zealand, thosepeople need to watch Dumb and Dumber and Flight
of the Conchords. Yeah, totally. But his answerof Sinestro is actually an interesting one,

(05:20):
considering Sinestro is, of course, one of thelead enemies, if not the lead enemy. of the
Green Lantern Corps. He started off as a GreenLantern but then defected, and recently for
a time came back to being a Green Lantern, andeven a White Lantern. He's a very complex character,
if you don't know too much about him, I definitelysuggest listening to our Sinestro vs Magneto

(05:41):
duel episode. Yeah, he trained Hal Jordan. Hewas, I think, really good friends with Abin
Sur, who was Hal Jordan's predecessor. And that'spretty much what I remember from your backstory
on him, Jonathan. Wow, you also need to go backand listen to that episode. That was like five
years ago. Come on, give me a break. Good answer,Judson. Our next honorable mention goes to

(06:04):
Mickey Mathingian, who said, it was becauseof Mickey and my favorite Green Lantern is
Jon Stewart. I think you guys have asked thisbefore, but I'm going to answer it again. He
was my favorite because of the Justice Leaguecartoon. I grew up on that. So he was like
the first Green Lantern I was introduced to.I also just really like his story. with him
being one of DC's first African-American superheroesand the fictional backstory, too, with him

(06:28):
being an architect and a really good sniper.Yeah, thanks, guys. Yeah, I didn't grow up
really with the Justice League cartoon thatwas a little bit after my time when I was in
high school. So I never really considered JonStewart to be like the Green Lantern. But just
from doing this podcast and doing research onthe various Green Lanterns for our duel episodes.
Jon Stewart has become my personal favoriteGreen Lantern. It used to be Kyle Raynor and

(06:53):
then it was Hal Jordan, but I just love thebackstory of Jon Stewart, how he's this Green
Lantern of prophecy and yet his military andarchitecture background kind of blend the best
of all worlds for each of the human Green Lanterncharacters. If we were left with just one human
Green Lantern, I would definitely pick Jon Stewart.I would agree. I think... between the recent

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Green Lantern vs. Quasar episode we did andthe Green Lantern Beware My Power animated
feature film. I think Jon Stewart has quicklybecome my favorite Green Lantern as well. Fantastic
answer, Miggy. Our final honorable mention goesto Cyrus Moore, who said, Hey guys, Cyrus Moore
here. Although my favorite Green Lantern isKyle Rayner, I feel like he's gonna be a popular

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answer. So therefore I'd like to go with RelocHag, who is just a really cool Lantern to start
with. He's an alpha lantern. He has a reallyinteresting backstory. He's a centaur. I mean,
you can't get any better than that. Okay, I'mnot gonna lie. I had to Google this guy. I
know nothing about him other than he looks likea total badass. Seriously, he has one of the

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coolest designs out of any Green Lantern ever.Like I know the Green Lanterns span all the
races in the galaxy and the universe, but thisparticular centaur race is just a really cool
design. Reloc Hag, it's spelled R-E-L-O-K. H-A-G.If you don't know him, look him up. I think
you'll be similarly impressed. And the factthat he's an alpha lantern, like that just

(08:20):
gives him some extra cred in my book becausethose guys are awesome. The hell is an alpha
lantern? They're kind of described as the internalaffairs of the green lanterns, but they're
essentially elite lanterns. Interesting. Now,Cyrus also mentioned Kyle Rayner, who was your
initial favorite Green Lantern, Jonathan? Yes,yeah, he was the Green Lantern that I personally

(08:40):
grew up with in the comics when I began readingDC Comics. He was, in fact, the only Green
Lantern that existed at that time. So he wasmy favorite by default. So, great answer, Cyrus.
But the winner of this week's No Prize is...Peter Trull, who said... What's up, Dynamic
Dudes, it's Peter. Uh, my favorite Green Lanternhas got to be... Hal Jordan easily. He's the

(09:03):
one I grew up on the most and he's literallyone of the greatest lanterns of all time. He's
mentioned in different comics, several of them,that he is the greatest lantern. Not even greatest
green lantern, but other lanterns of all thelantern core. Like he is the best. So what
else would you think other than Hal Jordan asthe best green lantern of all time? Thanks
guys. So the only reason we didn't give theno prize to Miggie for his answer of Jon Stewart

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is because one, I think We have in fact askedthis question before, and two, because Hal
Jordan is the iconic Green Lantern. As muchas I like Jon Stewart, I have to admit that
when it comes to other forms of media and just,you know, the public perception of the character
with the movie and everything, yeah, everyoneknows Hal Jordan as the quintessential Green

(09:51):
Lantern. The dude can wield basically any ringand is just a master of it. I remember you
had a graphic novel called Green Lantern Fearitself, in which there was a segment at the
end where Kyle Rayner and Alan Scott were discussingthe greatest Green Lantern of all time, and
they were talking about how Hal Jordan was thebest of them. He was, you know, the specter

(10:12):
at the time, he was dead. But I always thinkback to that when I think about the greatest
Green Lanterns and how if you were to ask thecore themselves who the best among them is,
a lot of them would actually pick Hal Jordan.Yeah, maybe. Or they'd be like... Oh, that
guy who killed all of us? Fuck that guy. Heredeemed himself. He's all good. He's good.
He was possessed. What are you gonna do? That'strue. But great answer, Peter. You win this

(10:36):
week's note prize. If you're the listener, wanta shot at winning your own note prize. Stay
tuned to later on in this episode when we'llbe asking another question of the week. And
now that that's done, on to the news.
This past week we got the first official trailerfor the Venom The Last Dance movie which is

(10:58):
coming out in October. And right off the batI just want to talk about my kind of love-hate
relationship with the Venom franchise becauseI actually really liked the first Venom movie.
As you will learn if you listen to our reviewI think we gave it about three and a half stars
and then I really disliked the Venom sequelLet There Be Carnage which I think we gave
about two or two and a half stars in our review.This third movie is really just a big question

(11:21):
mark as to whether or not it'll be closer tothe first film and what made that so enjoyable
or closer to the second film which was kindof a dumpster fire. And honestly, I couldn't
really tell you judging off of this trailer.It kind of looks like it's a mix of both. There
are some great moments where we see Venom takeon a group of criminals running a dog fighting

(11:41):
ring it looks like. The intro to this trailerwas really fantastic. But then there were like
these jokes that were sprinkled through thatit made me think of the second movie. And one
of the biggest criticisms we had of Venom letthere be carnage is that Venom became a parody
of himself. You know, it's always kind of cuteand fun to make Venom a quirky character. But

(12:02):
these filmmakers have to understand that theyhave to do it within reason. You know, if Venom
starts making too many jokes. then he doesn'treally feel like who he is from the comics.
You know, the jokes have to be used sparinglyand that's how you get the most out of them.
Yeah, I've never really saw Venom as a comediccharacter. So I was actually taken aback by
the first movie and pretty much despised thesecond. There are jokes sprinkled in this trailer,

(12:28):
but by this time I'm familiar enough with whatthey're going with to not entirely hate it.
Honestly, the first time I saw this trailer,I couldn't tell if it was gonna be like over
the top ambitious or actually more low key.It looks like the primary antagonists of this
movie are going to be General Orwell Taylor.It looks like played by Chiwetel Ejiofor who

(12:52):
is in charge of like this elite military symbiotehunting squad called the jury. In the comic
books, the jury were like a bunch of Iron Manknockoffs. Like they literally stole blueprints
to the Iron Man suit and then made their ownvenom fighting suits of armor. But here they
look a little bit more generic. I'm not sureif that's them being carried on that helicopter
and then being dropped into the water to fightVenom, but it really looks like that's who

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they are. In addition to the jury and GeneralTaylor, it looks like we're also getting other
symbiotes and the xenophage who are alien monstersthat actually feed off of symbiotes. We see
one attack Venom on top of an airplane, whichwas a pretty crazy looking scene. So it's interesting
that Venom is kind of facing threats from bothsides. The humans coming after him in the form

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of General Taylor and the jury and the clintarcoming after him in the form of other symbiotes
in the xenophage. So Eddie Brock looks likehe's being put through the wringer even more
so than he usually is in these films and youknow, he goes through a lot physically throughout
the course of this franchise. And Tom HardyI think does a fantastic job of portraying
the wear and tear that the symbiote takes onhis body and the duelity of the character and

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everything. And that's definitely one of thethings I'm looking forward to the most and
seeing. in this upcoming movie because thesecharacters have been through a lot together.
Yeah, Eddie Brock and the symbiote, there'sa bromance there. It's almost like a buddy
comedy in a way that the way they play off eachother. And there were definitely some like
iconic scenes in this trailer that kind of playedup on that with like Eddie Brock trying to

(14:20):
master the we are venom line with venom. Thatwas weird because they did it correctly in
the first movie. So you think they would, youknow, have it down already. That's true. But
also, I'm thinking of Eddie Brock riding thevenom symbiote horse. That was pretty cool.
I remember there was a moment in the Venom comicswhen Flash Thompson was Agent Venom. He had

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acquired the symbiote at the time and he hadused the symbiote in a bunch of weird ways,
including some ways that I hate. Like he turneda car that he was driving into the Venomobile
by having the symbiote take over the car, whichI thought was kind of bullshit because a car
is not an organic being. The way they had thesymbiote take over a horse makes so much more
sense to me and I think just works. really well.I can't wait to see the venom horse in the

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movie. How do you feel about General Taylorapparently being a variant of Baron Mordo?
Because of the casting? Yeah. That's a littleweird right? You know if we're talking about
the multiverse, there's a very strange shotin this trailer that I know a lot of people
are talking about where we see General Tayloracquire the sample from the bar in Mexico that

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Eddie Brock left behind in the end credits scenefor Spider-Man No Way Home. Apparently that
piece of symbiote was left behind in the MarvelCinematic Universe apart from the Sonyverse
and yet we see General Taylor somehow acquiringthat sample. It's really unclear what's going
on here, whether or not Eddie Brock leavingthe sample behind in the MCU is going to be

(15:51):
retconned to have been actually left behindin the Sonyverse or what the hell is going
on? Who the hell knows? Yeah, Marvel and Sony'srelationship right now is like really weird.
It's like, are they together? Aren't they? It'sa situationship, as the kids are saying these
days, and that extends into, you know, the upcomingSpider-Man four and everything like that. But

(16:13):
I'm really interested in seeing how this movieeven pertains to the multiverse or if it even
does. And if so, how Tom Holland is going toget the symbiote, if he will. If that's going
to happen in Secret War, that would be reallycool. But yeah, we'll see what happens. It
was really cool to see Detective Mulligan backas Toxin, although we didn't get to see him

(16:34):
in his Toxin form in this trailer. But we knowthat he acquired the symbiote, which was an
offshoot of the Carnage symbiote in the lastmovie. It'll be interesting to see how he factors
into the story, whether or not, you know, likehe's the one that's reaching out to the Klintar
home planet and bringing all these aliens ornot. but he does say that as long as Venom
lives, everyone, everything will end. So thetrailer really tries to sell us on the idea

(17:00):
that Venom or Eddie Brock may be dying in thismovie. I'm not really buying it. You know,
even the poster says, till death do they part.I don't think either Eddie Brock or Venom are
actually dying, but it is a great way to tryto, you know, convince people to come see it
in the theaters, considering that most likely,you know, this will be the last Venom movie.
I'm really hoping though that he still showsup maybe in a Spider-Man movie, but we'll see.

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Yeah, anytime studios say that something isthe and now, I'm like, but is it? I mean, Hugh
Jackman's coming back as Wolverine. Right. Yeah,that can happen. Anything can happen. But again,
the movie comes out on October 25th of thisyear. We'll see if it's more of the first Venom
movie or more like the second Venom movie asit closes out this trilogy of films. But speaking

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of trilogies, that brings us to our questionof the week.
What Marvel or DC character do you think hashad the most successful trilogy of films and
why? And we'll go ahead and count charactersthat have had four films, such as Thor or Superman,
you know, just count like the first three filmsof their franchise, and we want to know which

(18:09):
one you thought was the best. And that includesold franchises too. Can't wait to hear you
guys' answers! Record your answer at dynamicduel.comby clicking on the red microphone button in
the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.which will prompt you to leave us a voicemail.
Your message could be up to 30 seconds long,and don't forget to leave your name in case
we include you on the podcast. We'll pick ourfavorite answer and award that person a dynamic

(18:31):
duel no prize that we'll post to Instagram.Be sure to answer before June 15th.
That does it for all the news for this episode,now let's go ahead and move on to the main
event where we review the 1993 animated film,Batman Mask of the Phantasm.

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Alright, Batman Mask of the Phantasm was a 1993animated film that, unlike a vast majority
of DC's animated projects, had a theatricalrelease. It was a feature film tie-in to the
popular 90s animated television series, andthough I didn't see this movie in theaters
when it came out, I became aware of the criticalhype surrounding this film as I got older and

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still saw the movie when I was relatively young.This was after I read Frank Miller's Batman
Year One comic arc, however, which came outin 1987. When the movie came out in 1993, Mask
of the Phantasm was the closest thing non-comicreaders had to an origin of sorts for how Bruce
Wayne became Batman until Batman Begins. Inmy opinion though, and this is the same opinion

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I had when I first saw the movie, Phantasm iskinda over-hyped and comparatively not as good
as Batman Year One, Batman Begins, and othertales of Batman's origin. It's also not terrible,
however. It's not bad. It's actually prettygood. I want to be clear. I'd still recommend
it to people, so if you haven't seen it yet,you should consider checking it out before

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we get into spoilers in this review. Yeah, Imean, if you're a 90s kid, you most certainly
have already seen this film because it was prettyubiquitous along with the television show back
when we were children. I think we first sawthis movie at home back in the glory days of
VHS. Yes, yeah, I think that's correct. Justfor some quick backstory regarding the film,

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Mask of the Phantasm was made because WarnerBrothers sought to capitalize on the success
Fox was having with the WB Batman characterin Batman the Animated Series, which Warner
Brothers let Fox use for that series and whichdebuted on television a year prior to this
film's release. The film was originally intendedto be released directly to video, though halfway

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through production, Warner Bros. decided torelease the film in theaters, forcing the animators
to meet a highly aggressive production schedule.And for as much praise as I've seen critics
give this film in regards to its stylish animation,I feel like they just hadn't seen much animation
back then in general. Because by this point,we'd already had groundbreaking animated films

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like Akira and Mask of the Phantasm seems superbasic in comparison. Well... Yeah, there was
a lot of 80s anime stuff that was truly groundbreakingin how they approached more mature subject
matter in the medium of animated film. Thismovie was animated exactly like how the Saturday
Morning Cartoon was, maybe with a little bitmore detail and frames and everything like

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that. But I think if you had never been exposedto that sort of 1940s minimalistic style, you
would still be impressed by it. Yeah, I've seena few critics. praise its Art Deco style, but
I'm like, well, have you not been watching thecartoon? Because it's there as well. It's awesome.
I agree. Bruce Tim's style will always be iconicto me. The Art Deco style is one of my favorite

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styles by far. And while I'm glad that we'vekind of moved past it, I understand why it
became so influential to a lot of DC animatedwork in the following decades. Yeah, that sort
of retrofuturism is a pretty awesome style thatI think suits DC really well. Now from start
to finish, the entire film was completed inonly eight months, which is insane. It's actually

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pretty interesting. Half the movie was animatedin a 4-3 aspect ratio intended for squarish
television screens from that time. So to meetthe animation deadline, the production studios
had to simply crop their work into a wider 16by 9 ratio for theater screens. So there's
a lot that was animated that was left on thecutting room floor of sorts. but that full

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version is a special feature on the digitaland disc versions of the movie. I like watching
it in the 4-3 ratio largely because I don'tthink the scale of the film really suits a
theatrical format. To me, this movie alwaysplayed like an extended two or three part television
series episode. Yes, I agree. I definitely agree.There was just a kind of a lack of spectacle.

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As good as the story is, I just don't thinkit holds a candle to some of the spectacles
that we get from animated films. But certainlytoday, but you know, even in the early 2000s
and stuff. Yeah, it's lacking spectacle. It'slacking a number of things. I've always felt
like the Batman mask of the fantasy movie wasmissing something. And in doing my research

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for this review, I realized what that was. Arguably,you could say fantasy was a work of corporate
passion rather than artistic passion. BruceTimm created Batman the animated series to
tell Batman's iconic comic stories in a similarfashion as the Max Fleischer Superman cartoons
that he grew up with. But Phantasm was somethingof a cash grab by Warner Brothers in the same

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way the Hobbit films or the Matrix Resurrectionsor the Fantastic Beasts films were. Those films
just lacked the same creative spirit and lifethat the filmmakers breathed into the films
that inspired those other works. I think that'sespecially evident in Mask of the Phantasm
because none of the story elements ended upbeing carried over to the animated series itself.

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Because there are a lot of unanswered questionsby the end of the film that good writers, if
they cared enough, would have answered, suchas, you know, where did Andrea Beaumont get
her powers? Or why did Bruce specifically choosethe symbol of the bat? Or even what happened
to Joker at the end of the film? Yeah, therewere a lot of, I guess, plot holes, you could
call them, although they didn't like hamperthe story. I guess they're more unanswered

(24:46):
questions that were left unresolved. So a lackof closure. I also wondered things like why
did Andrea even court Councilman Reeves andwhy didn't she kill him? Basically, considering
that he gave up her father. I think it was herplan to kill him if the Joker hadn't already
gotten to him. That's just speculation, though.That's a good question. Maybe she knew the

(25:06):
Joker would go after him. Who knows? Right.Now. If the film doesn't succeed in my opinion
in regards to story or animation, one of severalthings it does succeed in is the theme, particularly
vengeance and duty. For both Batman and thePhantasm, the film presents these parallel
arcs, these internal struggles for both of thetitular characters that highlight the conflict

(25:29):
between personal fulfillment and societal obligationin their individuel pursuits of justice. most
interesting thing about this film to me arethe questions it posits about Batman's nature.
Now the filmmakers initially denied it, butmuch of the story from this film was borrowed
from the comic book storyline Batman Year 2,in which Batman fought a skull mask wearing,

(25:53):
scythes for hands vigilante that turned outto be the father of a woman Bruce Wayne proposed
to. Spoilers, if you haven't read that, sorry.But it was so obvious that that's where they
got a lot of the story from that the writerof Batman year two Mark Barr Approached to
DC Comics president Paul Levitz about it andLevitz actually agreed to give Barr a portion

(26:14):
of the film's earnings as well As financialcredit for the creation of the Phantasm character,
which is pretty cool Now the Phantasm neverappeared in the mainstream comics until recently
introduced in a run by Tom King Who has alsolargely run with the same themes presented
in Mask of the Phantasm such as whether or notBatman can ever find love, get married, be

(26:36):
happy, and still be Batman. But let's touchmore on Batman and the themes in the character
breakdown. Now Batman slash Bruce Wayne wasvoiced by Kevin Conroy, who, as we've stated
numerous times on this podcast, is perfect asBatman. And this film showcases one of the
best examples of the heart and emotion he wascapable of bringing to the role. Yeah, I don't

(26:59):
think we've ever seen Batman as emotional ashe was in this story. You know, usually he's
kind of a stoic badass, but in this, you know,we actually see him cry, you know, and he's
like weeping and like pleading with his deadparents and everything like that. So, this
movie is just a testament to Kevin Conroy. Thiswas actually early in his Batman career and
he went on to, you know, really define the characterI think for a lot of people. Rest in peace.

(27:22):
Yes, RIP Kevin Conroy. Now in the film, Brucegrapples with his identity as Batman and his
desire for a normal life with his former fiancee,Andrea Beaumont. When Bruce's past with Andrea
resurfaces, he's forced to confront these unresolvedemotions regarding his own personal desires
and how they conflict with his sense of dutyas Gotham's protector. Ultimately, Bruce accepts,

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albeit- reluctantly perhaps that the sacrificesinherent to his role as Batman, this duty to
Gotham City and vengeful crusade, transcendshis own happiness. And the arc of him realizing
that was a pretty profound one I would say inthis movie, and again a very emotional one.
The line of him at his parents grave where he'ssaying I never expected to be happy or something

(28:12):
along those lines was unbelievable. And stillwatching the film to this day kind of gets
me the fact that this guy would sacrifice hislife essentially to protecting others is like
the definition of heroism. It was really tragicthat moment when he was basically, you know,
begging his parents to break his promise tothem. and step away from the role of Batman

(28:36):
and be happy with a wife and family and everythinglike that. It was particularly tragic because
you can assume, especially as a parent, thatBatman is not what the Waynes would want for
their son Bruce. You know, they would actuallywant him to be happy and to move on from the
tragedy of their deaths and not be so affectedby it. And so, when he's essentially pleading

(28:58):
with them to like let him do that, you haveto imagine the Waynes. being like, of course,
but he won't let himself break his own promisethat he made. Right, because he's so unbelievably
dedicated to that vow and to his cause. It'sa very, very interesting character study. And
I think that, you know, goes to show why thecharacter is so popular. That sort of exploration

(29:20):
isn't something that has been explored muchfor the character that I think warrants further
exploration, for sure. I think they attemptedit in the Nolan films, especially The Dark
Knight Rises. but not to the same level of successI would argue as Batman Mask of the Phantasm.
This idea that Batman has an ending is not terriblyattractive. I want Batman to continue his crusade

(29:43):
forever because I think that's heroic and Ithink giving that up is not heroic. And maybe
that's selfish of me, but it's just this idealthat Batman represents that is attractive in
a way. Well, you've always said that you likeyour DC characters because they're aspirational
and more symbols than they are characters. AndI think Batman giving up his crusade to actually

(30:04):
be happy would make him more relatable and thereforemore of a Marvel character. So I think maybe
that's your own bias. Maybe. I mean, do youwant to see Batman give up his crusade? I don't
give a fuck about Batman. Geez! Whatever. Movingon to Andrea Beaumont, aka the Phantasm. She
was voiced by Dana Delaney. Now this was severalyears prior to her voicing Lois Lane in Superman

(30:30):
the Animated Series. So I'm sure there was nota problem with her voice when this hit theaters,
but holy crap, all I could hear was Lois Lanewatching this now. And she did a great job
in the role, don't get me wrong, but her voiceis extremely recognizable and it did present
a challenge for me in watching this film onceagain. Character wise, they were both, you

(30:52):
know, these spunky romantic interests. And yeah,I just, I just kind of shake it. It's like,
oh, it's, it's Lois Lane. My brain was justthinking that the whole time. That too time
in... Now we know where she went off to in theboat. She went to go get a die job and moved
to Metropolis. Change her name. Boom. Now, thoughwe don't know it for most of the film, Andrea's

(31:15):
arc revolves around themes of loss and vengeance,much like Batman's. She's driven by this desire
for retribution against the mobsters responsiblefor her father's death and adopts the persona
of the Phantasm to exact justice. But in contrastto Batman, Andrea lacks his morality and is
willing to kill and lie to loved ones includingBruce himself, manipulating him to prevent

(31:38):
him from stopping her mission. The thing is,despite this, Andrea is still a sympathetic
character. because it clearly shows in the moviehow the mob took literally everything from
her, including the life of her father. Alfreddescribes vengeance in the movie as a soul-destroying
abyss that Bruce skirts the edge of every dayand that Andrea fell into long ago. I think

(32:02):
she recognized this as well, which is why shechose not to be with Bruce at the end of the
film. She's a study on what would happen, Ithink, if Batman started killing people like
the Joker. Right. he would kind of lose himselfand become a serial killer, really. How could
he not? Like, he's so effective at what he does,it would be so easy for him to do that. And

(32:22):
once he did it once, you'd figure he'd be like,oh, it's very easy to do this. It's just, yeah,
a bad path to go down. That being said, I stillthink he should do it. But we've had this discussion
a million times before. If you want to hearmore about this discussion, listen to our review
of Batman Under the Red Hood because they reallyget into it deep in that story. Yes, absolutely.
Also, you're fucking evil, bro. I think it'sevil to not kill him. Well, you're wrong. Anyway,

(32:48):
now one of my biggest problems with this filmis something I noticed even as a child watching
this for the first time. And that's how thehell did Andrea get her powers. Like intangibility
and teleportation are pretty impressive feats.You'd think Batman's first question upon learning
she was the Phantasm would have been, dude.Teach me. I mean, we all know that Batman seemingly

(33:10):
teleports when like people have their backsturned. We know he just kind of like scampers
off and hides. So people think that he justvanishes out of thin air, but we literally
see the phantasm character disappear completelyin a puff of smoke. There's no other way around
it except teleportation. So she's doing somethingwe're here. Maybe she got into like the occult
or something. That's the idea that I have inthe back of my head. Oh, interesting. I always

(33:34):
assumed it was technology. Why did I never assumeit was magic? That's a good answer. And it's
my new headcanon, so thanks for that. Thereyou go. But another thing that really bothers
me about this film is the twist is so obvious.And this has bothered me about other Batman
stories such as like Hush, where the newly introducedfriend of Bruce Wayne is also the newly introduced

(34:01):
villain. Even as a kid, I was like, I bet youthat's Andrea. And I was fucking right. I was
a smart kid. Moving on to the Joker, voicedby Mark Hamill. Again, we've said so many great
things about Mark Hamill's performance as theJoker. Like Kevin Conroy for Batman, he is
the quintessential Joker voice. Yeah, I thinkwe spoke a lot about him in the Killing Joke

(34:25):
animated movie review that we did. This performanceis also... pretty early in Mark Hamill's career
as the Joker. And it's just amazing to see howconsistent these guys were throughout the decades.
Oh yeah, for sure. So the first time we seethe Joker, we don't know it. He's an anonymous
mob lackey of Salvatore Valestra. There's beena number of ways that writers have tried to

(34:48):
tie the Joker into Batman's origin throughoutthe years, you know, for making him the one
who murdered the Waynes in the 1989 Batman film.or causing a citywide riot that resulted in
the Wayne's death in the Joker movie. In thisfilm, he wasn't involved in the deaths of the
Waynes that we know of, but he represented athreat to the object of Bruce's desire and

(35:11):
happiness, namely, Andrea, which if Bruce hadbeen allowed to keep, he would not have become
Batman. And honestly, that's as direct an influenceto Batman's origin as I'd personally care for
the Joker to have. Yeah, I remember that theJoker was in this movie from watching it as
a kid, but I couldn't remember in the courseof the film how and why and when he shows up.

(35:33):
Now he doesn't actually show up until like alittle bit past halfway through the runtime,
if I'm not mistaken. And I thought his presencewas actually sorely missed because once he
shows up, I think the film starts firing onall cylinders, but before that the pacing was
a little bit slow. I was really glad to haveJoker in this movie. Yeah, originally he wasn't
going to be in the movie, but they found a wayto organically bring him in. And I gotta say,

(35:56):
I love it. Now, as we've mentioned before, peoplehave always wondered why Batman doesn't kill
the Joker, and interestingly enough, in thisfilm, Joker actually seems somewhat threatened
by the Phantasm when he confronts CouncilmanReeves because he knows he was one of the mobsters
that the Phantasm might be after. I feel likethis is the first time I've seen the Joker
threatened by a ghost from his past. And I justthought that was fascinating. Yeah, the Joker

(36:20):
never really fears any of the consequences tohis actions because he knows that Batman will
never kill him. So he kind of feels like hehas the freedom to do what he wants. And in
a way, he's kind of right. So when he is facedwith death, he of course, you know, goes above
and beyond to eliminate that threat. Whereaswith Batman, he never truly wants to kill Batman,
he would rather corrupt him. It is kind of coolthat he tries to do that using his secret lair.

(36:45):
made out of the ruins of the Gotham World Fair.I thought that was a nice little setting that
they incorporated into this film. Yeah, absolutely.It was a great place for a final climactic
battle, the way Joker was able to utilize allthe different toys and stuff around him. I
loved that like, knife chopping robot. I lovedlike, the miniature Gotham City. It was all

(37:07):
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(38:03):
Moving on to the story highlights, the filmopens with the opening credits, just want to
touch on those briefly. It's a CG renditionof the animated Gotham Cityscape, and it's
actually pretty awesome. Of course, it's madeeven better by Shirley Walker's iconic animated
series score, which sets the perfect tone fora Batman movie. It almost makes you wish that

(38:27):
they had taken bigger swings with the animation,right? Because we have this really cool animated
setup into the film, and then all of a suddenit goes back to standard Saturday morning cartoon
fare. But at least if they had kept the environmentCG or something like that, I think it would
have felt like a more true theatrical experience.Yeah, I mean, CG was pretty new to that time.

(38:48):
So I think that probably would have been moreof a challenge for them. I could be wrong.
But yeah, I think that also would have beencool. I wonder why they didn't take that 3D
model that they had created of Gotham City andthen incorporate it into the television series
kind of the same way they did with the Spider-Mananimated television show in the 90s where they
had a 3D model of New York that they would keeprevisiting as he was like swinging through

(39:10):
the streets or to use as a transition betweenscenes and stuff like that. I think it makes
sense for the character of Spider-Man. You reallydidn't have those transitional scenes with
Batman in his series. I'm not sure it wouldhave been necessary. Although, you know, honestly...
If they thought of that, they probably couldhave found a way to make it work. I'm sure
for audience members in the theater at the time,it was like breathtaking because you have to

(39:31):
remember this was pre mainstream CG animatedfilms, like pre Toy Story. Right. So, yeah,
I bet it was really cool. Now, moving on tothe plot. Well, Batman confronts a gang of
mobsters led by Chucky Saul for counterfeiting.Chucky flees only to be encountered and killed
by a new enigmatic vigilante known as the Phantasm.whose silhouette resembles Batman's, resulting

(39:55):
in witnesses blaming Batman for Chucky's murder.Amidst a public censure from city councilman
Arthur Reeves, Batman analyzes a shard of glasswith a chemical residue from the Phantasm's
signature smokey aura, while Andrea Boumont,Bruce's former fiancé, returns to Gotham after
years of being away. And this is sort of likethe first plot hole. The fact that Andrea was

(40:19):
already in Gotham as the Phantasm, and yet wesee a scene of her arriving via plane. It's
supposed to be this misdirect that actuallyjust results in confusion later on. Well, Batman
addresses it. He's like, you came into Gothamearly. Seemingly, she came in by boat and then
she probably left by boat and then came in byplane. But like, why would that matter to someone

(40:43):
who wasn't specifically following her movements?You know? a little bit strange. Do you think
that Andrea specifically designed her phantasmoutfit to resemble Batman and therefore be
confused for him by eyewitnesses? Well that'sa good question. I don't know it's possible
although I don't really think she had a vendettaagainst Batman per se so I think she was honestly

(41:08):
just trying to scare people in the same waythat Batman was trying to scare people. She
wouldn't have been familiar with Batman becauseshe had been away from Gotham for so long.
It just kind of turned into this kind of shittycoincidence for Batman. Now regarding the suit,
I didn't really touch on her appearance. I thoughtthe design of the Phantasm was actually pretty
bomb. Again, it's inspired somewhat by the GrimReaper character from Batman Year 2, but I

(41:34):
think that further went on to inspire Asriel'slook from the comics. I thought Asriel predates
the Phantasm. He does, but I don't think thatcostume does, because for the longest time,
Asriel wore like a cybernetic Batman suit. Asrielbeing the guy who took over for Batman after
his back was broken by Bane. Yes, if you wantto learn more about him, check out our Asriel

(41:58):
vs. Blade episode. During a party at Wayne Manor,Bruce is accosted by an old romantic fling
and reminded of Andrea by Councilman Reeve,who unbeknownst to Bruce... has been talking
with Andrea. Bruce reminisces in a flashbackto the time he first met Andrea in a cemetery
while visiting his parents' grave. That sameevening, Bruce begins his masked vigilante

(42:21):
career, stopping a group of bandits, thoughfacing significant resistance and getting injured
in the process. Recognizing he needs to strikefear in criminals to have an advantage over
them, Bruce nonetheless becomes distracted byAndrea when she visits him during his training.
and the two share their first kiss. Now an interestingnote for the flashbacks in this film, they

(42:44):
were inspired by Citizen Kane. I could see thatfor sure. Yeah, yeah, me too. Right when I
read that I was like, oh yeah. If you're notfamiliar with Citizen Kane, it's an old film
by Orson Welles, black and white, but it's highlyregarded by a majority of film critics as the
greatest film that's ever been made. Yeah, Imean, I don't know how much I buy into the

(43:05):
idea of it being inspired by Citizen Kane, becausethen you could say like all flashbacks are
inspired by Citizen Kane, but the kind of 1940sArt Deco feel of Mask of the Phantasm kind
of easily lends itself to those comparisonsto Citizen Kane. Yeah, and sort of like the
main character being this sort of tortured billionaire.Yeah. I think if any comics character is going

(43:26):
to have a film based on Citizen Kane, it's definitelyBatman. I think that was a really smart decision.
to take inspiration for the filmmakers. Or TonyStark. Yeah, Tony Stark could go fuck himself.
WHAT? I SAID IT! Anyway, back to the present,mob boss Buzz Bronski visits the grave of Chuckie
Saul at the cemetery, where he's confrontedand killed by the Phantasm. Batman is blamed

(43:49):
by the press once again to the dismay of bothMob Boss Salvatore Velestra and Councilman
Reeves, the latter of whom presses Police CommissionerJames Gordon to go after Batman, though Gordon
refuses. While Batman investigates the cemeteryfor clues, he finds more chemical residue before
finding his parents' grave, where he's caughtby Andrea, who realizes Batman must be Bruce.

(44:12):
Maybe a little bit of a stretch, but yeah, heshouldn't have been at his frickin' parents'
grave. Rookie move. I gotta say earlier on inthe story when we see that Batman year one
moment where Bruce Wayne is kinda trying hishand at being a vigilante the first time. It
was quite comical to see him attempt that outsideof the Batman costume, where he's just some

(44:33):
like guy who shows up and he's like, Hey guys,stop it. And like their reaction to him was
actually kind of funny. They're like, who'sthis guy? Right. Absolutely. To all the haters
who are like, Oh, Batman's so dumb. He's a guywearing a bat costume. Have you considered
the alternative? I think this is a perfect exampleof that. Just how ridiculous it is. You better

(44:54):
listen to me or else. He's much better as thishaunting mythical creature of the night for
sure. Batman spies on Andrea as she dines withCouncilman Reeves. In a flashback, we see his
and Andrea's romance bloom as they visit a futurismexhibit at the Gotham World Fair. Andrea later
introduces Bruce to her father, Carl Beaumont,whom Bruce learns handles the finances for

(45:19):
Salvatore Valestra and for whom a younger ArthurReeves worked for as a lawyer. As Bruce and
Andrea leave her father's office, they encountera biker gang robbing a civilian on the street.
When Bruce intervenes, he becomes distractedby Andrea and gets injured, allowing the biker
gang to get away with the money. Realizing hecan't pursue the life of vigilantism that he

(45:42):
vowed on his parents' grave and simultaneouslylead a fulfilling, happy life with Andrea,
the tormented Bruce visits his parents' grave,where Andrea finds and comforts him. Best scene
of the whole movie. Yeah. Do you think thatmaybe Batman would just be more effective if
he wasn't distracted by his girlfriend whiletrying to fight crime? Like maybe he could

(46:03):
have it both ways and he's just kind of beingdumb? Well, that's a good question. I think
he would always kind of have her at the backof his mind. He'd be afraid to take certain
risks because he could get injured and, youknow, that would not be good for his loved
ones. You could argue that, you know, he probablyruns into the same issue with his Robins. You

(46:24):
know, what happens to young Dick Grayson ifhis caretaker, Bruce Wayne, gets killed while
being Batman? But for some reason, Bruce's romanticlife seems to affect him more, I guess. Well,
with Robin, he's setting up a legacy, so heknows that if he ever kicks the bucket, he
has someone to take up his mantle. That's true.Why doesn't he just train his wife or girlfriend

(46:45):
to, you know, kick ass too? That's a fair pointconsidering, you know, Andrea actually can
fight and be a masked vigilante as the phantasm.I don't know, maybe if he knew that they could
have fought crime together. Maybe they shouldhave ended up together in the end. When Batman
was spying on Andrea and the councilman, doyou think he was crying or do you think it

(47:06):
was just raining on his face? Rain, dude. Rain.Batman doesn't cry like that. It's always in
the rain. You can't prove anything. Back inthe present, Salvatore confronts Arthur Reeves
and confirms Reeves' suspicions that Batmanis killing mob bosses. Meanwhile, Batman deduces
that Salvatore, Buzz Bronski, and Chuckie Solwere business partners in the past. While investigating

(47:29):
Sal's office, he notices a photo of Sal, Buzz,Chuckie, and Andrea's father, Carl, all together.
In a flashback, Bruce remembers his sunset marriageproposal to Andrea. just as a swarm of bats
emerged from a nearby cave on his property.As Bruce drops Andrea off at her father's home,
they notice he has company. The following day,after Bruce investigates the cave from where

(47:53):
the bats came, Bruce receives a letter fromAndrea saying that she can't marry him, that
she's leaving to Europe with her father, andthat he should forget about her. In his grief,
Bruce rededicates his vow to his parents andbecomes the Batman. Another really iconic scene
in this film is when Batman puts on the cowlfor the very first time and you just see the

(48:14):
look of shock and horror on Alfred's face. Thatwas, I thought, really effectively done. I
don't love the way he came to adopt the mantleof the bat because it's not entirely clear
why he chose the bat in this movie, but thatreveal of him as Batman without even seeing
him on screen was fantastic. You have to imaginethat Alfred seeing Batman become this monstrous

(48:37):
figure, a guy who, like he says in this movie,diapered his bottom since he was a baby, is
actually significantly terrifying. Yeah, he'slike, that's way scarier than, you know, fighting
crime in your civilian clothes like you werebefore. Right. Now back in the present, Salvatore
visits the abandoned World Fair, the secrethideout of the Joker, attempting to hire him

(48:59):
to kill Batman, though Sal angers Joker in theprocess. After Councilman Reeves returns Andrea
home from a date, Andrea and Batman confronteach other in her room, with Batman inquiring
about her father Carl and Andrea accusing Batmanof being controlled by his parents. When the
Phantom attempts to kill Salvatore in his home,it finds that the Joker beat him to it, poisoning

(49:22):
Salvatore with Joker venom and rigging his bodywith a camera to find out who's really killing
the mob bosses. The Phantasm manages to escapebefore the Joker blows up Sel's home, only
to then be chased down by Batman. The Phantasmdisappears, however, and Batman is forced to
flee from the police, who believe he's responsiblefor the Joker's explosion and Sel's death.

(49:45):
Badly injured in the police pursuit, Batmanis rescued by Andrea, who takes him back to
Wayne Manor. I wonder if Joker rigged the cameraon the body because he knew that the killer
wasn't Batman. because he knew that Batman doesn'tkill. I think it's that exactly. Yeah, he was
trying to find out who was really going afterthe mob bosses and therefore later on, possibly

(50:07):
even him. Now you brought up a point earlierabout a plot hole as to why Andrea was dating
the councilman. And I am kind of angry now becauseI didn't think about that. And I do have to
wonder, like, if she's coming into Gotham, whynot contact Bruce, her former fiance right
away? I wonder if she was waiting for her wholecrusade to be over with, and then maybe she,

(50:30):
like Batman, considered the possibility thatthey could continue their lives together? Or
what was going on there? Why did she have tomake her presence known as Andrea to begin
with? She should have just snuck in and beenthe phantasm all the time. She didn't need
her alter ego there out in public. That's verytrue. Plot hole, dammit. Now Andrea reveals

(50:52):
that on the day of Bruce's marriage proposal,the visitors at her father's house were Sal,
Buzz, and Chucky, demanding money from her fatherCarl, who had it tied up in investments. After
lying to the mobsters, saying they'll have theirmoney the next day, Carl explains to Andrea
that they had to flee or face death from themob. Though Carl made a fortune in Europe and

(51:13):
later paid back the mob their money, it wasn'tenough for them, and Bruce deduces that the
phantasm must be Carl. Bruce and Andrea rekindletheir love for one another, and the following
morning, as Bruce contemplates retiring thecowl after settling this whole matter, he recognizes
in the photograph of Carl, Cell, Buzz, and Chuckythat another familiar face, one of Cell's mobsters,

(51:37):
is in fact the Joker. Now that was an interestingtwist, because I had forgotten that the Joker
was the mobster that worked for Salvatore. Thecamera always kept going back to the long nose
henchmen in the flashbacks and everything likethat. But even then, I didn't put two and two
together until this scene where he's lookingat the photo. I was like, oh, okay. Yeah, that

(51:58):
is the Joker. Right. Yeah. And of course, theJoker has a alternate history as a mobster,
not only from the comics, but also, of course,Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film. So I thought
it worked really well as a quasi history ofsorts for the Joker in the Batman animated
series universe. After Joker confronts CouncilmanReeves, suspecting he may be the Phantasm,

(52:19):
Reeves ends up in the hospital, unable to stoplaughing. Batman visits him and learns that
Reeves and Carl kept in touch while he was awayin Europe. When Carl refused to help Reeves
find his election campaign, Reeves turned tothe mob and gave them Carl's location in exchange
for money. When Batman arrives at Andrea's totell her the news, he answers her phone only

(52:40):
to hear the Joker threaten to kill her. As Batmanmanages to prevent a bomb strapped to a plane
from the World's Fair from blowing up Andrea'shome, we see Andrea at the World's Fair where
she remembers in a flashback when she witnessedthe pre-Joker mobster leave her father's house
just before she found him dead. Now, the sceneof Batman interrogating Councilman Reeves in

(53:03):
the hospital as he's, you know, dosed up onJoker venom and can't stop laughing was one
of my favorite scenes in the movie. And I thinkone of my favorite scenes in the movie. favorite
Batman interrogation scenes I've ever seen.A lot of props has to go to the animation department
for, I think, realistically depicting this conditionthat the councilman is in. It was very believable.

(53:24):
The voice acting was fantastic. Just reallyinteresting. Felt bad for the guy. Yeah. I'm
still surprised that he made it out alive throughthe course of this movie. I guess you could
rationalize Andrea dating Kim because maybeshe was trying to figure out on her own whether
or not the councilman was involved in her father'sdeath. That's my head, Kenan now. Oh, yeah.

(53:45):
Yeah. She was investigating him. And that'salso maybe why she actually came back as Andrea
and didn't just sneak in to Gotham as the phantasm.Plot hole filled? I'm going to say yes. We
figured it out. There you go. Now when the Phantasmconfronts Joker at the abandoned World's Fair,
Joker reveals that he knows it's Andrea, whoreveals it is in fact her beneath the mask

(54:08):
before the two fight. Using the fair's technologyto his advantage, Joker nearly succeeds in
killing Andrea before Batman arrives and rescuesher. Though Batman and Andrea argue over her
actions, Andrea agrees to leave and Batman pursuesthe Joker, who reveals that he's triggered
explosives throughout the fairgrounds, thatwill soon detonate. When the Joker is defeated,

(54:31):
Andrea reappears and grabs him and the two disappearjust before the entire fair blows up. One thing
that kind of bothered me here is once Batmanrescues Andrea, she starts using his name Bruce
willy nilly and they're talking like they knoweach other. It would be so easy for Joker to
figure out this is Bruce Wayne. What? Like kindof reckless. After Batman escapes the explosions,

(54:57):
Alfred consoles Bruce, saying there was no wayto save Andrea, as she had already fallen too
far into the abyss of vengeance. Bruce findsAndrea's locket in the Batcave, and it's revealed
that Andrea survived the explosions and is hidingaway on a boat. Batman, meanwhile, remains
committed to his vow of vengeance against thecriminal element of Gotham City. And that's

(55:19):
the end of the movie. Makes me wonder, did Batmanassume that Andrea- died in the explosion and
if so why did he assume that when he saw herteleport? I don't think he assumed that she
died especially considering the fact that hefound the locket in the cave. I think that
was a clear indicator that she was still aliveand that she had kind of given up on their

(55:40):
relationship because she didn't need the locketanymore. I think really this whole thing kind
of just embittered him in a way which in turnkind of renewed his commitment to his cause.
Like if she died, he would be sad. But I thinkhe was more angry or at least it came across
that way to me in the final shot of the film.I wonder what she did with the Joker considering,

(56:02):
you know, she got away. It seems like she hada change of heart and decided to just not kill
him and then, you know, go into hiding as LoisLane. Headcanon. No, who knows? Like they should
have addressed that fact. because it's justa weird anticlimactic element of this film

(56:24):
that just kind of sucks. I don't know what elseto say about it. She was on this mission of
vengeance. There's no real sign that she waswilling to change or would change. So why wouldn't
she have killed the Joker? Maybe he got away.Maybe the Joker was too good and he escaped.
Well, then you would think that Andrea wouldnever stop in her pursuit to kill the Joker
and would end up in Gotham City once again.I don't know, man. Exactly. That's the problem.

(56:50):
One of several in this movie, which I feel almostbad not liking more. I feel like I should like
it more because critics really liked it. Butagain, I think critics just weren't watching
a reading a lot of stuff that you and I arewatching and reading now or have in the past
to justify such a high rating for this film,like On Rotten Tomatoes. I think at the time

(57:13):
a lot of critics were comparing Batman Maskof the Phantasm to the live action movies that
we were getting at the time. I think when thiscame out it was following Batman Returns and
I would agree that this movie is better thanBatman Returns. I don't know if it's better
than the 1989 Batman movie but better than Burton'sfollow-up and certainly better than the Schumacher
films that came out later. Maybe that's thecase? Maybe they liked it because it was really

(57:37):
the first foray that the general... non-comicbook reading public got into Batman's psyche.
That's gotta be it. Yeah, that's the best thinggoing for this film hands down and one that
really has yet to be done as well arguably inany subsequent film, except for maybe The Batman.
So you're probably right. Now overall, despiteits strong themes of vengeance and duty, the

(58:01):
obvious mystery reveal and plot holes preventthe film from comparing to Batman's best stories.
like Batman Begins, like The Dark Knight, likeeven Batman Year One. Those were all much better
origins for the character and it's really difficultnot to make those comparisons. I know critics
weren't able to do that when this film cameout in theaters, but I'm reviewing it now and

(58:26):
that's really the only way I can review it.I'm giving it three and a half stars, a fresh
rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I would agree withthat rating. It's still a good movie, but when
you compare it to some of the more recent Batmananimated films that we've gotten, such as,
you know, Batman Year 1, or especially BatmanThe Long Halloween, that was fantastic. Yes.

(58:51):
Again, I just don't think that this movie, whilegood for its time, holds up in comparison to
the newer stuff. Absolutely, and it kind ofmakes you wonder, like, what if Warner Brothers
released animated films like Batman Year Oneor Batman the Long Halloween in theaters? Like,
how would critics respond and how would thebox office respond? I think they should do
it. I mean, look at how well the Spider-Versemovies do. I think Batman the Long Halloween

(59:15):
has a chance of holding up just as well withgeneral audiences considering how well that
was made. I agree. I agree. Although, I mean,you know, the Spider-Verse movies are on a
whole other level animation-wise. You wouldhave to get up to that level of animation,
I think, for the general audiences to reallymake a push to go see it. Because Mask of the
Phantasm was not a box office success in theaters.It later became a success on home video. And

(59:39):
now that, you know, Spider-Verse has set thebar for animated films in theaters, things
like Mask of the Phantasm are kind of embarrassingby comparison. That's right. Marvel likes to
embarrass DC. That's one of my favorite thingsabout Marvel. Did I say embarrassing? I meant...
I don't know, embarrassing. Damn it. But thatdoes it for this review. AG9K, help close this

(01:00:01):
out. Thanks for listening to Dynamic duel. Visitthe show's website at dynamicduel.com and follow
us on Instagram at dynamicduelpodcast. You cansupport the show on Patreon at patreon.com
slash dynamicduel and joining a tier that worksfor you, or by rating and reviewing Dynamic
duel on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser oron our website. Don't forget to listen to the

(01:00:25):
other shows in the Dynamite Podcast Network,including Max Destruction, Senjow World and
Console Combat. In our next episode, we willbe doing a duel between the Earth elemental
characters of GeoForce and Quake. I wouldn'tdescribe Quake as an Earth elemental character.
She more just has vibration powers. But thatdoes it for this episode, we want to give a

(01:00:49):
big thanks to our executive producers Ken Johnson,John Swarovski, Zachary Hepburn, Dustin Abalkom,
Miggy Mathengian, Brandon Esfregard, NathanielWagner, Levi Yeaton, Austin Wazilowski, AJ
Dunkerley, Scott Camacho, Gil Camacho, AdamSpies, Andrew Shunk, Dean Molesky, Devin Davis,
and Joseph Kirsting for helping make this podcastpossible. We'll talk to you guys next week.

(01:01:11):
Up, up and away, true believers. Your angelof death awaits, and it brought snacks.

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