Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero

Plot synopsis:
Since his last encounter against Batman, Mr. Freeze has found a home in the Arctic and started a family (of sorts) with the still cryogenically-encased Nora, an Inuit boy named Koonak, and two pet polar bears, Hotchka and Shaka. Nora's condition begins to rapidly deteriorate due to a submarine accidentally emerging from underwater directly underneath them, shattering her containment vessel. Freeze returns to Gotham City with his companions. He enlists the help of Dr. Gregory Belson to find a cure. Belson determines that Nora needs an organ transplant, but due to her rare blood type there are no suitable donors available.
Freeze declares that they will use a live donor, even if it means the donor will die in the process. Belson is at first reluctant to kill an innocent girl, but Freeze bribes him with a gold nugget and even more gold from an entire vein in the Arctic that will put an end to Belson's financial problems. Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) is a perfect match, and Freeze learns from her roommate that she is at a restaurant with her boyfriend, Dick Grayson (Robin). Freeze attacks the restaurant and kidnaps Barbara, taking her to an abandoned oil rig where he and Belson are hiding. Freeze and Belson explain the situation to Barbara, who claims that she is willing to help Nora for the "blood transfusion", but not at the oil rig, prompting Freeze to keep Barbara imprisoned. When the time for the operation comes, Barbara realizes that they are lying when they say she will need to be put under for a mere transfusion. She escapes with the help of Koonak. Belson gives pursuit and almost catches her, before the arrival of Batman and Robin in the Batwing.
Freeze follows, and in the ensuing confrontation, Belson accidentally shoots one of the fuel tanks and starts a rapidly spreading fire as Freeze traps Batman and Robin. Freeze insists that Belson perform the operation, despite the oil rig blazing and ready to explode, but Belson betrays Freeze and attempts to escape, only to be killed by falling wreckage. Batman and Robin escape just as Freeze's leg is broken, but he tells Batman to save Nora and Kunac first, along with Barbara. Nora, Kunac and Barbara are put safely aboard the waiting Batwing with Robin piloting it, but when Batman tries to save the weakened Freeze, the platform collapses beneath them. Batman manages to catch Freeze with a rope, but falling debris knocks Freeze loose and Batman can only watch as Freeze plummets into the ocean below.
Batman manages to get back to the Batwing, and they fly away just before the oil rig finally explodes, but Freeze survives his fall and escapes just in time, and is able to hold onto Hotchka and Shaka as they swim to shore. Freeze returns with his polar bears to the Arctic to resume his life alone, having frozen his leg in an ice cast. He sees on a television in a research station that Nora has been revived after an organ transplant operation funded by Wayne Enterprises, moving him to tears of joy. Then he walks away peacefully, limping with a wooden stick for support, with his two polar bears into the arctic plains as the movie ends.

Tags: cult, comedy, violence

Review:
Not as dark as the previous animated film, but it was like the way Batman acts in the comics and show.
Alongside Mask of the Phantasm, this movie is a great tribute to the Animated Series that brought Batman into children's lives.
Just goes to show the difference between a great movie and director, and a horrible movie.The voices for the characters were picked perfectly, and unlike the Freeze of Batman and Robin, this Dr. Freeze was perfectly in alignment with the mentality and actions of the comic book villain.Kevin Conroy sounds just like you expect Batman to sound like, blowing George Clooneys frankly oddball and campy rendition away.
Conroy acts like people expect the real Batman to act, assuming of course you are not Joel Schumaker or anyone who thinks said directors movies are good..
This isn't the live action Batman, but much like Mask of the Phantasm, is an amazing animated Batman!
It's dark, action packed, the animation is superb and the storylines very interesting indeed.My favourite Batman villain would probably be the Joker but in the cartoon series I think Mr Freeze is probably the best.There have been Batman cartoon series before this in the 60's and 70's.
And being a big "Batman" fan I just had to check out the animated films even as an adult.
Overall great animated work of a "Batman" film..
This doesn't necessarily put Subzero, a straight-to-video release about Mr. Freeze's ongoing attempts to resurrect his wife, into the pantheon of great Batman animated movies.
It's actually kind of run-of-the-mill in its storytelling, with some solid peril as Batman and Robin try and crack the mystery behind Batgirl/Barbara Bordon's kidnapping, but some lackluster animation.
Only when the animators stick to what works best on the TV series, and when we get a few moments of pure Batman action, does the movie strike any decent ground.It's maybe worth seeing once, mostly if you're big into Batman or the series (hey, who can resist Kevin Conroy voicing Batman?), but its appeal isn't one for repeat viewings, save if you're really young and don't care either way..
Unfortunately, Mr. Freeze is the only one with development in "Sub Zero."  Bruce/Batman appears more or less in a cameo this time, the lack of screen time not letting him really display any characterization.
Barbara/Batgirl got to showcase herself better than the Dynamic Duo, most likely to show us why she got to sign on permanently with Batman in the new series.
Batman: Subzero is the second film of the Dc animated universe after Mask of the Phantasm and although it is dated a little for toady'd standards, it makes up for it with (a) an entailing story, (b) well made and realistic characters (!) and (c) an antagonist ,who is motivated by love, the real Mr. Freeze.
We follow Doctor Victor Freeze , who is desperate to find a donor of his wife in order to save her and for that he devise a plan in order to find a suitable donor and fast.So he abducts Barbara Gordon AKA Batgirl and it is up to the Boy Wander and the Knight of Gotham City to find her.
OK, the story may lacks some originality,but its job of make you understand why everyone do what his or her is doing, so we are fine hereTo the (b) realism of the Characters, I want to emphasize here for that animated video movie was more realistic from its live action counterpart.
Every character needs are logical and even the design of Gotham feels like an metropolis buzzing around the clock, which is awesome.To the "villain" of the film (!),Mr. Freeze, I am a big fan of this guy and here they show really well ,that his criminal actions aren't due to his greed, need of vengeance or ego ,he does them for his wife .Also the fact that he can' hag her o kiss makes you at times feel bad for the fellow and I was rooting for him to get what he wanted.
Apart from the colourful costumes and sets, Batman and Robin for me failed on characterisation, scripting and acting-George Clooney was completely wrong for Batman and Arnold Schwarznegger's Freeze didn't come close to the complex character he is in the comic books.
True, the secondary characters could've done with more development, but it is compensated by top notch animation, a good music score, surprisingly mature scripting and a compelling enough story, that is quite action packed, and the ending was very poignant to say the least.
So i am sure you will not be disappointed with Batman and Mr. Freeze Subzero because it is a really good movie.
So make sure that you rent or buy Batman and Mr. Freeze subzero because it is a great movie.Overall score: ******** out of ********** ***1/2 out of *****.
Michael Ansara's voice is perfect for Mr. Freeze, and of all the villains on the Batman cartoon, he was the most sympathetic.
Mr. Freeze's wife needs an organ transplant and Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, is the only acceptable blood match.
Very good animated movie that's miles better than Joel Schumacher's craptacular movie that also featured Mr. Freeze and Batgirl, released not long before this.
When Freeze kidnaps her it forces Batman and Robin into a race to rescue her before she dies on the operating table.I love Batman - I consider him to be one of the darkest of the comic book characters that I am familiar with (I'm not really into that scene - but I know what I like).
The plot echoes a part of the Batman & Robin film but, like that, fails to develop a lot of the darker strands.
It still engages and does enough to entertain but I would have liked the film to look at the complexity of Dr Fries/Freeze - he is not a bad guy, he is driven by love, however the film only part succeeds in letting us understand him.The animation is good for a cartoon but lacks atmosphere for the most part, I need shadows and dark colours to echo the material.
The voice work is pretty good apart from a few weak links and it's always good to have a voice that rings a bell - in this case it's George Dzundza and Dean Jones.Overall I quite enjoyed this film even though it wasn't really dark enough or complex enough to really satisfy my needs from a Batman story.
SUBZERO was not bad, so much better than the big-screen's BATMAN & ROBIN.
Still, it's low quality and a bit lacking.This time, though, the plot doesn't involves itself with ridiculous situation of freezing Gotham city, no annoying Poison Ivy, just a kidnapping situation involving cold-hearted Mr. Freeze (voiced by Michael Ansara) kidnapping Barbara Gordon, who we know is also Batgirl, to finally find a cure for his dead wife, thru a blood transplant which could cost the life of the host.
it's up to Batman (voiced by Keven Conroy) and sidekick Robin, who isn't annoying as in Chris O'Donnell was in the big-screen films, to save her and take on Freeze.Unlike any direct-to-video features, SUBZERO manages to be more tolerable.
Nevertheless, I have good recommendations to the film, most especially to its fans and to younger viewers who love BATMAN, but were too young to see Tim Burton's BATMAN and BATMAN RETURNS.Video movie rating: **1/2 out of 5..
But still, my 8 year old son wanted to watch it, so I sat down together with him to watch it."Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero" actually turned out to be one of the better animated "Batman" movies that I have seen.
'Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998)' is more of a continuation of 'Batman: The Animated Series (1992)' than a proper stand-alone feature and, as such, doesn't introduce or even really develop any of its characters.
This is usually the case, as the cold character has a clear driving-force that means he is just as likely to team up with the caped crusader as try to freeze him solid, and he has consistently been one of Batman's better villains - aside from in 'Batman & Robin (1997)' - ever since his character has been fully figured out.
Overall, I liked the movie, altho I think that the pace of the story was a bit rushed, with no starting information or background for any of the characters, especially Mr. Freeze and Batgirl.
I saw Mr. Freeze as a threatening character for the first time (not counting the comics, where the guy doesn't even think about his wife), and it was great fun.
I wanted this movie to be longer so characters could be seen more (Bullock and Gordon specially) but the action and top-notch animation more than makes up for it.
The Batman Animated Series is just awesome, and now all we need is more movies.
Top notch animation, a good story, and great voice-over work by all involved make SubZero a more-than-competent follow-up to 1993's Mask of the Phantasm.One problem: As most of us diehard Bat-Fans raced to get our copy of SubZero at the local store, and we all shelled out nearly $18 for it, we were ultimately shafted again by WB as they aired the film on a Saturday mornings within two months of release!
Not as brooding, nor as awesomely noir-ish as the original Animated series, this instead has Robin and Batgirl to lighten things up, making Batman a bit player in his own movie.
So please, WB, release more animated Batman films like this one into theaters.
Released on the back of Batman and Robin, this film includes a prominent Mr Freeze and Batgirl to tie-in, but whilst handled far better than on the big screen this still shows through as the cynical marketing ploy that it was.The plot sees Mr Freeze kidnap Batgirl in a bid to sacrifice her for his wife's life by means of a blood transfusion, but the plot is stretched too thinly and could have used another villain to add some excitement to what becomes a needlessly calm and moody piece, Mark Hamill's Joker is especially conspicuous by his absence, proving quite how indispensable he was to the formula.
It's essentially a feature length episode of the long running animated television show, but that's hardly a bad thing.Telling the story of Mr Freeze as he kidnaps Barbara Gordon in a desperate attempt to save his cryogenically frozen wife.I usually have difficulty getting into these things especially when they're the family friendly ones (Which this is) but this wasn't bad at all.
A touching story, good voice work and some nice writing sets it marginally apart from the rest and I came away relatively entertained.The movie does drag in places, especially near the end but it comes back with a closing scene that made it all worth it.A meh attempt for the average Joe but a must watch for Batman fanatics.The Good:Relatively well madeSweet closing sceneThe Bad:Finale oddly dragsThings I Learnt From This Movie:It doesn't matter whether animated or live action Gotham City always looks like a complete dive.
It amazes me how some are quick to dismiss an animated film, yet the millions of dollars in Hollywood couldn't save "Batman and Robin" from being the piece of sh*t that it was.The storyline is a continuation of the episode "A Heart of Ice" from the first season, and an extremely good one.
This film is way better than Batman & Robin and should have been in theaters instead of B&R.
The DCAU Mr. Freeze, Batman, and Robin are way better than what was in B&R.
Compare to Mask of the Phantasm, this film is kind of underwhelming, but a good film nevertheless.Subzero is based on an episode of the animated series called Hearts in Ice, which centers around the villain Mr. Freeze.
If Mask of the Phantasm compliments the first 70 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, Subzero compliments the 15 episodes that comprise the Adventures of Batman and Robin.
I love this movie better than Mask of the Phantasm because being a Batman and Robin fan, I was thrilled that Robin was included in this Direct to Video Release.
I felt they should have gone ahead and released it in the summer of 1997 so people could have enjoyed a better "Batman and Robin" movie than the abomination that Schumacher made.
Of all the three animated Batman movies, I felt that Subzero is by far, the best of the three.
I remembered finding this animated movie really great as a kid, but the last time I watched it I did find it enjoyable but it ultimately left me wanting, and a little annoyed as the credits rolled..
I like how Barbara Gordon gains a little sympathy for Freeze's plight once she learns why she's been abducted, and how Batman still feels compassion for the character even after all that he's done, and then deep regret that he couldn't save him from his assumed demise.
It was nice to see a movie with Batman, Robin, Mr. Freeze, and Batgirl that didn't completely suck....
A sequel of sorts to the first animated Batman movie (Phantasm), this movie also serves as a bridge between the original Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, featuring Dick Grayson as Robin (he would go on to become Nightwing in the second series) and Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, along with the usual cast of characters: Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Detective Bullock, etc.
Action ensues.One of the reasons that I wasn't as excited to see this movie as I was Phantasm is that it's not done by the same team that did Batman: The Animated Series.
It's an above average straight-to-video feature, but certainly doesn't exceed market standards.On the plus side, most of the voice actors from the series return to reprise their roles from the series, including Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Loren Lester as Dick Grayson/Robin, Efrem Zimbalist Jr as Alfred, Bob Hastings as Commissioner Gordon, Robert Constanzo as Detective Harvey Bullock, and Michael Ansara as Mr. Freeze.
This direct to video animated Batman movie stars the voice talents of Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Michael Ansara as Mr.Freeze/Dr. Victor Fries, and Loren Lester as Robin/Dick Grayson.This is another movie from my childhood that I used to watch a lot on VHS, and still enjoy watching it to this day.
Some of the things I love about this movie are first off, the animation and character designs.
They then changed the characters designs for the New Batman Adventures series, which I do like some of the new designs, but nothing beats the originals in my opinion.Next thing I love is the voice acting, Kevin Conroy is awesome as usual, but I also love Michael Ansara as the voice of Mr. Freeze, I think he did an outstanding job, and his performance gives me chills (no pun intended) every time I hear his voice as Mr. Freeze.
He's my favorite Mr. Freeze, and is in my opinion, the best interpretation of the character.Overall I really don't have any complaints about this movie, I think its one of the best animated Batman movies, next to Mask Of The Phantasm, which is still my favorite.
This straight to video movie was pretty good, it had everything you needed in a normal episode of Batman: The Animated Series.
Batman and Robin are now on the trail of Mr. Freeze to stop him from killing Batgril/ Barbara Gordon.
Batman Sub-Zero the animated series answer to Batman and Robin and it is so much better such a great put together story and great back story for Mr Freeze and made him an interesting character again.Kevin Conroy again plays a great Batman once again in a story that should of been a live action film to have Mr Freeze in the Batman film series.
Mr Freeze in this film is really interesting and it makes you question is he actually bad or his he just having bad luck and trying to save his wife which is something Batman and Robin never did they just made him a cheesy villain and not very interesting unlike this movie that makes a much more interesting character.Robin is much in this movie and the animated series a more fleshed character than the one we got in Batman and Robin and Batman Forever.The animation in this movie is incredible just like the animated series and Mask of the Phantasm it has a very dark gothic feel to it whilst still remaining a kid show and its just incredible to watch.My favourite scene from this one is definitely the car chase at the beginning brilliantly animated and just stunning to watch.
Also Batgirl is in this film and she is really done in this and the animated series such an interesting character and brilliantly voiced by Mary Kay BergmanVerdict 8/10 great animated film great watch for all Batman fans and amazing character development for Mr Freeze.
It was great to see Barbara Gordon appear in this unlike the Phantasm movie, but unfortunately we barely see her as Batgirl at all!
There isn't complex themes, challenging material, or anything special like that, "SubZero" is just a straight-forward action Batman movie.
It would be the farewell to TAS, since after this came The New Batman Adventures, which with its cruddy animation, Joker-as-Animaniac, drastically changed conditions and characters like Nightwing, and ludicrous plots, was a pale follow-up that I soon quit.SubZero is quite watchable, but given the strong potential of its premise (resuming Mr. Freeze's storyline), it does not feel as powerful as it could be.The filmmakers make some nice nods to series history.
Because of "Batman & Robin", I've never really like Mr. Freeze,until I heard this version of the story.
This one-hour movie is about Mr. Freeze, basically we see him as a desperate man trying to save his wife.
Mr. Freeze was never really a villain he just wanted to save his wife by finding an organ donor (Barbara Gordon).