Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a 1993 American animated superhero film featuring the DC Comics character Batman. Directed by Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm, it is a cinematic continuation of *Batman: The Animated Series* as well as the first original theatrical film produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

The film was written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko and Michael Reaves and stars the vocal talents of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (all reprising their roles from *The Animated Series*), in addition to Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Stacy Keach, and Abe Vigoda. Its story follows Batman as he deals with his reconciliation with a former lover, Andrea Beaumont, and pits him against a mysterious vigilante who is murdering Gotham City's crime bosses. The film's plotline was inspired by Mike W. Barr's *Batman: Year Two* comic book story arc, but features an original antagonist, the titular Phantasm, in place of The Reaper.

## Plot

A young Bruce Wayne meets Andrea Beaumont while visiting his parents' grave, and they form a deep mutual attraction. That night, in one of his first crime-fighting attempts, Bruce foils an armored car robbery, but is discouraged because the criminals did not fear him. Eventually, Bruce decides to abandon his plans to become a vigilante and proposes marriage to Andrea. However, Andrea mysteriously leaves Gotham with her father, businessman Carl Beaumont, ending her engagement in a "Dear John" letter. Believing he has lost his last chance of having a normal life, Bruce becomes Batman.

Ten years later in the present, Batman confronts a group of Gotham City crime bosses led by Chuckie Sol, who are intending to launder millions of counterfeit dollars in a casino. As Sol escapes to his car, a cloaked figure attacks him; Sol is killed when the figure causes him to drive out the side of a parking garage and crash into a neighboring building. Batman arrives soon after, and bystanders blame him for deliberately causing Sol's death. Councilman Arthur Reeves tells the media that Batman is a menace (despite Commissioner Gordon's protests). Attending a party at Wayne Manor, Reeves teases Bruce for allowing Andrea to leave him.

The cloaked figure murders another gangster, Buzz Bronski, in the same cemetery Bruce met Andrea. Batman investigates Bronski's death and wanders to his parents' tombstone. He finds Andrea talking at her mother's grave, just as she had been when he first met her. She is startled by Batman's appearance and he flees. Batman finds evidence linking Carl Beaumont with Sol, Bronski and a third gangster: Salvatore Valestra. He breaks into Valestra's home and discovers a photograph of Bronski, Valestra, Sol and Beaumont seated at a table. When he visits Andrea to try to get more answers she rebuffs him, intimating she now knows his identity. Meanwhile, Valestra, believing Batman killed the others and will come for him, turns to the Joker for help.

The figure arrives at Valestra's house but finds the gangster dead by Joker's hands. Joker has strapped a camera to Valestra's corpse and sees the murderer is not Batman. The figure escapes as the house explodes. Batman pursues and fights the killer, but is interrupted by the police and rescued from arrest by Andrea. Andrea later explains she and her father had been hiding in Europe from Valestra's mob, from whom he had embezzled money; her father repaid everything, but they put out a hit for his death anyway. Bruce now believes that her father is the killer. Bruce ponders resuming his relationship with Andrea and giving up Batman. He notices a photo of Bronski, Valestra, Sol and Beaumont with Valestra's chauffeur in the background; Bruce realizes the chauffeur is actually the man who would become the Joker. Joker visits Reeves to press him for information about the killer; Reeves insists the killer is Batman, but Joker, believing Reeves is the killer, states Reeves needs to protect his own reputation and poisons him. Reeves is taken to the hospital where Batman later breaks in and interrogates him. Reeves confesses he had helped the Beaumonts escape, but later told Valestra's mob Carl's location when Carl declined to help fund his first election campaign, leading Batman to realize who the killer truly is.

The cloaked figure tracks Joker to his hideout, where Joker reveals that he has also deduced that the killer is Andrea, intent on avenging her father's death by killing every last surviving member of Valestra's mob. With all the others dead, Joker is the last one alive, and is the one who carried out the hit on her father. Joker fights her, but just before he can kill Andrea, Batman arrives and begs Andrea to give up her quest. She refuses and disappears. Batman and the Joker battle to a stalemate. Moments later Andrea returns and seizes Joker, bidding Batman goodbye before vanishing with the maniacally laughing clown. The amusement park erupts in a series of explosions and Batman barely escapes. Alfred later consoles Bruce, telling him that no one could have helped Andrea. Bruce finds her locket, containing a picture of himself and Andrea, in the Batcave. Meanwhile, Andrea departs from Gotham alone on an ocean liner, feeling completely lost. Batman stands on top of a Gotham building when the Bat-Signal appears in the sky, and swings off into the night to continue his war on crime.

## Cast

* Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A billionaire industrialist whose parents were killed by a mugger when he was eight years old. After traveling the world for several years to seek the means to fight injustice, he returns to Gotham. At night, Wayne becomes Batman, Gotham City's secret vigilante protector.
* Dana Delany as Andrea Beaumont / The Phantasm: A woman Bruce meets in the early years of his return to Gotham after traveling the world. The decision to propose to her in marriage leads to him abandoning his plans for becoming a vigilante. However, after she unexpectedly and mysteriously leaves, Bruce's anger leads to his becoming Batman. Delany's voice performance in the film impressed the filmmakers, leading to her casting as Lois Lane in *Superman: The Animated Series*.[3]
* Hart Bochner as City Councilman Arthur Reeves: A corrupt city official who was once an interim for Carl Beaumont (before "selling his name to the mob"). He later becomes involved with Valestra's gang (even put it to good or at least not-so-good use), and is poisoned by The Joker. His last appearance is at the Gotham City Mental Hospital, recovering from the effect of exposure to the Joker's poisonous chemicals.
* Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Alfred Pennyworth: Once the trusted butler to Bruce Wayne's parents, he continues his loyal service to their son after their deaths. He is Bruce Wayne's closest confidante.
* Mark Hamill as The Joker: Once an assassin for Valestra (and responsible for the murder of Carl Beaumont) who later hideously transformed into his more recognizable appearance. Valestra hires him to kill Batman, and is later killed by him. Mark Hamill claims he took the opportunity of reprising his role from *The Animated Series* by way of creating new "laughing vocabularies".[4]
* Abe Vigoda as Salvatore "The Wheezer" Valestra: A powerful crime boss who practically forces Carl Beaumont to leave. Once Andrea returns, he's nearly dying with the effects of aging. Fearing his death due to the murders of other crime bosses, he hires The Joker to kill Batman. In the end, he himself is killed by The Joker.
* Stacy Keach as Carl Beaumont: Andrea's father who made deals with the Valestra gang. He goes in debt to Valestra and flees to Europe with Andrea, but is later murdered. Keach also provided the voice for the Phantasm.
* Robert Costanzo as Detective Harvey Bullock: A police detective of the Gotham City Police Department who is highly cautious and questions Batman's vigilantism.
* Dick Miller as Charles "Chuckie" Sol: A crime boss who falls as the first victim to The Phantasm.
* John P. Ryan as Buzz Bronski: A crime boss who seemed to have had a brief partnership with Chuckie Sol whom Buzz always considered a loser. He is later killed by The Phantasm at the graveyard while visiting Sol's grave.
* Bob Hastings as Commissioner James Gordon: The police commissioner of Gotham City who refuses to go after Batman, believing Batman wasn't responsible for any of the killings done by The Phantasm.