History YMMV / BatmanMaskofthePhantasm

* HePannedItNowHeSucks: Creator/GeneSiskel liked the movie a lot, but his statement that he [[FandomHeresy didn't like]] [[Creator/MarkHamill the Joker's voice]] drew quite a bit of ire from fans.

* MememeticMutation: The image of Joker talking on the phone has spawn a meme of him prank calling various places and asking for the opposite of what's expected.

* OlderThanTheyThink: "[[Film/TheDarkKnight Why so formal]]?"

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The film is easily one of the darkest films in the DCAU, and arguably animated ''Batman'' films period, but still has a PG rating, marketed under WB's Family Entertainment line, and even has WesternAnimation/BugsBunny standing in front of the WB shield at the beginning of the movie.

** The film was going to be completely computer-generated, but that was dropped for traditional cel-animation. The CG buildings during the opening credits are an artifact from that plan. And 2 years later, the world's first computer-animated film, ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' was released in 1995.

* {{Narm}}:
** The stand-off with the police is a little undercut by the SWAT members all shouting "Hut! Hut! Hut!" It's very hard not to imagine the climax of ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''.
** At one point, a police officer opens fire at Batman, shooting dozens of bullets in the span of a few seconds, completely ventilating Batman's cape... too bad the gun is drawn as a revolver, known for their low rate of fire and low ammo capacity.

** Bronski's "Chuckie, Chuckie... you always were a loser," line. LastDisrespects and a HiddenDisdainReveal? Or did he mean it in a forlorn, VitriolicBestBuds way?

* FridgeBrilliance:
** As noted in this [[http://sfdebris.com/videos/animation/maskofthephantasm.php review by SF Debris]], for years in this series, it is said that "Bruce Wayne" is the mask for Batman. "Bruce" is the mask he wears in the light to hide his true personality and beliefs. Now, consider the title of the movie, "Mask of the Phantasm" isn't just trying to be scary about the titular character. It refers equally to [[spoiler:like Batman using "Bruce", the mask of the Phantasm is "Andrea Beaumont." Like Batman, Phantasm uses the appearance of a socialite person to move by people who have not earned her vengeance]].
** Why is Andrea able to so conveniently arrive to save Batman from the police pursuit? [[spoiler:Because she was already there, fighting him as the Phantasm just minutes before.]]
*** Similarly, [[spoiler:why do we see the Phantasm first in the opening action scene, then get a scene soon after of Andrea actually arriving in Gotham? From a meta sense, it's to stop us from considering her a suspect, but in the reality of the film? Simple: she was covering her tracks. She was talking to Arthur on the phone at the time, ensuring he could provide an alibi that she wasn't 'in town' when the Phantasm first struck, but how do we know that for sure? We have no idea where she was flying from, it could have been from the next city over. This way if anyone accuses her of being the Phantasm, her doting wannabe-boyfriend Arthur can leap to her defence. No wonder she kept buttering him up throughout the film, he was her bulletproof alibi.]]
** FridgeSadness--The song "I Never Even Told You" by Creator/TiaCarrere doesn't make sense in terms of Bruce and Andrea's relationship. After all, the ''entire film'' was about how they loved each other and told each other so. So, who is the song about? And then it hits you: it's about '''Bruce and his parents'''. It was a sudden, brutal murder. The way they were killed never gave Bruce a chance to tell them he loved them or even goodbye. Bruce's parents never got to say goodbye or tell him they loved him. Their deaths hang over the entire film, too--Bruce is looking for love and acceptance, because he never got closure with his parents. It's the entire reason he's Batman. He was willing to toss away being Batman because of love. All of which is denied him in the film, all stemming from not having that closure.
** Meta example. Why do Batman and the Phantasm not fight each other directly, even before we know who the Phantasm is? Because as revealed with Kyodai Ken in the series, [[FightingFingerprint fighting styles are as unique as fingerprints]], and the two have fought (sparred, really) in their civilian identities before - in an extended battle, Batman would have realized who the Phantasm really was!
*** That and Bruce would've overpowered her fairly quickly. She's capable, but her successes relied on misdirection: tricking Chuckie Sol into driving of a ledge, tricking Buzz Bronski into falling into an open grave then dropping a statue on him. [[note]]We only see the statue dropping, and the spot it was one is obscured by trees and shadows - she used leverage, not just raw strength.[[/note]] She tried to kill Sal Valestra outright, and his smoking habit had long devastated his body. That said, she might've been able to kill Joker in a straight fight, given that he ran from both her and Batman when showed they could beat him.
** In the series episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE53PagingTheCrimeDoctor Paging The Crime Doctor]]", Batman and Alfred find the titular doctor's med school photo album. Said album shows he was a classmate of Leslie Tompkins and Thomas Wayne, which recognizes was 40 years ago. Said album was dated 1908. If the movie takes place after the series, this puts the present day segments in 1949, meaning Bruce first donned the cowl in 1939, probably the exact same date he first appeared in the comics.

** More like Fridge Tearjerking. The song "I Never Even Told You" by Creator/TiaCarrere doesn't make sense in terms of Bruce and Andrea's relationship. After all, the ''entire film'' was about how they loved each other and told each other so. So, who is the song about? And then it hits you: it's about '''Bruce and his parents'''. It was a sudden, brutal murder. The way they were killed never gave Bruce a chance to tell them he loved them or even goodbye. Bruce's parents never got to say goodbye or tell him they loved him. Their deaths hang over the entire film, too--Bruce is looking for love and acceptance, because he never got closure with his parents. It's the entire reason he's Batman. He was willing to toss away being Batman because of love. All of which is denied him in the film, all stemming from not having that closure.

* VindicatedByHistory: When the film was initially released, reviews ''were'' generally positive but the film was a failure at the box office due to getting a last-minute release with little advertising. However it eventually turned a profit in its home video releases and in the years since then it has only become more well-regarded, and is now hailed as not only one of the best ''Batman'' films, but one of the best animated films ever. Notoriously, Siskel and Ebert neglected to review the movie when it was in theaters but later admitted they made a mistake in overlooking it and stated it was superior to the other Batman movie of the time, ''Film/BatmanForever''.

* ContinuityLockout: Averted. Despite being set in the Animated continuity, no significant foreknowledge of BTAS is required to enjoy the film.

** Was Andrea planning on [[spoiler: murdering Arthur for his role in her father’s death as well?]] Or did she not even know that he was involved? The ''Animated Series'' tie-in comic, ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'', reveals that she learned of Arthur's role eventually, but decided not to deal with him since he became a disfigured pariah [[spoiler:thanks to the Joker. Instead, he would try to get revenge on Andrea (not knowing she was the deadly Phantasm) and fail, getting himself killed anyway --accidentally]].

* CaptainObviousReveal: [[spoiler: Andrea being the Phantasm]]. The story places a lot of focus on her, and she [[spoiler: returns to Gotham around the same time Phantasm's rampage starts]]. Her father, Carl, [[spoiler: was intended to be the RedHerring, even having him and the Phantasm both be voiced by Stacy Keach to throw the audience off]]. Unfortunately, it becomes easy to figure out it's not him when he never shows up outside of flashbacks.

** Meta example. Why do Batman and the Phantasm not fight each other directly, even before we know who the Phantasm is? Because as revealed with Kyodai Ken in the regular series, [[FightingFingerprint fighting styles are as unique as fingerprints]], and the two have fought (sparred, really) in their civilian identities before - in an extended battle, Batman would have realized who the Phantasm really was!

** In the series episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE53PagingTheCrimeDoctor The Crime Doctor]], Batman and Alfred find the titular doctor's med school photo album. Said album shows he was a classmate of Leslie Tompkins and Thomas Wayne, which recognizes was 40 years ago. Said album was dated 1908. If the movie takes place after the series, this puts the present day segments in 1949, meaning Bruce first donned the cowl in 1939, probably the exact same date he first appeared in the comics.

** The scene where Bruce visits his parents' grave is an extra twist of the knife when you think of the DC Rebirth storyline ''ComicBook/TheButton'', in which his father ([[{{ComicBook/Flashpoint}} from another timeline]]) tells him personally to stop being Batman and find happiness. [[spoiler:Even worse, [[ComicBook/BatmanTomKing Tom King's run]] ends the ''Flashpoint'' version of Thomas trying to force Bruce to quit, resulting in Alfred's death. Also, the Martha of the ''Flashpoint'' universe was herself rather unhappy to learn her son was meant to be Batman rather than her husband, being DrivenToSuicide by the news.]]
** Alfred praises Bruce for not choosing the path of vengeance, guess what Batman ends up becoming in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''.
** In 2020 Andrea Beaumont finally made a belated debut in DC Comics proper in ''Batman/Catwoman'' and reveals she has a son, [[spoiler:only for him to be found dead in Gotham in issue #1]].
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Kevin Conroy has proven to be a very good voice actor as Batman in the tv show itself, but he really shows his talent in this film. Several scenes of the prologue where he realizes Andrea has rejected his proposal, his pleading for his parents to let him go from his mission, and him begging with Andrea to leave to let him apprehend the Joker, have his voice practically breaking with heartbreak, especially given that Batman is usually not one to show or hint emotion.

** The stand-off with the police is a little undercut by the SWAT members all shouting “Hut! Hut! Hut!” It’s very hard not to imagine the climax of ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The film is easily one of the darkest films in the DCAU, and arguably animated ''Batman'' films period, but still has a PG rating, marketed under WB's Family Entertainment line, and even has Bugs Bunny standing in front of the WB shield at the beginning of the movie.

** The scene where Bruce visits his parents' grave is an extra twist of the knife when you think of the DC Rebirth storyline ''ComicBook/TheButton'', in which his father ([[{{ComicBook/Flashpoint}} from another timeline]]) tells him personally to stop being Batman and find happiness. [[spoiler:Even worse, Tom King's run on ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'' ends the ''Flashpoint'' version of Thomas trying to force Bruce to quit, resulting in Alfred's death. Also, the Martha of the ''Flashpoint'' universe was herself rather unhappy to learn Batman was meant to be Batman, being DrivenToSuicide by the news.]]

** Meta example. Why do Batman and the Phantasm not fight each other directly, even before we know who the Phantasm is? Because as revealed with Kyodai Ken in the regular series, fighting styles are as unique as fingerprints, and the two have fought (sparred, really) in their civilian identities before - in an extended battle, Batman would have realized who the Phantasm really was!

* SignatureScene: The scene in the flashback where Batman puts on TheCowl for the first time. Gothic melodrama at its finest.
** Batman trying to escape from the cops.

** The film was going to be completely computer-generated, but that was dropped for traditional cel-animation. The CG buildings during the opening credits are an artifact from that plan. And 2 years later, the world's first computer-animated film, ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' was released in 1995.

** And '''how'''. Music/ShirleyWalker cited her work here as one of her favorite compositions, and it's not hard to hear why.

* WhatAnIdiot: While trying to escape from the Phantasm, who is bent on killing him, at the parking lot, Chuckie Sol performs a maneuver with his car and knocks the Phantasm off from his vehicle.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' For Sol to just drive his way out of the parking lot as the Phantasm recovers, buying Sol some seconds, enough for him to escape.\\
'''Instead:''' Sol turns his car around and tries to run over the Phantasm.\\
'''The Result:''' The Phantasm jumps and leaves a cloud of smoke behind, which doesn't let Sol see that he is driving towards the parking lot's wall, smashing it and crashing against the adjacent building, killing him with the impact.

* In the series episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE53PagingTheCrimeDoctor The Crime Doctor]], Batman and Alfred find the titular doctor's med school photo album. Said album shows he was a classmate of Leslie Tompkins and Thomas Wayne, which recognizes was 40 years ago. Said album was dated 1908. If the movie takes place after the series, this puts the present day segments in 1949, meaning Bruce first donned the cowl in 1939, probably the exact same date he first appeared in the comics.

* FoeYay: When he visits Arthur Reeves to try and get answers on who killed the mob bosses, we get this little line from ComicBook/TheJoker (what, and this ''surprises'' you?)[[note]]Bonus points for the Phantasm being [[spoiler:a woman]].[[/note]]
-->'''Arthur Reeves:''' Haven't you read the papers?! It's Batman!\\
'''The Joker:''' ''[makes a buzz noise]'' Wrong! It ain't the Bat! Nope, nope, nope! I've ''seen'' the guy. He looks more like [[Literature/AChristmasCarol the Ghost of Christmas Future]]. Nowhere near as cute as Bat-boy.

* ValuesDissonance: Joker calling Andrea "Toots" would not get into a kids film today, given its offensive nature towards women. Though given that we're talking about the [[DomesticAbuse Joker]], it's likely meant as DeliberateValuesDissonance.

* ValuesDissonance: Joker calling Andrea "Toots" would not get into a kids film today, given its offensive nature towards women.