Batman: Under the Red Hood

This is by far the most violent Batman cartoon I've seen and if it weren't for the lack of blood, this film could rank among the more violent movies I've watched in terms of body count and physical beatings.

Black Mask's power over the drug lords in Gotham is waning as a new villain, Red Hood, is quickly taking control of the trade.  Red Hood's motives are good but his methods are unethical--he will he will clean up Gotham by straight up killing all the bad guys.  Batman's stance is clear, he cannot abide Red Hood's antics, but he soon finds himself trapped in an ethical quagmire when Joker comes between him and Red Hood.

Similar to Mask of the Phantasm, Under the Red Hood gives us a glimpse in to Batman's character, but whereas we came to know Bruce Wayne in Phantasm, we understand a bit more about Batman's psyche in Red Hood.  Of particular interest is Batman's ethical code of conduct and the film addresses Batman's seeming inability to simply rid the world of Joker.

Unlike Phantasm, however, this movie appears to blend a variety of visual styles.  Red Hood still retains the some of the noir qualities that helped make TAS famous, but design elements seen in Batman Beyond and Teen Titans are also present.  Interestingly, Red Hood's Gotham City appears to have been partly influenced by Nolan's films, suggesting that Warner Bros is mining the entire Batman franchise for artistic inspiration.

Despite their changing visual aesthetics, contemporary Batman television and film franchises have continued to be dark and violent, and Red Hood is no exception.  The film opens with Joker very nearly beating a man to death with a crowbar.  Later on, a man is burned alive, someone's head explodes, and countless victims are simply shot dead.  Nearly all the violence is couched within the delicate terms of the ethical treatment of criminals and meted out by would-be vigilante Red Hood.  The violence perpetrated by Joker is unfettered--he's psychotic and his actions aren't subject to introspection.  Although the film would appear to be somewhat hypocritical in that Batman is the only character who's use of excessive force is never called into question, a clear distinction is made between the two vigilantes: Red Hood uses guns, Batman does not.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

...or as I like to call it, Batman in Love.  Made a year after Batman: The Animated Series premiered, Mask of the Phantasm is set in the same world as TAS, and, through flashback, gives us a peek at events that took place before the series began.

Crime bosses in Gotham are being picked off and people suspect that Batman is the culprit.  Only the deceased know the killer is a masked apparition who comes and goes in a swirl of mist.  The Phantasm is targeting these men for crimes committed in the past, telling each one their time has come.  Taking the initiative, the last crime boss turns to the Joker for help, reminding him that Joker, too, is a target of the Phantasm.  Both Batman and the Phantasm arrive at Joker's lair, but with different agendas, and a final battle is fought between past and present lives.

While all this is going on, while Batman is trying very hard to solves these murders, he's continually distracted by his memories.  First the mention of committed relationships, and then the timely arrival of an old flame resurrects in Bruce Wayne feelings of love and loss.  A good part of the movie is dedicated to Bruce's early days both as a man and as Batman, as he struggles to build a life with the woman he loves and to create a satisfyingly fearsome alter-ego. 

One of the film's best moments is Bruce's final transformation from hooded vigilante into caped crusader.  In Mask of the Phantasm, Bruce's motivations transmute from grief to heartbreak.  Indeed, his initial motivation was the loss of his parents, but after being first accepted and then rejected by his girlfriend, Bruce turns even further inward and becomes Batman.

This transition, though, is prefaced by an even more powerful moment in which Bruce contemplates giving up vigilantism.  The man has a complete breakdown, emotionally tormented by having achieved happiness.  Bruce Wayne is a complex individual, and Mask of the Phantasm effectively portrays his layered personality through its vengeance plot.  By shedding light on Batman's past, the movie allows us to become intimately familiar with the man behind the bat, but it's discomforting to learn the superhero is all too human. 

Because Mask of the Phantasm belongs to the TAS aesthetic, it retains the same dark qualities that made the series famous.  Emotionally dark and morally ambiguous, Mask of the Phantasm has less to do with the law than it does with justice.  The film pits love against revenge, and the past against the present in one of the best animated Batman movies to date.