DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Not a fan of the title, but working on it.

This is my latest idea for a pet project. With the recent release of Planet Hulk and Justice League: CoTE, I thought it was time to look back at the progress that the comic book animated movie has made.

The genre is a bit fresher than the whole live-action superhero movie genre, I may be mistaken, but its less than 20 years old, and really has only picked up steam in recent memories. With that said, this is the current list of movies I have.

Currently, the plan is to do them once a week leading into the eventual release of Batman: Under the Red Hood.

I've been having troubles coming up with a proper format for this as I am not a reviewer and never intend to be, but you can expect to see what I like and dislike about any movie.

Also, it will be done chronologically. Which means our first movie is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wv2FitL0Aw
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Neat idea :D

Looks like I'll be having a few trips to the video store (dont like watching movies on youtube)

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Bump!


Looks like this week shall be....


Can our zany hero save his city from the evil PHANTASM?!?!? Or will he be to focused on love?

Join us this week to find out!

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

So uh... Where are the marvel animated list? EDIT: NVM didn't realize it was just movies for a minute. Marvel is pretty lacking in good animated movies.

Also I will say, despise dc as I might, their animated stuff is generally pretty good. Especially some of the batman stuff.

Also Dave: Couldn't you make a trip to the bt store? *HINT* *HINT*

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Now that someone has bumped I kind of feel compelled to write my thoughts, but been having trouble coming up with a proper format so bear with me if this keeps changing.

Mask of the Phantasm


There's the background.

The Movie
This movie relies heavily on flashbacks to tell the compelling story of how Bruce Wayne finally took up the mantle of Batman. This movie serves as both an origin to the Batman of TAS fame and as a love story. Both stories are interconnected and work so well, it truly is magic on the screen.



Where this movie works best for me is that it shows that Bruce had the chance for happiness even after his parents' death, but as expected, the criminal world once again struck taking all that he held dear.

On the same hand, other than a climax appearance by the Joker, the story also doesn't really focus on villains as there are an assortment of mobsters being picked off, but this is really Bruce/Andrea's story.

Memorable Moments

This movie is clocked full of memorable moments, but the one that defines the movie for me at least, is the first time that Bruce dons the cape and cowl, just the way it is shot and Alfred's reaction are excellent.



Recommendation
Buy it.
If you haven't seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It is hands down the best Batman movie animated or live action wise.

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

I disagree. Sub Zero was much better.

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

I'm gonna disagree and say that Mask is much better.

The debate really comes down to Mask and Return of the Joker.

And crap, forgot, I needed to add Turtles Forever!

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Uhm no, it really comes down to Sub Zero and Return of the Joker. Whatever. Honestly Mask was pretty boring.

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

And here comes the end of week 2



Batman/Mr. Freeze: Subzero

The Movie
Mr. Freeze is one of the most compelling and unique characters during the entire stint of B: TAS, and one of the main reasons was that Timm and Co never used him useless necessary. This marks, his 3rd appearance in the series, and his character starts to turn a bit.



In Heart of Ice, and his second appearance, Mr. Freeze is never really evil, he has some justifications in his actions. In this movie, I mean I know his wife is suffering, but his actions are pretty evil and selfish so there's no way around it.

And Mr. Freeze's attempt to help his wife drives the extent of the movie, which works, but on the same hand, it forces like half the movie to be climax.



And that's what makes it a bit off to me, I think that the Freeze character is watered down just a bit, and his next appearance in TNBA is iffy.

Memorable Moment
Its tough to really pick a stand-out moment for the movie, it was a good movie, just nothing great.

Though guess would lean towards discovering the song that Batgirl's' roommate was listening to when she got called, is the same song Batman sings in This Little Piggy.

Recommendation
Check the movie out. Especially if you can find the double pack with Mask. Also when you consider that this was a companion to Batman and Robin, well yeah one turned out well, the other we avoid talking about.

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

I have to agree with Earl on this one, Mask is a much better movie then Sub-Zero.


Sub-Zero just seemed like your standard action movie or a 2 part episode, good but nothing special

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Guess should update this thread a bit

First order of business, Batman: Return of the Joker is THIS week's movie.

Due to some suggestions, I decided to add Superman/Batman: World's Finest last week, never made it into the thread.

I'm sorry... with that said.



The Batman/Superman Movie: World's Finest

The first team-up between the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight from the TAS episodes.



The "movie" consists of 3 episodes of the Superman: TAS and one of the reasons was reluctant to include it on my list.

With that said, it does work pretty well on its own. Most people know who the major players are, but as a recap, Superman and Batman are our heroes and Luthor and The Joker are our villains,



Their dynamic is fine, but I think the chemistry/interactions between Harley and Mercy is much better. Though the Joker/Luthor relations shows up again in Justice League.

The threat is well all over the place as it pretty much acts like 3 mini stories connected.



The short and simple of it really is if you own Superman: TAS check it out, but wouldn't go out of my way to find it.

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Definitely on the Mask is better side. I have a lot of good memories. I even had the comic book the VHS came with back in the day.

Recently watched it again sometime last year. Still great.

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Gosh, I've been slacking so much with this thread.

Just a few updates, one is I realize I MUST do a Return of the Joker post, as apparently, I didn't do one when I watched it for my Batman Beyond thread either, and that's just wrong since it is such an awesome movie so I will get on that.

Second, is this week's movie was Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman so let's get to that



Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman stands as the final film in the TAS universe to star Batman and the last official product related to BTAS/TNBA. (Justice League was still going on at the time, but that isn't all-Batman focused)

With that said, as the title suggests, the movie revolves around the mysterious new Bat-figure, the Batwoman.


There are several suspects and hints that points towards the identity of the Batwoman. And to me this is the film's biggest fault as the mystery is pretty much ruined by the reveal, which just made all the double-guessing pointless in the end.

I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but if you have, you know what I mean.

Now the Batwoman is a good guy so this movie also needs some villains, and the quality of the villains isn't the best, but it isn't terrible. You have Rupert Thorne, who looked to have slimmed down. The Penguin, who is okay, but never was a huge fan of him after his turn to being more behind the scenes, and later on Bane.



The fights weren't really that great. The plot is iffy. The villains are decent.

All in all, my recommendation is to PASS.

On the other hand, the DVD comes with Chase Me

Instead of reviewing it or offering a PAss/See/Buy, I'll just show you the Youtube. Its only 6 minutes long. And SO worth it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19qdCEPFz4w

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

Next movie.



Closer to the comics than the live action movies. Same character designer as the Spectacular Spider-man

Re: DC/Marvel at The Animated Movies Thread
 

This was a somewhat exciting movie for me, as it is the first movie on the list that is/was completely new to me. Also, I don't have much of a history with Hellboy outside of the two mainstream movies. With that said,

Hellboy: Sword of Storms
Does anyone else, think this sounds like a subtitle to a Zelda game?



I wasn't clear on it from the movie or dialogue, but not sure if this is a sequel to the movie or not, but it does assume some familiarity with the characters so there's that.

Now even though the plot is explained in some heavy expository scenes, I'm not 100% sure how Hellboy was teleported to a mystical realm. But in this realm are some really freaky creatures, and Hellboy ends up fighting them all.



I wasn't too thrilled with most of the action scenes, but there was plenty enough that you may have better luck than I did.


Honestly, I watched this 3 days ago, and the fact that I'm having trouble remembering anything of note is never a good thing IMO.

So instead of torturing you with made up details, I shall recommend a Pass, it isn't bad, just not memorable.

This week's movie: Ultimate Avengers.