(no subject)

[holli]

Okay, now that all my stupid angst has been whined about: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. I had not seen this before-- there are significant gaps in what I've seen of toonverse-- and, oh man. I cannot remember the last time I had such warm feelings towards Bruce Wayne. He is *so fucking endearing* in this, y'all, and the people currently writing the comics version should take note that it is in fact possible to write a Bruce Wayne who is both an appealing, non-assholic human being *and* a giant nutbar. This Bruce? Manages to be both, and also *really* compelling. This is a Bruce whose brooding contemplation of his parents' tombstone was interrupted by a girl three graves over, having a chatty, if one-sided, conversation with her dead mother. He subsequently falls in love with this girl. Because if she's not almost as obsessed with her dead loved ones as him, he ain't interested. In a later scene, they smooch for the first time after he flips her because she mocks his martial-arts moves, and they end up making out on the grass in back of the Manor. It's SO CUTE, and yet, SO MESSED UP.

I was doing a bit of a watch-and-post, so here are my comments as I made them:

[6:25pm] Holli: Oh man. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is freaking adorable, y'all.
[6:26pm] Holli: It's all, "remember when Bruce wasn't crazy? and was in fact rather endearing?"
[6:26pm] Holli: and i'm like, "oh, yeah, that time that ONLY EXISTED IN TOONVERSE"

[6:27pm] Holli: like, Bruce starts crushing on this girl who he meets in the graveyard where his parents are buried, where she was talking to her dead mother.
[6:28pm] Holli: which is like, "aw... wait, that's fucked up. but, aw."
[6:28pm] Holli: and there's all these flashbacks to a just pre-Bat Bruce, who gets the idea for the Batmobile when he almost, like, comes in his pants over this car he sees at the World's Fair. it's very sweet.
[6:29pm] Holli: and, omg. HE'S SKETCHING COSTUME DESIGNS.
[6:29pm] Holli: SO CUTE.

[6:30pm] Holli: and now he's talking to his parents' grave, in the rain.
[6:30pm] Holli: bargaining over whether or not he has to keep his vow for justice.
[6:30pm] Holli: and the grave is all *LOOMS GRIMLY*

That last scene, by the way? Really, really affecting. Kevin Conroy does a fantastic job with the whole movie, and his Young!Bruce is wonderful, especially here. Bruce, sensing that he has a chance at a life of non-psychosis and regular lovin', pleads with his parents to forgive him for breaking his vow to avenge their deaths. He's trying to bargain with, them, claiming that he can still honor their memory without cutting himself off from his chance at love. And the thing is? Watching it, I'm just like, "oh, Bruce, HONEY," because Bruce's parents would probably say mazel tov and want to know when he's going to give them some grandchildren, not demand that he put on tights and fight crime.

[6:35pm] Holli: Bruce just proposed to his girlfriend, and he's all "yay, leaving behind my previous plan of a life of lonely, grim darkness!"
[6:35pm] Holli: and then this MASSIVE CLOUD OF BATS flies up out of the GROUND in front of him.
[6:36pm] Holli: it's AMAZING.
[6:36pm] Holli: And then he found the Batcave, and his girlfriend dumped him via note and gave back the ring, and he's like "well, lonely grim darkness it is, then."

Oh, toonverse. You remind me why I liked these people in the first place. I think toon!Bruce is probably a much richer mine, fic-wise, because he's not as goddamn opaque as comics!Bruce has become. With the older animation style this movie was done in, his face is wonderfully expressive, and he sometimes snarks in costume, and gets his ass handed to him in several of the fights, and is just so much more human and approachable in every possible way.

Comments

[hecubot.livejournal.com]

And Toonverse Bruce is consistent in character all the way up through Batman Beyond. And he can be very endearing - he's got a great episode with Harley that makes me sniffle a bit. And his relationship with Dick is a little more rich in the Toonverse too, I think. More balanced. More you can see both sides.

[holli.livejournal.com]

Yup. Even at his most grim and crotchety, he's still the runner-up in the Mr. Grim And Crotchety pageant. Comics!Bruce is taking that tiara home *every* time.

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

Toon Batman is the best Batman and Kevin Conroy IS Batman for me. What I hated in the comics was that when the Wonder Woman/Batman flirtation thing started in JL, the comic writers decided to do that as well. Of course, in the comics, it came off horribly as Batman is an insane jackass and Wonder Woman is a guy in a woman's body (except when sometimes written by Greg Rucka).

Now, Batman Beyond just has to come out on DVD and it will be awesome.

[sowilo.livejournal.com]

Hey, I just watched it a few weeks ago myself! I did like the younger, more carefree Bruce. And I liked the conflict with him giving up his vengeance for her, and her not being able to give up her vengeance for him. *sniff*