395. Is Batman: Mask of the Phantasm the best Batman film? with Amon Warmann

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Empire Film Magazine and Fade to Black's Amon Warmann joins me to try and answer one of the great nerd questions of all time: Is a 75 minute animated film from 1993 actually the best Batman film ever made?

Warning: This is a spoiler-filled conversation after the first ten minutes.

Amon and I go for broke digging into a film we both love dearly covering topics including:

- Best Batman film vs best film starring Batman - The love story that drives the film - How the film and its parent show Batman: The Animated Series took key inspiration from classic Hollywood films of the 30s, 40s and 50s. - Why this 'kids' film is one of the most emotionally mature superhero films ever made. - How the film finds a unique way to tell Batman's origin story - Kevin Conroy's definitive and multi-pronged take on Batman - The strategic use of the Joker and how it parallels The Silence of the Lambs and Sexy Beast. - How to go dark without slipping into pretension or self-parody. - Vengance vs Justice. - Shirley Walker's incredible classic score.

Plus we game out an alternate history of the 90s where Warner Brothers looked to this film for inspiration after parting ways with Tim Burton instead of making Batman Forever, and speculate on appropriate candidates to take over from Michael Keaton. Plus we have a spirited argument about whether a film should ever be three hours long.