A masked assassin is killing off Gotham mobsters and Batman is being blamed. At the same time, an old love of Bruce Wayne's has returned to town and brings back memories of Bruce's early pre-Batman days and how close he came to never becoming the crime fighter he is today. Also, the Joker figures into the plot nicely. The best Batman animated movie to date. Not surprising since this came out as the brilliant "Batman: The Animated Series" was on television redefining awesome. If you loved that series, you will love this.
It's not perfect. The identity of the Phantasm is fairly obvious despite their red herring attempts. But it captures what made the series work so well: the appeal to both kids and adults by using simple storytelling devices and animation but still being intelligent and emotional enough to make it more than just mindless action or silliness. The main problem with most of the DCAU movies today is that they can't seem to strike that right balance anymore. They're either too dumb for adults to like or too hyper-violent and crass for kids to even be watching. Mostly they seem to settle on only appealing to teenage boys. But the '90s series had cross-generational appeal and this movie is a good appetizer for that main course.
It's not perfect. The identity of the Phantasm is fairly obvious despite their red herring attempts. But it captures what made the series work so well: the appeal to both kids and adults by using simple storytelling devices and animation but still being intelligent and emotional enough to make it more than just mindless action or silliness. The main problem with most of the DCAU movies today is that they can't seem to strike that right balance anymore. They're either too dumb for adults to like or too hyper-violent and crass for kids to even be watching. Mostly they seem to settle on only appealing to teenage boys. But the '90s series had cross-generational appeal and this movie is a good appetizer for that main course.