notoriousCASK

The Boys is a series quite ambitious in its extensions. On the one hand, it firmly presses on the classic who-watches-the-watchmen concern. On the other hand, the show is also trying something new. It is not enough for the TV show to demonstrate superheroism as conservative viciousness or as a state tool of repression. Instead, it attempts to represent a complicated superhero industrial complex that permeates almost all of mass culture and social life. So The Boys' superheroes, corrupt and arrogant as they are, become at the same time the most unexpectedly realistic as their actions are intertwined with business interests, advertisers, sponsorships, rights, fan culture, public presence and public order.

The Boys has the virtue of attempting to see superhero culture as a whole, as an industry and as an ideology. The series cuts through the simplistic superhero ethics of good and evil, the absence of complexity and the culture of collateral damage while balancing the themes it conveys with compelling and rich characters. In conclusion The Boys is a TV series that points to an increasingly diverse, demanding and multifaceted television superhero future. Even if the MCUs and DCUs fall into the cliché, it seems that a superhero door has opened on television that is not going to close any time soon.

Mask of the Phantasm tells a story that is among the most daring and bold ever told within the Batman canon. Its tragedy is heartfelt, depicting Bruce Wayne as if he is trapped in a cell, jailed by an oath made in passion and sorrow immediately following his parent's death. He wonders if he deserves to be happy, if he has earned the right to live a normal life, and indulge in the pleasures Batman has continually been stripped of. Heroism is deconstructed here, no longer a sanctuary of virtue, but rather an asylum of deprivation. The villains he has amassed in his turn as the Batman have torn his life apart, beautifully conveyed in the fact that through a simple murder, the Joker once again deprived Bruce Wayne of the life he should have had.

Mask of the Phantasm is constructed perfectly, boasting incredible Germanic artistic influences, a resounding and operatic score, a remarkably concise script and a masterful manipulation of tone and linear shifts. The Citizen Kane-esque storytelling structure is ingenious, visually articulating the life Wayne may have had if he had never embraced the Batman identity. The mask of the phantasm is a facade that defines Bruce Wayne, a representation of the consistently conflicting notions of morality and heroism. If he falls into the abyss, he becomes just like the villains he has fought for so long. If he rises above, he can only look on as the life he deserves passes him by and that is the real tragedy of the Batman character.

Mask of the Phantasm is a masterpiece of animation, and of film in general. It defies the expectations of what an animated superhero film should be and stands as one of the greatest examples of what nuanced and passionate filmmaking and animation in particular can accomplish. It's one of the greatest pieces of art in the gargantuan Batman mythology, and among the multitudes of cinematic explorations of the Batman character out there, this one may just stand out as the diamond of the bunch.