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Published on Monday, December 8, 1997 - 1:00am |
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HERE IT COMES!!!!!
First it was due out to compliment the release of last summer’s “Batman And Robin”.
Then it was due out sometime around October. Now, it seems to be coming out
sometime in March. It’s called “Batman: Subzero”. It’s the second animated “Batman”
film. The first - “Mask Of The Phantasm” - was the best “Batman” film to date, as far as
I’m concerned.
Only problem is, there are only a few advanced copies of it out there and I haven’t actually
seen it yet! There’s a kind gentleman who say he might be able to provide me with a
screener copy, but it’s not a done deal. As such, I’m sitting here staring at my “Mask Of
The Phantasm” laserdisc (remember laserdiscs?), wondering how “Subzero” will stack up
against a film as fully realized, appropriately themed and toned as “Phantasm”.
CHUCKIE SOL wrote me up with a little review of “Subzero”, offering a few answers to
my question. Thought I would pass it on.
The video store I work at was fortunate enough to receive a promotional
"screener" copy of Batman/Mr.Freeze: “Subzero”. Being a HUGE “Batman” Animated
Series fan, I immediately took it home and watched it. Thankfully, I was NOT
disappointed, and neither will other B:TAS fans be.
The story is, Mr. Freeze's wife, Nora (still in the cryogenic chamber), is injured when a
military submarine breaks through the icy surface underneath Freeze's
Arctic lair. He takes her to Gotham City, where he hunts down his old
science associate, a guy named Gregory.
Gregory determines that Nora needs an organ transplant, or she'll die within two weeks.
They search the hospital database, and find no compatible donor; but they find that
Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) has the same rare blood type. Freeze thinks she'd be
the perfect live donor. Freeze kidnaps her from a club, right in the middle of her date with
Dick (Robin), who proceeds to chase them on a motorcycle in a pretty cool scene. It
pretty much takes off from there.
The animation is in the style of TAS, not Gotham Knights (not that there's a HUGE
difference, mind you), and there's a surprising amount of computer animation, which is
showcased in the nice underwater opening sequence and the great Batwing
scenes. There is a lot of computer stuff in the Robin/Freeze chase scene,
but it's kind of distracting and awkward looking. There's lots of detective
work between Batman and Robin, something absent from the films but present
in TAS, and the film's climax is an awesome, explosive sequence on a
offshore oil rig. Also, the final scene is a very touching moment with
Freeze. You won't find that with Ah-nuld.
Cons: Too short, only an hour long; doesn't come out till March 17.
Bottom Line: Not as good as “Mask Of The Phantasm”, but still the film “Batman
And Robin” should have been.
((Glen Note: “Blankman” was the fil....ahhh, never mind.))
((Glen Note #2: I don’t have the credit stuff in front of me right now, but if memory
serves: the CGI imagery mentioned in the above review is supplied by Foundation Imaging
- the same group that did the first three seasons of “Babylon 5”, among other credits.))
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