Sept. 21 was Batman Day. Across the world, fans celebrated this day honoring the Caped Crusader by posting memes, comic panels and consuming any sort of Batman media they could get their hands on.

During Batman Day weekend, AMC theaters participated in the celebration by re-releasing fan-favorite movies starring the world’s greatest detective by showing screenings of “Batman” starring Michael Keaton, “Batman Forever” starring Val Kilmer and “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” starring Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman.

While rewatching “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm,” I was able to reintroduce myself to the world of Batman in the nostalgic realm of its animated series where the movie’s setting takes place. As someone who has read Batman comics and consumed multitudes of Batman media my whole life, it is safe to say that “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” is the best Batman film adaptation by far.

Right away, the audience is immersed by the gothic urban world of Gotham City and how Eric Radonski and Bruce Timm’s animated portrayal of Gotham is unlike any other, with its dark city colors contrasting with the blue, gray and yellow ensemble of Batman’s suit and the bombastic action scenes that pop among the grim setting.

Animation can turn some audience away due to the ingrained idea that animation is solely entertainment for children, but that is not the case at all and especially not for this film. The animation and 2D designs of the characters and setting can be appreciated by all audiences. Also, I believe that animation is the best medium to tell stories adapting comic book characters because not only are the animators able to achieve character and set designs that are impossible to achieve in live action, but they are also able to more accurately depict characters that correspond to their comic book counterparts. This brings me to the highlight of this film and why I think more audiences should give this film a watch and that is the story.

Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, Bruce Timm, Martin Pasko and Michael Reaves band together to tell a story of Batman that has not been explored very much in other adaptations and even incorporate new ideas and characters to expand themes and layers to Batman’s character that are often not talked about. The story focuses on Batman’s identity and that his becoming of Batman may have been destined ever since that night in Crime Alley.

Kevin Conroy had his career-best performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne in this film by emphasizing the conflicting and powerful emotions Bruce expresses whether he is being an intimidating figure as Batman or pouring out his sorrow as Bruce Wayne.

A notable scene is in a flashback where he is frustrated about what to do with his future after falling in love with Andrea Beaumont, the love interest and how he would be able to balance out being Batman while having someone in his life waiting for him. He goes out to the cemetery to visit the grave of his parents and begs for his parent’s forgiveness for losing sight of his mission to take down crime.

As his tears intertwine with the rain, he tells them, “I didn’t see this coming. I didn’t count on being happy.” Shortly, Andrea shows up and tells him that perhaps his parents sent her to be the future that they would’ve always wanted for him.

This scene and countless others like this exemplify what makes this movie as outstanding as it is. The movie focuses a lot on Batman’s psychological issues as well as having an intriguing mystery of the identity of the villain, the Phantasm.

The Phantasm has been taking out a bunch of Gotham’s notorious mobsters and the city has been questioning whether or not this is Batman’s doing and the police even start to turn against him.

Batman has even fought off the Phantasm, but when he is not in combat with the mysterious foe, he is uncovering the reason why the Phantasm is going after the mob and what past they may have with them.

At the end of the movie, Batman finds out both the identity of the Phantasm and their ties to the mob, which changes everything for both Batman and the Phantasm. This movie also has Mark Hamill as the Joker who is as charismatic as always and plays a pivotal role in the film towards the end.

This movie is a triumph as both a Batman film and a tragic/romance and mystery film. The romance between Bruce and Andrea is doomed from the start and the audience continues to feel more and more heartbroken when they realize that both of them have their dark pasts and those pasts and how they affected them will keep them from ever being close to each other.

This movie brings something so interesting to the table because it dives into Batman’s psychology that I have never seen done before in a film.

Some films have lightly touched on the topic of Batman’s dual identities and asks, “Who is really under the mask?”

But this film asks that question and goes further than that with its emotional performances and layered themes when it comes to Batman’s identity and how it affects his life and whether or not his fate was destined or if it was all his own doing taking on an impossible task that he knows he will have to fight forever.

I cannot recommend this movie enough, whether you are a casual Batman fan or a hardcore Batman fanatic and haven’t checked this movie out.

This movie is intriguing and thought provoking while also captivating in its 2D art world with its colorful characters and all-out performances.