When it comes to Under The Red Hood.
Mask of The Phantasm is mostly an original story, albeit including some new characters as a replacement for the main antagonist of the story it's lifted from, while the story of Under The Red Hood is pretty much lifted directly from a comic that's since become one of the most important Batman comic storylines written. But let's take these two and see which of them is actually better if it''s at all possible.
Mask: It Takes From Year One And Year Two
Instead of being called The Phantasm in the original story that the film pulled from, the name of the antagonist in the comic Year Two is actually named The Reaper, which was perhaps slightly too edgy f0r a film that was originally greenlit as a movie adaptation for the award-winning television series Batman: The Animated Series.
Aside from its general plot following a love interest of Bruce's who ends up being a villain, there are also elements from the absolute classic Year One, which took place during the initial years of Batman's tenure as a vigilante.
Red Hood: It's Written By The Original Author
One of the coolest facts about Under The Red Hood is that the man who authored the original story also wrote the film, meaning that fans can be entirely sure they're getting an end product that's extremely faithful to the source material.
Judd Winick had more or less complete creative control over the film, as opposed to Mask Of The Phantasm which some fans could definitely consider to be just a rehash of material that the viewer has already gotten. He's also the creator of The Life And Times Of Juniper Lee, a show that was featured on Cartoon Network for a few years.
Mask: It Got A Theatrical Release
Although Batman has experienced tons and tons of success on the big screen, it doesn't necessarily mean that many of the animated films have made it there. However, Mask Of The Phantasm was lucky enough to get a theatrical release, despite the fact that it was animated.
The film also managed to get itself a few sequels due to the fact that it was so successful after the release of its home video, despite the fact that it bombed at the box office. If the studio hadn't decided to release it theatrically so late, it very well could have changed the way animated films come out.
Red Hood: The Cast Is Incredible
While Mask Of The Phantasm has a great cast, made out of some of the most classic actors for their characters, Under The Red Hood actually has at the very least a B-list roster of not just voice actors, but well-known Hollywood actors. Jensen Ackles, famous for starring in the absolute phenomenon Supernatural plays Jason Todd, who makes his appearance as the titular Red Hood himself.
Neil Patrick Harris also makes an appearance as the original Robin, Dick Grayson, who dons the mask of Nightwing and does his best to help Batman with his issue. Oh, and John DiMaggio, who's famous for being Bender from Futurama, plays The Joker.
Mask: It Has The Most Iconic Voices For The Characters
While Under The Red Hood has this extremely star-studded cast, the movie features some of the best voice actors for the characters they're portraying pretty much of all time. There's both Mark Hamill as The Joker.
Mark Hamill is also one of the most well-praised interpretations of The Joker that's ever existed, portraying him almost as his primary job at this point. Mark Hamill also tries out a few new laughs in this film.
Red Hood: It Had A Wonderful Soundtrack
Under The Red Hood features an incredibly interesting and minimal soundtrack, featuring tons of electronic sounds, rather than the generally orchestral scores that have pretty much been the standard for a lot of Batman media pretty much since the 60s, or if not, in the same way, Danny Elfman's score for the Batman movies that Tim Burton directed.
The composer for the film, Christopher Drake, who had also worked on tons of other DC films in his past, decided that instead of giving the viewer something they expected, he wanted to make sure that the soundtrack bolstered what was happening visually instead of distracting from it.
Mask: It's Widely Considered One Of The Best Of All Time
The thing about Mask Of The Phantasm in comparison to Under The Red Hood is that while Under The Red Hood is widely considered among the best animated Batman films, Mask Of The Phantasm is considered one of the best interpretations of Batman there is, up there with Batman by Tim Burton, or The Dark Knight trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan, or with the Rocksteady/Warner Brothers Arkham franchise.
It only makes sense though, since it's a continuation of Batman: The Animated Series, which is frequently cited as the actual best distillation of what Batman is.
Red Hood: It Influenced One Of The Best Batman Games
Anyone who's interested in Batman as a franchise, or is even marginally interested in video games, has probably played the Arkham series developed by Rocksteady. The series consists of Arkham Knight.
While the first few games in the series don't have anything to do with the Red Hood and the plot of the last game in the series, Arkham Knight tries its best to present itself as having an original villain, it doesn't, and is pretty much a rehash of the Red Hood story, although slightly changed up.
Mask: The Whole Family Can Watch It
While Under The Red Hood simply isn't really well suited to a family watch, Mask Of The Phantasm is perfectly situated in a place that means it isn't too scary, but it's also not going to bore parents while they watch it with their kids.
The show is generally rated TV-PG in the US, and the movie was released with a PG rating, with the only specification of why being that there's animated violence. While the film could occasionally be frightening for some younger viewers, it's definitely a good companion to a family viewing of the animated series.
Red Hood: It Captures Batman's Grit Perfectly
In relationship to Mask Of The Phantasm, Under The Red Hood might as well be Rated R. The themes are pretty mature, and the animation is definitely grimmer, with the entire thing being more graphically violent all the way through.
The film isn't ridiculously over-the-top in the way the not quite as good animated The Killing Joke film is, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have moments where it gets a little intense. There's a lot of blood, and the scene in which The Joker beats Robin with a crowbar at the beginning is particularly rough.
