THE ANIMATED BATMAN #2 - 'Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero' (1998)

In 1997, Warner Bros. released "Batman & Robin" into theaters. At the same time, Warner Bros. Animation was going to release "Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero" on direct-to-video, a spiritual sequel to "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm". Unfortunately, "Batman & Robin" ended up being the film that it ended up being. Warner Bros. decided to hold off for a year before finally releasing "Sub-Zero" in '98.

The end result is a film that is better than the movie it was supposed to tie into, but a film that also doesn't work as well as its immediate predecessor, "Mask of the Phantasm". One of the problems is that the filmmakers tried to use traditional animation combined with rather average CGI shots, something that was common in animation at the time. The second problem is that it was trying to continue Mr. Freeze's dramatic arc that started in "Batman: The Animated Series".

The story picks up with Mr. Freeze in the Antarctic. He is still trying to find a cure for his wife Nora while she is in suspended animation. Unfortunately, a submarine shows up and disrupts Mr. Freeze's rather tranquil setting. Nora is knocked out of her tank and only has a couple of weeks to live unless Mr. Freeze can find a donor. That donor ends up being Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl and after she is kidnapped it is up to Batman and Robin to find her and to bring Mr. Freeze to justice.

So, in order to fully understand this film, you would need to go back and watch "Heart of Ice" at the very least. This is an episode of "The Animated Series" that introduced audiences to Mr. Freeze and it also happens to be one of the finest pieces of television ever produced. That means that this movie is also an inferior sequel to a much better storyline that was featured in the show. It ultimately works, but the movie is rather average.

Even the music, which was not done by the ever dependable Shirley Walker, can't live up to the quality that was set in "The Animated Series" and "Mask of the Phantasm". I remember when I rented this from the video store back in the day that I was really looking forward to watching it. Unfortunately, I ultimately ended up forgetting the movie shortly after watching it and, to be honest, I'm having a hard time remembering the movie after having just watched it for this review.

Ultimately, while the movie is not bad, it is a rather skippable film unless you're just a completist when watching anything even remotely related to "The Animated Series". It is better than "Batman & Robin", but of course that doesn't really mean much at the end of the day.