Here's the fake trailer we made for a friend and longtime collaborator of ours to trick him into thinking we made a documentary about the music scene.  

What we actually did was make a documentary about his life.  Here's the real trailer.

The DCAU Weekly Review - Batman and Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero

 Batman and Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero

 

Batman and Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero is a direct to video film that was created to cash in on the Joel Shumaker Batman & Robin film which had Mr. Freeze as the villain.  Batman & Robin came out in 1997 and while it made its money back it was labeled as “under performed” in the box office.  That didn’t stop the animation department from trying to capitalize on a live action film which made $238 million.  Thus we get 1998’s Batman and Mr. Freeze: Sub Zero.  

 

It’s the last film made in the traditional Batman: the Animated Series animation style.  Superman: The Animated Series premiered in 1996, the two wouldn’t crossover until 1997 with a different animation design.   This film was made in 1997 but not released until 1998.  This is why DCAU viewing-wise it just makes sense to watch it as a close out to BtAS by watching this direct to video film.  

 

The animation is superb, some of the best in the entire run and event better than the feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (MotP).  The story isn’t nearly as epic as MotP though.  It plays out more like an extended episode of BtAS.  Nora Fries’ cryo-tube gets popped by some submarine people.  Mr. Freeze flips out and kills them all.  He’s now rushing to cure his wife and enlist the help of a sleaze ball named Dr Gregory Belson. 

 

It’s determined Nora needs a series of organ transplants but there are no donors.  Barbara Gordon is the match for Nora’s condition but she’s still alive.  Freeze opts to kidnap her and steal her parts to save his wife.  It’s a bit out of character for Mr. Freeze since he wasn’t going to destroy the world in the name of his wife.  Perhaps killing one life versus millions is different in his mind. 

 

Dick Grayson is full on dating Barbara Gordon at this point and is there when she gets kidnapped.  He tries to stop the kidnapping but Mr. Freeze gets away.  The best sequence in the entire movie is the motorcycle chase between Dick Grayson (not Robin) and Mr. Freeze.  What’s more surprising is a children’s cartoon showed motorcycle riding without a helmet.  That would never fly on television but direct to video movies have no such requirements. 

 

Batman and Robin track Freeze’s hideout to an off shore oil rig.  As the final showdown happens the oil rig catches fire.  Everyone has to leave now.  Freeze is stubborn and Dr Gregory Belson rightfully leaves Mr. Freeze to die as he’s begging for help.  Freeze has been a douche through the entire film and Belson owes him no loyalty.  Belson himself might be a total jerk but that doesn’t mean he was wrong in this case.  

 

As Batman is helping everyone escape, Barbara Gordon points out that Nora Fries is alive and needs to be saved.  So Batman and her run through the entire compound while everything is blowing up in order to save her.  They all get to the Batwing safely but Batman and Mr. Freeze are staggering behind because of  “reasons.” Mr. Freeze falls to his fake death and Batman uses his grappling hook to attach to the plane as Robin, Barbara Gordon, some Eskimo kid, and Nora Fries fly away safely in a two passenger jet.  It’s the worst animated sequences in the film.  Batman is attached to a jet by a rope as it flies at Mach 1.  Even if Batman has super strong ropes, how is he able to hold on?  Not very believable but neither is a guy who can only live in sub arctic temperatures and has a special suit that makes him extra strong. 

 

The film closes out with Mr. Freeze in the Arctic looking through a window at what is likely the only bar to exist in the arctic.  He sees on a television that the world thinks he’s dead, his wife was saved after an organ transplant funded by Wayne Enterprises.  But plot hole, it wasn’t lack of money stopping her transplant.  It was lack of donors.  Freeze swiped Barbara because she was a match who just happened to be alive.  Did a donor match die in Gotham while Batman was busy saving Barbara?  That’s the only logical conclusion.  One could postulate that Freeze’s plan worked in a way.  He was able to save his wife because Batman was too busy dealing with him to be out there rescuing someone poor woman that was donor match for Nora Fries.

 

The animation is stellar and a nice farewell to a style that got revamped into something that was easier to animate but visually less stunning.  It’s also a nice send off to the old series.  Story-wise viewing this as a movie or even an extended episode in the BtAS world, it’s not that good.  Mr. Freeze is an inconsistent character in the story and the series as a whole.  He’s thoroughly corrected in his next two DCAU follow-ups but this film, while enjoyable, could have been better.  It was a quick cash grab aimed at kids who might have been fans of the Batman & Robin film.  Are there any fans of Batman & Robin film?  It proudly can claim to be best Batman movie featuring Mr. Freeze. 

 

Written by
Joseph Ammendolea
Owner/President
“I Like To Play With Toys” Productions®
ILikeToPlayWithToysProductions@Yahoo.com