The DC Animated Superhero Movie Retrospective Series - Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998)

Written In December 2013

Before we get to the plot summary, there’s three facts I wanna share with you real quick, they’re not fun, but they’re interesting.

1. This movie was set to come out in ‘97, but it was pushed back because Batman & Robin had Mr. Freeze in it.
2. Mary Kay Bergman, best known for doing all of the female characters in the first two seasons of South Park, who voiced Barbara Gordon in this movie, tragically commited suicide in November following this movie’s release year. She was 38.
3. Michael Ansara died of natural causes earlier this year, back in July. He was 91.

RIP to both of these talented actors, may they rest in peace, and let us say a prayer of thanks that Batman & Robin was not truly the end of the Batman film series.

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia:

Since his last encounter against Batman, Mr. Freeze has found a home in the Arctic and started a family (of sorts) with the still cryogenically-encased Nora, an Inuit boy named Kunac, and two pet polar bears, Hotchka and Shaka. Nora’s condition begins to rapidly deteriorate due to asubmarine accidentally emerging from underwater directly underneath them, shattering her containment vessel. Freeze returns to Gotham City with his companions, and enlists the help of Dr. Gregory Belson to find a cure. Belson determines that Nora needs an organ transplant, but due to her rare blood type there are no suitable donors available.

Freeze declares that they will use a live donor, even if it means the donor will die in the process. Belson is at first reluctant to kill an innocent girl, but Freeze bribes him with a gold nugget and even more gold from an entire vein in the Arctic that will put an end to Belson’s financial problems.Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) is a perfect match, and Freeze learns from her roommate that she is at a restaurant with her boyfriend, Dick Grayson(Robin). Freeze attacks the restaurant and kidnaps Barbara, taking her to an abandoned oil rig where he and Belson are hiding. Freeze and Belson explain the situation to Barbara, who claims that she is willing to help Nora for the “blood transfusion”, but not at the oil rig, prompting Freeze to keep Barbara imprisoned. When the time for the operation comes, Barbara realizes that they are lying when they say she will need to be put under for a mere transfusion and escapes with the help of Kunac. Belson gives pursuit and almost catches her, before the arrival of Batman and Robin.

Freeze follows, and in the ensuing confrontation, Belson accidentally shoots one of the fuel tanks and starts a rapidly-spreading fire as Freeze traps Batman and Robin. Freeze insists that Belson perform the operation, despite the oil rig blazing and ready to explode, but Belson betrays Freeze and attempts to escape alone, only to be killed by falling wreckage. Freeze’s leg is broken, but he tells Batman to save Nora and Kunac first, along with Barbara. Nora, Kunac and Barbara are taken to safety in the Batwing with the help of Robin, but Batman fails to save the weakened Freeze in time, as the platform collapses beneath them, hitting him in the shoulder, and sending Freeze plummeting into the ocean below.

Batman manages to get back to the Batwing and get aboard just before the oil rig finally explodes, but Freeze escapes just in time, holding onto the swimming Hotchka and Shaka. Freeze then returns with his polar bears to the Arctic to resume his life alone, having frozen his leg in an ice cast. He sees on a television in a research station that Nora has been revived after an organ transplant operation funded by Wayne Enterprises, moving him to tears of joy. Then he walks away, limping with a wooden stick for support, with his two polar bears as the screen fades.

So before I get into the review, let me tell you about a character called… Loki Laufeyson.

I’m not entirely fond of the idea that Loki is not a truly villainous character, but a character who simply longs for acceptance and lashes out because he doesn’t know how to put this into words. He’s a sympathetic villain because of the fact that he was never truly accepted by his family, because he was different, because ultimately he was a Jotun raised as an Asgardian. Now before I get into why I think that’s bullcrap, let me explain what I define as a sympathetic villain.

A) A character who does bad things for the right reason. Someone who is desperate to do something good for someone they care for and chooses to go about this in a manner of questionable legality and/or morality. A good example of this would be Walter White from Breaking Bad (from the beginning of Season One to the end of Season Two more accurately)

or B) A character with a genuinely tragic backstory that drove them to become a violent lifestyle, a person who was good once upon a time but had so much compounded onto them that they snapped. A good example of this would be fellow Batman villain, Harvey Dent/Two-Face.

Here’s what Loki’s story is according to the first Thor movie; abandoned by his family as an infant, Loki, a small Frost Giant child, was adopted by King Odin of Asgard and raised as his own son as a royal prince. Loki being younger than his adoptive brother Thor, was second in line for the throne in the event Odin died or simply retired. Loki, believing Thor would be an incompetent ruler, allowed for a small group of Frost Giants to enter the weapons vault of the Asgardian Palace, so as to sabotage Thor’s coronation. Later he manipulates his brother into invading Jotunhiem, the land of the Frost Giants, mortal enemies of Asgard that Odin had truce with. His actions in Jotunhiem causes Thor to be banished. When Odin falls into a comatose state, Loki lies to Thor telling him he has to stay on Earth so that the new truce with Jotunhiem will remain. He then attempts murder his brother and allows for the Frost Giants to reenter Asgard, promising their leader that he’ll get to kill Odin. At the very last minute, Loki kills the Jotuns he allowed to enter, attempts to commit genocide against Jotunhiem while dueling his brother. After being told that what he did was wrong, Loki attempts to kill himself only to find company with beings worse than him.

THIS! IS! NOT! A! SYMPATHETIC! VILLAIN!

You can make all the screaming GIFs you want, that doesn’t make him sympathetic. But why did I take the time to talk about why I don’t find Loki sympathetic? Because this movie contains an actual sympathetic villain in the form Michael Ansara’s Mr. Freeze.

Paul Dini, Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett’s Batman: The Animated Series have multiple claims to fame. They created Harley Quinn, they won several Emmy Awards, they defined the character of Batman for a generation, they gave us what is considered by most to be the definitive voice of Batman and the Joker, and above all they redefined and reinvented a villain who was considered a bit dopey at the time of their creation. And that villain is Dr. Victor Fries, aka Mr. Freeze.

Again voiced by the late great Michael Ansara, Mr. Freeze was written as Shakespearean tragedy. A brilliant scientist who was searching day and night for cure to his ill wife’s disease, his funding was cut off by his jackass boss, he physically assaulted him when he tried pleading with him to give him more time. When exposed to a series of chemicals during the assault, Victor’s DNA was altered he could no longer survive in a subzero degree temperature. Brilliant as ever, but filled with a cold rage unlike any, Fries turns to a life of crime to fund his research. Stealing anything of value and hellbent on vengeance against his dickbag boss! Like Heisenberg and Sam Raimi’s take on Otto Octavius after him, Mr. Freeze is the kind of villain who would do something terrible for the person he loves most. This is a sympathetic villain.

This film outlines this, and it’s a major pro with it! Now onto the rest of my list.

PROS

• Barbara Gordon as Batgirl and Dick Grayson as Robin are both in this movie, this makes me happy.
• I’m not overly fond of Dick and Babs as a couple, but I’m not opposed to the, and they’re a delightful romantic presence in this film.
• The action in this movie is entertaining as usual.
• While at the party, Barbara wears a very lovely dress that is lacking in fabric over her back. I see why you love her Grayson.
• Michael Ansara gives a fantastic performance as usual!
• Kevin Conroy is wonderful as Batman, although he’s not in here all that much.
• When Barb is kidnapped by Freeze, there’s a great motorcycle chase that showcases Dick Grayson as a badass!
• The late Mary Kay Bergman is wonderful as Barbara!
• The little Inuit boy that Mr. Freeze befriends is adorable.

CONS:

• Batman is one of the two titular characters and yet he’s barely in the movie. This isn’t a problem with the story, it’s just unfortunate to see.
• The douchebag doctor feels kind of tacked on.
• The reasoning for Freeze kidnapping Barbara is kind of flimsy and a little too based in coincidence.

Overall, while I think Mask of the Phantasm is the better movie, I think SubZero is the more entertaining movie. I just generally enjoyed the movie more. And that’s no slight towards Mask of the Phantasm, it’s just me saying I enjoy thrillers more than emotional dramas. So with all that being said, I’ll be giving Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero an 9 out of 10.