Review of The Lego Batman Movie (2017) by Kai82 — 17 Jul 2021

Probably the best Batman movie. It is at the same time a charming love-letter, (valid) criticism, bits of a parody, a psychological study of Batman and an awesome hero’s journey story. It gets so many things right like the humor, action, characters, story and themes.

Story: It starts like a standard Batman story. The Joker is threatening to destroy Gotham City and Batman is trying to stop him. However the usual hero / villain banter ends with Batman saying that the Joker means nothing to him which breaks the Joker and will have huge consequences as this motivates him to go up to eleven (if not twelve but not in the way you will predict as this is not a high PG rated movie).

Meanwhile Bruce Waynes life outside his hero persona is a bit empty and this will change too. With this set up the story starts. The story is immensely creative and has deep insights into Batman, Bruce Wayne, the lore, characters and legacy.

You can watch this as fan and be entertained and amazed by the effort put into it as much as casual viewer. The ideas and twists were truly great and the climax is truly a highlight of the movie. They nail the character of Batman including the contradictory facets.

For example he is without doubt the world greatest detective and an awesome superhero but answer me this: What has he archived in Gotham City in the long run? Has crime disappeared? Are there fewer super-villains? Is Gotham City safer? Is there even a significant drop in crime rates? Batman is excellent in catching criminals but awful in changing the situation (I am a Batman fan by the way before you ask).

There is even the discussion among fans if Batman created his villains and make the situation (far) worse which is also the question in one of the best episodes in the legendary Batman the Animated Series named “Trial” which I recommend by the way (Episode and show).

Back to the movie and lets continue with the characters. Without good characters the movie would not be half as good. Luckily we got a strong performance. The script and voice actors create an immersive and enjoyable experience.

I praise the whole cast, the writer and director. Like Lego only your creativity is the limit;-). They use also the full potential of the villains rooster (Hint: I did not miss a word here before “villain rooster”).

Then there is the hero's journey / character development. Truly great and the ideas alone are praiseworthy. The characters develop a lot and at the end it is a more than satisfying conclusion. The story and characters enhance each other.

Presentation: Like the Lego movie it has the unique style that looks amazing. They nailed the Lego look and still manage to give the characters enough expression to make it work well. It looks so good that you want to rebuild scenes from the movie with your Lego sets.

Sidenote: Even adults enjoy Lego but many will never admit it. The excellent voice actors and soundtrack complete the very good presentation. Overall I was amazed by the ideas and creativity of the story.

It is like I said as good for fans and casual viewers. I think this is for many including me the best Batman movie which was a surprise as I did not expect this. I fully recommend it and say we need more creativity like this in movies.