Review of The Lego Batman Movie (2017) by Anzaan A — 24 Nov 2017

I love the Lego Batman! And I love this movie! It is so good! The LEGO Movie is one of my favourite films, and The LEGO Batman Movie is just as good! Of course the universes are a bit different. The LEGO Movie is a mix of, well, every possible universe, while The LEGO Batman movie is mostly DC universe - with a mixture of different villains released by Joker. Also that certain meta feeling is not there, that was in The LEGO Movie, but that might've been good. The difference between the two is that The LEGO Movie was, in a way, about Legos. Now the characters in The LEGO Batman Movie are made of legos, sure, so are buildings and all that, but it's not addressed so much. We don't have to think about it. It could be just another superhero movie, apart from few jokes that require Legos.

This was so much fun! Since I obviously went to see this in English (and since the subtitles didn't work), the audience was mostly grown ups, and every one of us was laughing. And there were so many kind of jokes. One of my favourites is Batman saying it would be stupid to have villains fight villains.

And of course The LEGO Batman Movie isn't just action and fun, even though that would've worked too. There's some pretty deep and important stuff about Bruce getting over his fear of intimacy and all that. Of course all that is kind of sappy, but hey, when isn't stuff like that sappy? It's still really nice to see Bruce Wayne / Batman actually have more character development in The LEGO Batman Movie than in the whole Nolan trilogy. Also there are probably a lot of adults out there who might actually see their own issues in Bruce Wayne, who is not going to just be dark brooding Batman and never let anyone close. And also I mean it gives children a nice lesson about family as well. Altogether all the life lessons in The LEGO Batman Movie were so nice, and even if they were sappy, even someone with cynic's traits might melt a bit. I know I did.

Right now I can't think of anything wrong with this movie. It was a great experience! It has the best parts of a children's movie and a superhero movie. It's an excellent movie, better than any other Batman movie, and the only Batman movie I've given a full 10/10.This is the best theatrical film based on DC property that WB has put out in years. Sorry fans but this blew all 3 of the cinematic universe movies out of the freaking water. Just like the movie before it, the LEGO Batman movie surprises yet again with a fun piece of imaginative work. It has the humor, the action, the animation, and surprisingly again the heart. We thought to ourselves a Lego movie would never work, it sounds like the ultimate marketing sham Hollywood could ever put out to sell toys, but it became one my favorite animated films of all time why? The first movie blew me away because it not only worked as a story, but it encompassed everything a fan of Lego remembers. In a similar fashion, this movie encompassed everything you know about Batman, and I mean everything. I swear there was almost a reference to everything you remember about him, from Detective Comics all the way to Batfleck. It sounds like I'm talking about fan service because yes, it is most of the time. They use it to their advantage here, they praise and mock everything great, and everything terrible Batman has gone through over the years. You almost miss too much because they cram so many funny nod ons and jokes you wish they had spread em out a little bit. But In other words, the script is a hilarious tribute to arguably one of the greatest superheroes of all time, and surprisingly the most emotional. The focus of the film actually deals with to me a critical factor of Batman. His isolation and loneliness, his fear of becoming part of a family again. The special relationship Batman has with the Joker. It hits all the emotional beats just right with all of its themes. It utilizes it's imagination of Legos to it's potential. And it produces a fantastic message for kids, as well as a touching tribute to fans of Batman. Seriously this movie had a smile on my face except for the parts when it really hit home for me. It also makes me mad, because the film proves that WB is just sitting on a character's pile of good material to work with, and they don't know what to do with them in their real films. This movie has such a stronger emotional impact than anything the DC cinematic universe has done with its last three films. It doesn't mean DC has to sell to Disney, it doesn't mean critics are biased against DC. It just means when you get people who know the material well, they're gonna make it a great film if they know what to do with it. That's what's happening here, if WB can take notes and study why this movie really works, maybe the Justice League and Ben Affleck's Batman film will actually make a better impact? Regardless, this is the standard animated movies need to have outside of Disney, and WB really needs to bring the heart this movie has into their live action films. If you love Legos and Batman what are you waiting for?? Go now!! You don't even have to take a kid, it's a total blast for all ages, and I will definitely be seeing it again real soon.Let's be honest for a second and agree that The Lego Movie should never have worked. On paper, it's a horrible idea. Yet, Phil Lord and Chris Miller did what they always do - take a strange and unwieldy idea and turn it into something great. Including Batman in The Lego Movie seemed a bizarre choice, but the Will Arnett voiced character was a highlight for pretty much everyone who watched it and it didn't take long until a spin off was announced. With Lord and Miller only serving as producers this time, the satisfaction of The Lego Movie wore off and we were all sceptical about whether the spin off was a good idea. It turns out that, just like last time, we never needed to worry at all.

When he isn't fighting crime as masked vigilante Batman, Bruce Wayne (Arnett) lives in recluse in his mansion with his butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes). His arch nemesis, the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), rallies together an endless group of villains to attempt to rid Gotham City of the Batman, all while new Police Chief Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) proposes that Batman abandon his solo nature and work alongside the law enforcement. After a misunderstanding, Wayne also accidentally adopts local orphan Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), who he reluctantly takes on as a protégé. Eventually, it is down to Batman, Grayson, Gordon and Alfred to battle the Joker and save Gotham City.

If it sounds kind of mental, it's because it is. If you thought The Lego Movie was high octane and relied on energy, it pales in comparison to The Lego Batman Movie. But, once again, here we have a film that is not only zany and energetic but also consistently funny, mindbogglingly inventive, nimbly structured and genuinely touching. While it loses the surprise effect that made The Lego Movie such a treat and its conclusion doesn't rival the sudden foray into live action that made its parent film so poignant, Lego Batman remains a highly enjoyable film that puts a smile on your face from beginning to end.

I would comfortably say that this is a funnier film than The Lego Movie. The jokes come thick and fast, a large percentage of the film is more than prepared to drop at least three jokes per minute and they all land. There are digs at other recent Batman stories - most notably Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman, obviously - and multiple other references to other films, but Lego Batman even finds room for more adult humour (how the number plate on Bruce Wayne's car made it into the final cut is hilariously baffling to me) and countless sight gags. The faux stop motion animation style carves the way for some brilliant little visual flourishes that add depth to the film's comedy - it isn't just content to run one joke into the ground, rather it consistently finds new comedic territory and makes every joke its own.

The way Lego Batman even lands on something genuinely moving in its finale is even more impressive. You could make a case for the film's central theme being a bit obvious when it comes to Batman - the whole film is pegged around isolation and loneliness and how you combat that to form a human relationship of any kind - but it handles it excellently. It's written smartly enough to simultaneously act as a life lesson for small kids as well as a powerful sentiment to older viewers. The fact that it has a better grasp of Batman as a character than Batman v Superman did isn't exactly surprising, but what is surprising is just how committed to this theme the film really is.

It doesn't just form it around Batman. Young Dick Grayson feels the same emotional distance, Barbara Gordon only wants to do well in her first challenge as the new Police Chief, Alfred wants to help his adoptive son refocus his life and even the Joker just wants to comfortably know that he really is Batman's arch nemesis. It all sounds silly, and of course it is, but Lego Batman excels whenever it combines the silly and the thoughtful. Thankfully, that's most of its run time. The voice acting is faultless all round, too. Arnett remains the obvious highlight for too many reasons than can be explained, but Michael Cera, Ralph Fiennes, Rosario Dawson, Jenny Slate, and Channing Tatum are all delightful as well.

Lego Batman's biggest triumph, though? It perfectly reminds us that the concept of a Lego Movie shouldn't put us off anymore. There have been weirder franchises in cinematic history, and while this sounded like one big cash grab from the word go, everything we have seen in this Universe so far has been terrific. Lego Batman loses that surprise element because about ten minutes into the film you stop worrying, you just know you're going to have a blast. I mean, how could you not? The less said about a plethora of other characters who appear in the film's second half, the better - but it's hilarious and unique and wonderful all at once. If just one film drops in 2017 that's more fun than this, what a year it will be.

TO SUMMARISE: Dazzlingly inventive and unrelentingly funny, The Lego Batman Movie adds another enjoyable and surprisingly moving entry to the ever impressive Lego Movie franchise.