Review: The Lego Batman Movie

While there is no comparing to the original The Lego Movie, which surprised us all as being one of the better films of 2014, The Lego Batman Movie is its own achievement. For anyone who is like me and a bit fatigued by superheroes, this gleeful lampooning of the genre will serve as a welcome respite. In other words, everything is still mostly awesome.

Director Chris McKay takes over for Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. He clearly loves Batman and the DC Universe and as a result, The Lego Batman Movie often feels like a satisfying entry into the Batman canon. McKay and his slew of screenwriters, eight or so, craft a version of Batman that is all ego and abs. He is the embodiment of all the worst parts of the Batman films; indulgent, moody, and not very much fun to be around. He has a mansion of cool things but no one to actually care for.

In a great scene, Batman comes home after a night of crime-fighting to heat up dinner in a microwave and struggle to find the correct input on his TV to watch a Blu-ray of Jerry Maguire. Will Arnett as the voice of Batman does a great job underscoring the narcissism with sadness. Ralph Fiennes as Alfred also helps to build an emotional core to the film. Much like The Lego Movie, The Batman Lego Movie has more on its mind than just jokes. Both films have a clever way of weaving in strong messages of family. Here Batman must learn to trust on others and have a family.

Along this line, Bruce Wayne accidentally adopts Dick Grayson (Michael Cera) and soon finds he has a sidekick he never wanted. The origins of Robin are milked for both hilarity and emotional punch. Soon Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) enters as the new police Commissioner of Gotham City and Batman finds himself forced to team up. Batman of course is pitted agains the Joker. The Joker here is a needy, insisting on Batman to recognize the yin-yang relationship they have. One needs the other but Batman says he currently isn't fighting anyone solo, he is fighting lots of people.

The way these strands all come together isn't totally satisfying and the film does lose a bit of steam but it hardly matters. The Lego Batman film has such a high density of jokes that it demands a second viewing. There are jokes stacked upon each other and many reward the serious fans of Batman. There is also a slew of celebrity voices here and figuring out who is who is another layer of fun.

4/5