The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) review

2014 gave us the unexpected smash hit that was The LEGO Movie. The reason why I say that it was an ‘unexpected smash hit’ is because, going into it, many feared that it would be nothing more than just a soulless cash-grab with the sole intent of capitalizing on the LEGO brand. But, under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, a duo who are well-known for delivering Grade-A hits out of risky ventures (e.g. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 and 22 Jump Street, and, hopefully, the upcoming Han Solo film), it ended up being a charming and excellently animated story that served as a love letter to both sides of the LEGO fandom; those who played ‘by the book’ and those who dared to experiment with the iconic bricks. And because of that, while it may not have been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars that year (easily the most controversial ‘snub’ of that year’s ceremony), it ended up being one of the most well-reviewed films of the year and grossed over $469 million worldwide. Thus, a new line of LEGO films will be on the way in the next few years under the supervision of Lord and Miller. The first of these to come out is one that is based around a character who many felt was the ‘breakout star’ of the original LEGO Movie: LEGO Batman, voiced by Will Arnett. Arnett’s hilarious take on the Dark Knight now takes center stage in his own film, The LEGO Batman Movie, directed by Chris McKay, who served as an animation co-director on The LEGO Movie. And just like The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie is a highly entertaining screwball adventure that manages to find the humanity within its plastic protagonists.

In Gotham City, Batman (Will Arnett) is the most popular figure around. Beloved by Gotham’s residents, the Dark Knight spends most of his time taking down the many villains that make up his iconic ‘Rogues Gallery’. However, it soon becomes clear that despite all this fame, Batman is also quite a lonely figure, who spends the rest of his time alone in his luxurious mansion and whose greatest fear is, as noted by his loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth (Ralph Fiennes), being a part of a family again after the death of his parents all those years ago; the exact moment that led to him becoming Batman. Thus, Batman (or, to be more specific, his ‘real identity’, Bruce Wayne) unknowingly ends up adopting a young orphan by the name of Dick Grayson (Michael Cera) from the local orphanage. With some encouragement from Alfred, Batman begins to take the young man under his wing as his new sidekick, Robin. And, as it turns out, Batman is going to need all the help he can get, as the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), eager to prove to Batman that he truly is ‘his greatest enemy’ after a fight between the two ends with Batman telling the Joker that he means nothing to him, unleashes a sinister plot that threatens everyone in Gotham. The sheer magnitude of this plan forces Batman to do something that he normally doesn’t do; team up with others, which he does with Robin, Alfred, and Gotham’s new Police Commissioner, Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson), who takes over the job from her father, Jim Gordon (Hector Elizondo), with the goal of getting Batman to team up with the Gotham police force to help make the city a safer place. 

Just like The LEGO Movie, this film features terrific animation as done by the Australian animation studio, Animal Logic. While the film is computer-animated, it manages to achieve a great stop-motion feel to it all, which fits perfectly with the LEGO brand given all the fan-made films that have been made over the years. It’s fast-paced, bright and colorful and full to the brim with little Easter Eggs thrown in here and there. And of course, being a film about Batman and DC Comics, this film is CHOCK-FULL of Easter Eggs. I’m not joking; this film basically covers every major era of Batman in the span of 104 minutes, from the campier days of the 60’s TV show to the more serious and grounded storylines of the more recent films, namely Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. Heck, this film features arguably every villain who’s ever appeared in a Batman comic, even the obscure ones like King Tut and Condiment King which, yes, are in fact real. Even the film points this out (“Probably Worth a Google!” – Joker). But, of course, this film isn’t just a bunch of references for eagle-eyed fans of Batman to notice. That alone would’ve made it an enjoyable film on its own merit but there’s also a solid arc in this for Batman, as he learns the value of teamwork instead of him just trying to act like the entire world revolves around him alone. The problem, though, is that he’s reluctant to start up a new family because of what happened to his old one, and, for the record, no, they don’t show that incident again; the film is very much aware that we’ve already seen that dozens of times. This is what ultimately gives the film its heart and thus, provides us with an endearing cast of main characters to latch onto on an emotional level.

As stated earlier, Will Arnett’s take on Batman truly was one of the best parts of The LEGO Movie. Arnett basically riffed on the usual characterization of the generally dark superhero by making him a superficial celebrity who constantly reminds everybody about how awesome he is. And yet, through it all, Arnett still managed to make his Batman likable, basically the opposite of his character from another 2014 animated film, The Nut Job. This time around, of course, Arnett is the star of the show and he is great once again, especially thanks to the great character arc that Batman has in this. And just like how Batman ends up finding an excellent team to work with, this film has an excellent supporting cast as well. Zach Galifianakis brings the right amount of manic energy to the role of the Joker while also getting a fun villain arc in which he’s just trying to get Batman to notice him, which… actually, makes him the most sympathetic Joker to date. Michael Cera exudes the proper eagerness and wonderment for the role of Robin and the film relishes its many opportunities to joke about how weird it is for Batman to have a ‘ward’ working alongside him. Rosario Dawson’s Barbara Gordon, AKA Batgirl, is also a great addition to the cast and a great female lead who’s arguably more capable of taking down the bad guys than Batman. It’s also good to have an actual ‘good’ Barbara Gordon story after her disastrous characterization in last year’s The Killing Joke. Rounding out the main cast is Ralph Fiennes, who’s quite awesome and hilarious in the role of Batman’s trusty butler Alfred. Heck, Fiennes would’ve been a great Alfred in the live-action Batman films but, of course, Jeremy Irons is currently in that position so we’ll have to settle for him being the LEGO version of the character. And just like The LEGO Movie, there are plenty of fun voice/character cameos here and there.   

The original LEGO Movie helped revitalize Warner Bros’ animation division after the studio’s hand-drawn animation division, Warner Bros Feature Animation, was dissolved after a series of box-office flops in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Clearly, the LEGO films have become Warner Bros.’ most dominant animated franchise and rightfully so as they’ve been great takes on the LEGO brand. First, there was The LEGO Movie and this year that streak continues with The LEGO Batman Movie. For fans of the character, this film is ‘geek nirvana’. There are references galore that cover every major facet of the character’s long history, so much so that it’ll probably require a second viewing to catch them all. And the film does indeed warrant a second viewing (heck, I saw it twice this weekend) because aside from all the fun Easter Eggs, the film also has a charming story with an endearing cast of characters portrayed excellently by a pitch-perfect voice cast. Pair all this with excellent animation and you have a highly entertaining animated film that will please both Batman fans and those who are total newcomers to the franchise. And no, I’m not going to compare this to the current DC Extended Universe films, something that a few other critics have been doing, because they’re completely different entities. What I will say is that thanks to this film, Warner Bros.’ LEGO franchise is still going strong two films in. Up next, we have The LEGO Ninjago Movie, the second LEGO film of 2017 and based off the company’s highly successful franchise of the same name, and then followed by the official LEGO Movie Sequel in 2019. If all goes well, we may get more LEGO films in the years to come, though I must ask… where’s my LEGO Bionicle film, damn it?

Rating: 4.5/5