REVIEW: The Lego Batman Movie

It’s been 77 years since the saga of the World’s Greatest Detective ignited within the resides of Gotham City. Who would’ve thought that this dark reckoning of a vigilante will be bound for greater heights? Countless films, comic book runs, TV series, and even fan flicks have told the Dark Knight’s tale, and truth be told, the name Batman itself constitutes for a phenomenon.

That said, what better way to celebrate the Caped Crusader’s storied career than a film which pokes fun at his legend? Yes, you heard it right: Fun.

Wait…. Fun?

Not So Batman, Eh?

Taking cue from the success of the critically acclaimed The Lego Movie, Will Arnett’s version of Batman returns in The Lego Batman Movie, and he opens the film saving the day from The Joker (Zach Galifinakis), who has recruited pretty much every Lego Gotham villain you could imagine to bombard Gotham City. The famous (Two-Face, The Penguin), the lesser-known (Clayface, Killer Croc), and even the wait-are-these-real (The Eraser, Polka Dot Man) are all here.

This wild opening sequence, complete with an amusingly sarcastic setup for how the bad guys launch their plot, exploits the film’s Lego-ized potential. This cacophony of villains seems like the perfect thing for an overblown, cheesy take on Batman, with the villains’ silly, minifig versions jumping around and belting in-jokes and catch phrases. (Clayface’s Lego transformation in particular is a visual treat, made up of a towering swarm of swirling, ill-fitting pieces.)

In addition, Will Arnett never ceases to throw packings of humor and bravado to the character. How can you imagine Batsy being a pompous, arrogant, cheeseball for a superhero? For the uninitiated: other than not killing people and being a rich orphan, this Batman has pretty much zero in common with any other version of the hero. He likes announcing himself as a hero, bragging about his abs, and boasting that he’s the only guy with good ideas. For all of his chest-puffing, reinforced by a lengthy opening rock song sung by Arnett (with lots of cheeky “na-na-na-na-Batman” moments), this Batman is a total loner. He microwaves his own dinners for one, watches romantic comedies alone, and sits in a palatial Wayne Manor in a bathrobe with his bat helmet still affixed.

So yes, this ain’t your Batman.

The Lego Effect

As stated in my point above, the film takes The Lego Movie’s potential to great effect. Lego Batman hits enough good notes to be worth seeing, especially as the first “kid-friendly” Batman in a while. Little ones will enjoy parroting Batman’s brags about being “swole” and Robin’s acrobatic enthusiasm, while the action set pieces blow straight-to-video Lego films away. If that’s your comparison point, you’re done here: you’ve got a solid movie to take the kids to.

Let us not forget just how amazing the visuals are. The CG animation’s pretty solid, coupled by an almost frenetic movement flow unseen in other animated films. On top of that, every new scene is packed full of towering Lego contraptions, some of which Batman assembles as a “power builder” on the fly, and the 3D animation team revels in the opportunity to flash silly Lego comic contraptions. (The Batcave is replete with ridiculous vehicles, for example, including the Bat Kayak and Bat Steam Engine Train.)

The Lego Movie is a harder shadow to hide behind, however. The film clearly wants to stand tall with its elder sibling, with glimmers of that film’s sense of humor and quickfire, tongue-in-cheek gags—especially in Lego Batman’s fun first few minutes. But the writing and ensemble cast simply can’t keep up. However, this is just a slight nitpicking, and not entirely detrimental to the experience.

Is it Worth Seeing?

That should be a no-brainer already.

The Lego Batman Movie’s got everything you’re looking for: Eye-popping visuals, suave CG animation, killer satire, and a solid voice cast to boot. To top it all, it serves as a humorous homage to The Caped Crusader’s storied history, and why the character’s worth poking fun at, for a change.

Special thanks to our friends from Warner Bros PH. The film is now playing in a theater near you.