The Lego Batman Movie

2017’s “The Lego Batman Movie”, directed by Chris McKay.

Starring Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Zach Galifianakis, Conan O’ Brien, Doug Benson, Billy Dee Williiams, Zoe Kravitz, Eddie Izard, Channing Tatum, Jenny Slate, Hector Elizondo, and Jonah Hill. 

2014’s “Lego Movie” was a lot of fun, featuring catchy songs and zippy characters not afraid to make fun of themselves and their respective universes. Prominently featured in the supporting cast, was Batman (Arnett), angry enough to growl along the soundtrack, but never dark enough to dampen the saturation of the brightly coloured brick world.

Immediately, as we watch the various logos of “LBM” emerge, along with Batman’s narration of his thoughts on the Warner Brothers studios, we know we’re back for a mildly irreverent romp poking fun at this immersive comic book universe. We see Batman and his shredded abs, alone kicking the butts of the criminals of Gotham, as always. However, with the help of Alfred the Butler (Fiennes), Batman is forced to evaluate his lone wolf family-less ways. We’re introduced to the witless Dick Grayson (Cera), adopted by Alfred, who we’re not sure could be helpful to Batman. Forcing the action, is the Joker (Galifianakis), who as always gets inside Batman’s head and enlists the help of a variety of super villains from other classic pop culture franchises to storm the city of Gotham. With the lego attack on, Batman has to accept help from others in order to save the hard plastics city.

“LBM” looks fantastic and has plenty of chuckle worthy moments, both in the foreground and background (the shout out to 1992’s “Passenger 57” is a nice one). It can be a little chaotically over the top and swings on a well worn path at times, as well as bafflingly not letting Ralph Fiennes voice the Voldemort character. Despite that, “LBM”  is a welcome addition to the family friendly entertainment canon. As the movie teaches, no (bat)man is a (bat)island, and it’s no fun to laugh at the cloyingly bad end scenes of 1996’s “Jerry Maguire” by yourself.

3.5/5

Trailer: Click Here.