The Lego Batman Movie (2017) - Film Review

The Lego Batman Movie

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The Lego Batman Movie is a spin-off to the phenomenal 2014 Lego Movie which introduced us to the teamwork ethic through the song "Everything is Awesome".

For a film that was admittedly a two hour commercial for a very famous series of toys, the original Lego Movie was a superbly funny film.

Lego Batman made a very amusing appearance in the aforementioned movie and sent up the image of the caped crusader as a very pompous superhero.

Batman fans will absolutely love the flood of references to earlier versions of the Dark Knight ranging from Ben Affleck through Christian Bale and Michael Keaton and going all the way back to "that weird 60s one" with Adam West who really should have had a cameo in this film.

Comic book fans and watchers of the various animated series will also get a kick out of the sheer number of in-jokes and gags which skirt over the darker corners of the Batman mythology to work brilliantly for younger viewers too.

It's fair to say that multiple viewings or a purchase on DVD later in the year may be required to see all the things that you missed the first time around because of the sheer volume of jokes and sight gags that hit you during the running time.

The Lego version of Batman, played again by Will Arnett, has fun with the usual Batman format, being a crime-fighter who works alone and refuses to team up with allies to fight literally every super-villain in Gotham City and more.

He begrudgingly accepts help from adopted son, Robin (Michael Cera), butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes), and new police commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson).

The main villain is, of course, the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) but there's so much to see in the film that the plot seems secondary.

After the barrage of in-jokes and fun, though, there's still a superhero finale to play out and this is the weakest part of the film which has the good guys, inevitably, beating the bad guys.

In the end, The Lego Batman movie gets very close to but doesn't quite surpass the high standards set by The Lego Movie, but its still well worth seeing.

Stick around for the end credits to see pictures of the actors involved and an amusing extra video for the movie song "Friends are Family".

And if you like Lego Ninjago there's an amusing short film featuring the voice of Jackie Chan before the main feature too.


The Lego Batman Movie (U; mild comic violence, rude humour, very mild bad language; 104 minutes)

Summary: THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE is an animated action comedy in which Lego Batman tries to save Gotham City from being taken over by a group of super-villains led by Lego Joker.

VERDICT: **** (The best, and funniest Batman film since The Dark Knight Rises)