From the creators of the beloved “Lego Movie” comes a spin-off starring everybody’s favorite character, Lego Batman. With his gruff voice, steely 9-pack abs, and overinflated ego, this Batman proves that he can carry an entire movie on his shoulders starting with his overdramatic narration and ending with a beat boxing session.
The film is deliciously self-aware, making fun of cliché dialogue, superhero tropes and even movie executives. It’s indescribably enjoyable to see something original rise out of mashing the unoriginal together. For example, the film takes the lone vigilante’s worn-out mantra of “I work alone” and plays it to the extreme—he is an anti-social man-child inclined to throw temper tantrums who freaks at the word “family.” The creators play into his love-hate relationship with Joker and Superman using lines that might seem better suited for a rom-com to hysterical effect.
My personal favorite on-screen Batman could quite possibly be this Bruce Wayne—childish, brooding, and kick-ass all at once.
The main plot, when broken down, is elementary and predictable—but the way it accomplishes that is rip-roaring fun: action scenes set to the beat of Batman’s heavy metal, vocalized laser sound effects of “pew pew pew,” and Batman constructing a Lego vehicle in mid-fall. This has the effect of a child’s imagination running free on the big screen accompanied by humor both adults and kids will love. It’s impossible to catch the humor of every line in one viewing—”The Lego Batman Movie” is already on my Netflix DVD list.
With cameos by the baddest of super villains Warner Brothers owned the rights to as well as a new take on a beloved cast of characters, “The Lego Batman Movie” is sure to provide 106 minutes of non-stop escapist fun. And much like the first movie, both kids and adults will walk out of the theater with their fingers itching to construct a universe using Legos and their imagination.
“The Lego Batman Movie” starring Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson and Ralph Fiennes flies into theaters Friday, Feb. 10.