“The LEGO Batman Movie” lampoons Batman, comic book movies and movies in general from moment one, even going so far as to make fun of the opening logos. It is a hilarious and nonstop romp through the world of superheroes and childhood nostalgia that will leave viewers exhausted from laughter.
“The LEGO Batman Movie” loves Batman. Will Arnett’s edgy teen portrayal of Batman returns from his first appearance in “The LEGO Movie” (2014) and he is as over-the-top as ever, but now with his own feature. The movie takes the Batman legacy seriously unserious, celebrating parts of the canon as dumb as supervillain Condiment Man, and as important as the symbiotic relationship Batman and the Joker share. There are also many nods to live action Batman movies, and even the Adam West TV show.
Comedy and spectacle go hand-in-hand as the movie presents five or six amazing action sequences that are chock-full of visual, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gags, paired with rapid-fire jokes. In one scene, Barbara Gordon swings on a spotlight into a kick attack against one of the 30 or so villains in the movie, but as she is swinging, the light from the spotlight hits Moth Man, who flutters away deterred. I can’t tell you who Barbara Gordon hit because I was looking at this gag, but I’m confident there was humor infused in every punch and kick. A person could watch the movie 10 times and still find something on the screen to laugh at or catch a new joke.
The movie’s computer-generated Lego animation has not seen any drop in quality despite coming out so soon after “The LEGO Movie,” which took eight years to make from script to finished product. The only noticeable change is that the facial expressions have gotten more expressive and thus, more hilarious or emotional, depending on the scene.
The dialogue is similar to other works by writer-director duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “The LEGO Movie,” “21 Jump Street”) who acted as producers for “The LEGO Batman Movie.” It almost always contains double meaning, a reference, or a setup to a future joke.
If there’s anything to criticize, it’s that Batman takes a long time to grow as a character. By the third act of the movie, the narcissistic idiot shtick starts to wear thin. It becomes apparent why movies usually avoid choosing such one-note characters as leads, but clever writing mostly makes up for these shortcomings.
While it is all kid-friendly, the humor is a step above the current animated films Dreamworks and Illumination are creating, making it a movie college 20-somethings should not be ashamed to buy a ticket to.
