After a runaway success with it’s predecessor, The Lego Movie, Lego Batman had a pretty big cape/cowl/utility belt to fill. But can this spin off do what very few franchises achieve and trump it’s own lofty beginnings?
In a word, yes, it absolutely can. Will Arnett’s portrayal of the caped crusader’s Lego counterpart made him an already extremely quotable and funny character from the first movie by parodying Batman’s typical dark and brooding nature and growling voice.
Focusing on your standard Batman storyline, the film opens (after an already amusing voiceover from Arnett) with a large plane carrying explosives and the like over Gotham City. Zach Galifianakis’ Joker takes hold of the plane with a huge team of other Batman baddies from the well known (Poison Ivy and Bane) to the little mentioned back catalogue of DC (A nod to Condiment Man). After hurting Joker’s feelings amidst the giant battle, backed by Batman’s own fight music (worthy of it’s own single release, in my opinion), Joker schemes to get back at Batman for telling him he’s not important enough to him, gathering the likes of Sauron, Voldemort, King Kong and many others in the process.
Batman is voiced by Will Arnett
With such a giant ensemble of characters, you could expect this to simply be a film to drop kids off in front of whilst parents desperately wait it out as their children get more and more excited with the ever increasing roster of characters. You would be very wrong. The roster may be large but a huge amount of character development goes into the key characters of the film, from Batman and Joker, to Robin (Michael Cera), Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) and Alfred (Ralph Fiennes), creating a genuine feel for these mini figures and you are introduced to their genuinely layered personalities. Considering the reaction of this reviewer and the others surrounding him, there’s several, very real, lump in the throat moments as the film progresses (I’m not crying, YOU’RE crying). Batman’s relationships show the many facets of the characters best, from petulant teen with Alfred, lovestruck with Barbara and reluctant father figure to Robin. The film is a serious contender for a top family film, with plenty of action and youthful humour for kids, and emotional, relatable and more innuendo-based jokes for the adults, all wrapped up with some very teachable moments about how to treat one another and even some throwbacks to previous Batman serials (yes, even to the days of Adam West).
To fit this amount of character into a film designed to look like a plastic, mini-figurine inhabited world is no mean feat. The animators and designers have painstakingly laboured detail into the smallest places, from the dings and marks on the characters’ iPhones (yes, a large payout from Apple for the amount of placement in this film I’d imagine) to the minuscule scratches and marks of play you’d expect on a Lego toy, with small grooves and nicks over the mini figurines visible when a close shot is viewed. Even the geometry on Robin’s sequined cape is a perfect representation of a what you’d expect on a Lego toy.
The soundtrack is another winner across the board as well. Composed and selected by Lorne Balfe (featuring work from Chad Smith of RHCP) it manages to set the tone wonderfully for the film. Tense moments are as dark and menacing as you’d expect if the film was actually Christopher Nolan’s work and comedy effect is punched wonderfully with interruptions such as Died In Your Arms by Cutting Crew.
The Lego Batman Movie is not the same experience as it’s predecessor, but it’s so far away from it that I don’t think it’s supposed to be. The film may never win any Oscars or similar for it’s set design or method acting, but it’s perfect at what it does. There was no moment during the film I felt short-changed or as though the film was in any way lazy in what it approached, everything has been tended to with a great sense of detail, love and fun and it is well worth a watch!
Author: Steve, Southgate store
