Turns out to make a DC comic fun all we needed were Legos. For a movie idea that seems solely built for product placement, the Lego Movies are surprising creatively driven vehicles that deliver jokes and more emotion than even some of the great prestige films. The Lego Batman Movie takes one of the best characters from The Lego Movie and thankfully gives him a spinoff, sending up the Caped Crusader with joyous aplomb and a really well crafted story about what really drives Batman. Take a lesson Zack Snyder: this is how you develop a superhero.
After a thrilling opening sequence where Batman (Will Arnett) thwarts another Joker (Zach Galifanakis) assault on Gotham City, our hero tells the Joker he “fights around” with other bad guys and their relationship isn’t special. He then goes home and eats dinner with Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) and no one else, awaiting the next big chance to save Gotham. However, Jim Gordon retires, leaving the police to his daughter Barbara (Rosario Dawson), who wants to work under the law and retire Batman, which infuriates him. Through his blinding anger, Bruce Wayne also adopts Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), forcing Batman to confront the reality of ending his crime fighting and trying to raise a family.
Lego Batman, much like The Lego Movie, is a brilliant joke machine. I barely caught my breath and a new clever bit would show up to laugh me out of breath again. The gags are not one note either. The lego world gives the movie a freedom to create and explode that make The Lego Movie so fun. The opening sequence is exceptional because of all the explosions and devices created, and legos are always an effective punchline when a problem needs to be solved: “I know, lets link together and snap the bricks back into place!” Lines like that should get old but they don’t. Batman lore is also skewered pretty heavily here. We get the kitchen sink of villainy including the likes of Condiment Man and his mustards; hell, the Eye from Lord of the Rings and Voldemort even show up and primarily factor into the third act. In addition, when Batman/Robin hit people the 50’s POW!s and ZAP!s show up to remind us that it hurts. The references merge seamlessly with the silliness of Will Arnett’s over-the-top doofusness of Batman quite well, but never go so far as to meanly mock the character like in the Shrek movies. We still care about Batman and want him to succeed.
And therein lies the trick that The Lego Movie taught The Lego Batman Movie: a powerful, beating heart. Lego Batman digs deep into Batman lore and finds the right story: all that vigilantism leads to a very lonely life because Batman is afraid to get close to others. So when Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson, and Alfred Pennyworth try to probe Batman’s cynical narcissistic exterior, Batman snaps back in sometimes vile ways, like putting these people in danger despite their trust and affection for Bruce Wayne. A simpler movie would say that Batman is just sad because he is alone, but The Lego Batman Movie finds the real, relatable truth of a man who is afraid to start a family and connect again because of the his tragic past. Joker also gets relatable beats for the audience about a jilted lover, shipping the audience on that relationship. The third act refreshingly isn’t about Batman saving the day, but Batman trusting his friends will. I was having lots of fun until these emotional bits start to hit, and I could not believe The Lego Batman movie won me over so that I started to choke up and may or may not have shed a tear or two.
Even if the emotional stuff doesn’t hit home for you, The Lego Batman Movie will deliver the funny. All the humor Batman vs. Superman lacked must have been sucked up by this film, using Batman’s history and legos to manufacture superhero joy incarnate. Condiment man? Wow, where did the filmmakers pull that deep cut from?