The Lego Batman Movie

Was very pleasantly surprised by 'The LEGO Movie'. Initially wasn't sure as to whether a film based on a popular (and timeless) children's toy merchandise would work, but it ended up being one of the best animated films that year and one of the year's most entertaining.

'The LEGO Batman Movie' was seen with higher expectations, knowing what to expect and being somebody who likes Batman very much, and was every bit as good if not better. Its only stumbling block is the last half hour or so, which tonally (with things taking a more dramatic and darker tone) felt too far removed from the rest of the film and not only did it lose momentum it also felt somewhat overblown. With that being said, 'The LEGO Batman Movie' was a sheer delight for Batman and superhero fans, anybody who loved 'The LEGO Movie' and wants to see a fresh take on Batman and superheroes will not be disappointed.

Like with 'The LEGO Movie', the animation is really first rate, the vibrant yet dynamic colours are remarkably vivid to the extent that it makes the eyes pop, the backgrounds are immaculately designed, the characters look remarkably good in Lego form and a lot of the visuals especially in the action are very inventive. There is a bright and breezy soundtrack that compliments The Lego Movie beautifully, a lot of it is very catchy with a touch of humour while also giving room for a more understated touch.

Again, the script bursts with imaginative verbal and visual gags, while there is a sharp wit, snappy dialogue and thick and fast jokes that all hit their mark. A lot of it is hilarious and makes the film one of 2017's most entertaining, but it's more than just comedy. There is a lot of poignant heart, block-busting action and some inspirational messaging. What makes 'The LEGO Batman Movie' especially good is how it feels like a celebration of Batman while mocking previous incarnations and his origins with glee.

Story is fast-paced and energetic, with lots of humour and heart. There are a lot of characters here but not too many, the characters (heroes and villains) have their entertaining quirks and personalities yet the film really allows you to properly care for them as well. The voice work is exemplary, with note perfect turns from Will Arnett and Ralph Fiennes and actors who on paper sounded completely wrong for their roles actually nailing them (Zach Galifianakis could easily have been a disaster as Joker but was both entertaining and menacing, Michael Cera is also the most likable he has been in a long time).

In summary, wonderful, perfect for kids and adults alike and a delight for Batman/superhero fans. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I wasn't prepared to like this. Still, all the sight gags, the references to past super-hero characters, grow on you. There are lots of funny lines and Batman is a total, self serving jerk. The business about Robin being adopted is a bit much. But the world created with the popular plastic toys is remarkable. It's almost overkill. I think I may watch it again where I can stop and check out some of what they were doing. I think this franchise is doing much better than I imagined it would.

I'm not sure how anyone can criticize this movie for anything. Its 2 movies in one. The kids see Lego's with colors, action and subtle lines they understand, but children are more focused on the action and not dialogue. For adults, it is full of Innuendos that keep you laughing non stop. I literally cried from laughing so hard.

So if a movie for a family is entertaining for the kids and makes adults laugh and not look at watch to see "when this is over", then that's a 10. No kids here. And my fiancée was like omg, what! When you leave a movie still laughing and repeating lines....10.

Kid tested, parents will hoot!

Let's be honest for a second and agree that The Lego Movie should never have worked. On paper, it's a horrible idea. Yet, Phil Lord and Chris Miller did what they always do - take a strange and unwieldy idea and turn it into something great. Including Batman in The Lego Movie seemed a bizarre choice, but the Will Arnett voiced character was a highlight for pretty much everyone who watched it and it didn't take long until a spin off was announced. With Lord and Miller only serving as producers this time, the satisfaction of The Lego Movie wore off and we were all sceptical about whether the spin off was a good idea. It turns out that, just like last time, we never needed to worry at all.

When he isn't fighting crime as masked vigilante Batman, Bruce Wayne (Arnett) lives in recluse in his mansion with his butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes). His arch nemesis, the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), rallies together an endless group of villains to attempt to rid Gotham City of the Batman, all while new Police Chief Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) proposes that Batman abandon his solo nature and work alongside the law enforcement. After a misunderstanding, Wayne also accidentally adopts local orphan Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), who he reluctantly takes on as a protégé. Eventually, it is down to Batman, Grayson, Gordon and Alfred to battle the Joker and save Gotham City.

If it sounds kind of mental, it's because it is. If you thought The Lego Movie was high octane and relied on energy, it pales in comparison to The Lego Batman Movie. But, once again, here we have a film that is not only zany and energetic but also consistently funny, mindbogglingly inventive, nimbly structured and genuinely touching. While it loses the surprise effect that made The Lego Movie such a treat and its conclusion doesn't rival the sudden foray into live action that made its parent film so poignant, Lego Batman remains a highly enjoyable film that puts a smile on your face from beginning to end.

I would comfortably say that this is a funnier film than The Lego Movie. The jokes come thick and fast, a large percentage of the film is more than prepared to drop at least three jokes per minute and they all land. There are digs at other recent Batman stories - most notably Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman, obviously - and multiple other references to other films, but Lego Batman even finds room for more adult humour (how the number plate on Bruce Wayne's car made it into the final cut is hilariously baffling to me) and countless sight gags. The faux stop motion animation style carves the way for some brilliant little visual flourishes that add depth to the film's comedy - it isn't just content to run one joke into the ground, rather it consistently finds new comedic territory and makes every joke its own.

The way Lego Batman even lands on something genuinely moving in its finale is even more impressive. You could make a case for the film's central theme being a bit obvious when it comes to Batman - the whole film is pegged around isolation and loneliness and how you combat that to form a human relationship of any kind - but it handles it excellently. It's written smartly enough to simultaneously act as a life lesson for small kids as well as a powerful sentiment to older viewers. The fact that it has a better grasp of Batman as a character than Batman v Superman did isn't exactly surprising, but what is surprising is just how committed to this theme the film really is.

It doesn't just form it around Batman. Young Dick Grayson feels the same emotional distance, Barbara Gordon only wants to do well in her first challenge as the new Police Chief, Alfred wants to help his adoptive son refocus his life and even the Joker just wants to comfortably know that he really is Batman's arch nemesis. It all sounds silly, and of course it is, but Lego Batman excels whenever it combines the silly and the thoughtful. Thankfully, that's most of its run time. The voice acting is faultless all round, too. Arnett remains the obvious highlight for too many reasons than can be explained, but Michael Cera, Ralph Fiennes, Rosario Dawson, Jenny Slate, and Channing Tatum are all delightful as well.

Lego Batman's biggest triumph, though? It perfectly reminds us that the concept of a Lego Movie shouldn't put us off anymore. There have been weirder franchises in cinematic history, and while this sounded like one big cash grab from the word go, everything we have seen in this Universe so far has been terrific. Lego Batman loses that surprise element because about ten minutes into the film you stop worrying, you just know you're going to have a blast. I mean, how could you not? The less said about a plethora of other characters who appear in the film's second half, the better - but it's hilarious and unique and wonderful all at once. If just one film drops in 2017 that's more fun than this, what a year it will be.

TO SUMMARISE: Dazzlingly inventive and unrelentingly funny, The Lego Batman Movie adds another enjoyable and surprisingly moving entry to the ever impressive Lego Movie franchise.

www.morrismovies.co.uk

In 2014, we became acquainted with an ignorant but arrogant billionaire with orange hair who wanted to rule the world. Call him President Business. Well, that's what they called him in "The Lego Movie". (What? Who did you think I was talking about?) The process of defeating that cartoonish villain involved joining together a vast array of different characters who had to learn to put aside their differences and work together to wrest power from that evil businessman-turned-politician. (Yes, of course I'm still talking about the first Lego movie.) All this may sound scary, but the animated feature film that I've been describing since the very beginning of this paragraph had some important lessons to teach about teamwork and the specialness of all people – whether they're made out of plastic or just look and act plastic on screen. Ignorant arrogance like this can also be very funny (as long as it's fictional) and "The Lego Movie" delivered on that promise. Doubling down on that kind of humor is that movie's 2017 spin-off "The Lego Batman Movie" (PG, 1:44), an inspired mashup of Danish toys and American comic books.

To simply say that Lego Batman is a loner is like referring to the Unabomber as anti-social. Batman / Bruce Wayne (voiced by Will Arnett) lives in Wayne Manor with his devoted butler and father figure Alfred (Ralph Fiennes), but still chooses to spend all his time alone, watching movies or staring wistfully at a photo of him with his long-dead parents. Even when he's in public (whether as Batman or as Bruce Wayne), he treats the citizens of Gotham as his subjects and only wants their adulation. Batman gives himself full credit for keeping Gotham crime-free and is convinced that he's the only one who can do it – and that he doesn't need help or advice from anyone. This Batman probably thinks that the first film's Oscar-nominated original song "Everything is Awesome" was written for and about him and his life. (The character could have also written the film's tagline: "Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman.") A high-class gala thrown to honor the retiring Commissioner Gordon turns out to be an extremely consequential gathering. As Bruce Wayne struts through the crowd, the original Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara (Rosario Dawson), who is taking over for her father, begins making a speech in which she calls for the police to work more closely with Batman – as a team (an idea which makes him spit out his drink) – and to limit Batman's autonomy (think, the setup for "Captain America: Civil War"). Just then, the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) shows up. The day before, as Batman was foiling the Joker's latest plan to take over the city, the two argued about how important they are in each other's lives. When Batman refused to admit that the Joker is his main nemesis (saying, "I fight with a lot of people. I like to fight around."), the Joker's feelings were hurt. Now, at the gala, Joker suddenly switches tactics. He surrenders to the new Commissioner Gordon, confesses to his crimes and asks to be sent to prison. Oh, and earlier at this same gala, Wayne accidentally adopts young orphan Dick Grayson (Michael Cera).

Batman decides that the Joker is up to something, but he's not sure what it is, so he comes up with a plan to get rid of him for good. Batman includes his new ward Dick Grayson (now called Robin) because he considers Dick expendable. The two of them go to Superman's Fortress of Solitude where they see Superman throwing a party for the rest of the Justice League's super angular superheroes. Nevertheless, Batman takes advantage of his fellow heroes being distracted by the party to steal Superman's Phantom Zone projector so he can send the Joker into the Phantom Zone. The problem with that plan is that it would put the Joker in the company of some of the world's greatest villains, a situation which could end up unleashing untold evil on the world, and forcing Batman to enlist the help of his fellow members of the Justice League (and others) as he confronts his biggest challenge ever. Just don't expect Batman's ego to go quietly into the sunset (or the Bat Signal) – or for the Joker to be so easily defeated.

"The Lego Batman" movie is an inspired and extremely enjoyable crossover between Lego's growing animation efforts and established DC Comics characters… plus a long and diverse list of others. The plot makes full use of the potential inherent in combining such diverse and storied properties – and effectively builds upon what made the first Lego movie so popular. The script (which combines the efforts of five different writers), along with Chris McKay's direction is both funny and just plain fun, a lot of that due to the juxtaposition of Batman's self-centered intensity with Robin's innocent earnestness. All of the voice work is top-notch, but Will Arnett's ignorant arrogance as Batman is really what makes the movie. He's as humorous as any of Will Farrell's similarly pompous live action characters (e.g., as Ron Burgundy in the "Anchorman" movies or as race car driver Ricky Bobby in "Talladega Nights") and –whether intentionally or not – reminds us of the attitudes, words and conduct of some American politicians. This Lego movie is even better than the original and leaves me anxious for what's next. "A-"