Lego Batman, le film

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

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!

Growing up, Lego meant everything to me, my aspirations of becoming an architect, and even the result of me studying design engineering in university, were all due to my fascination with Lego as a child and the complex structures you could craft and create. In 2014, upon the announcement of 'The Lego Movie', despite my love for the toy, I was kinda doubting the general premise. How could you make a movie out of Lego? Well, that question was soon answered as I gawped in awe at the screen, the movie was fantastic. Now, the character from 'The Lego Movie'' that garnered the most love was Batman, a cocky, sarcastic, childish take on the superhero we know and love... well it was only going to be a matter of time before he got his own motion picture.

'The Lego Batman Movie' was definitely an enjoyable ride, and whilst I think it lacks in comparison to its predecessor, it stills thrusts us back into the universe that we came to revere in 2014. With an admirable cast of voice talent, and stunning animated visuals, 'The Lego Batman Movie' boasts undeniable creative talent, but does at times seem to be trying a little too hard to be funny, building off the reputation the initial film garnered.

Is this film worth viewing? Most definitely, it's a hilarious feel- good animated comedy, and definitely perfect for the younger audience. I actually saw this film prior to its full release during a preview a few days early, however I believe it may have been aimed more as a kids matinée... I was literally the only adult there, shameful I know, but heck, I didn't care. The kids in the audience continually laughed with glee, so its definitely something suited for that kind of audience, but don't skip over the older adults who are still children at heart, it's an alluring comedy that piles on the laughs, definitely worth a watch.

It's odd that this would be the movie that takes a look back at 78 years of batman and says... yeah it's silly, LET'S CELEBRATE IT ALL!!!

I actually thought some of the characters in this movie were just a joke but nope, there really was a condiment king in the batman comics that walked around with a ketchup and mustard guns, there was a character called "the Eraser" that looked like a pencil!

Best of all was the most iconic villain from batman, the Joker! Just replace the word "hate" with "love" and it's a rom-com between the two with batman refusing to commit and Joker feeling like his "hate" was only one sided and he deserves better, Hilarious!!!

They actually reference all of batman from the silly TV show of the 60's, the bam and kapow that pop up in the comics when he hits someone, his dark night trilogy, you name it it's there... and sometimes they'd even play some footage!

If you know anything, really anything at all about batman then I'd recommend you watch this movie. age doesn't matter. The one flaw I could think of was how fast this was going with the jokes, at times I wish it would slow down because another one comes in before I was even done laughing at the previous joke.

10/10 and yay for parody not being dead!

I hope I don't get sick of these lego movies cuz they are so far really fun to watch. There was a lot going on in this movie.

First off the graphics are amazing so I ended up getting a little distracted by checking out details here and there instead of focusing on the action.

The characters are funny and in a lot of cases self deprecating. The humor is pretty good, there might be some of it that goes over younger viewers heads but it doesn't matter since there is so much happening all the time that even if a joke doesn't land it's onto the next scene anyway.

I would recommend this one to anyone who likes lego movies or even Batman fans.