As perpetually stressed out college students, we have to remember to occasionally take a break from the stress of life and get back in touch with our childhood roots. Some of us will remember our glorious childhood days spent building creations with Legos. Others may have spent their youth obsessing over superheroes, like Batman. Luckily for these two groups, there now exists the perfect way for Lego fans and or Batman fans to relieve stress; making a trip to the movie theater to see “The Lego Batman Movie.”
Not too long ago, making an entire Lego movie franchise seemed like a joke. That was before “The Lego Movie” became one of the best-reviewed films of 2014, spawning a future sequel and several spinoff films, such as this one.
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Will Arnett stars as the voice of Batman, reprising his role from “The Lego Movie.” His overly dark, overly serious tone of voice matches the role perfectly, allowing him to gently poke fun at the character while still seeming genuine.
“Lego Batman” provides almost constant laughs and action throughout its entire run time. It also boasts a fairly thoughtful and emotional story to go along with it, trying to explore the emotional side of Batman that other Batman movies throughout the years have failed to touch upon.
Virtually every character from the Batman mythology shows up here in Lego form, which will please many fans. Zach Galifianakis plays The Joker, Batman’s nemesis, and Michael Cera plays Dick Grayson/Robin, an orphan that Batman/Bruce Wayne accidentally adopts and who eventually becomes his sidekick. Galifianakis may not make as amazing of a Joker as Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight,” but Galifianakis is still more entertaining to watch than whatever Jared Leto was doing in last year’s horrible “Suicide Squad.” The movie also does a great job of poking fun at classic parts of the Batman universe, such as why on earth Robin’s shorts are so short.
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A lot of other DC superheroes show up as well, including Superman (Channing Tatum). The movie interjects some great jokes making fun of the disastrous 2016 film “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” Maybe that movie should have been made with Legos as well.
“The Lego Batman Movie” is a constant animated treat for the eyes that never takes itself seriously, boasting state of the art animated mayhem that becomes hard to turn away from, unless you simply cannot stop laughing. The laughs slow down a little bit in the second half of the movie when the tone gets slightly more emotional, but viewers will still have reason to laugh throughout, in what has now become Lego movie fashion.
The movie ultimately succeeds in doing what a movie like this should do. It makes fun of the character of Batman, but not in a cynical way. It still feels like the filmmakers ultimately want to honor the character, and there is a sense that they are honored just to have made a Batman movie. This is certainly unlike any other Batman movie in existence, and while it may not have the dark intensity and strong performances from other Batman movies like “The Dark Knight,” it still finds a way to deliver on its own merits.
This movie makes several references to how great Batman’s abs are and viewers are sure to get an ab workout from this movie with all the laughs.
Grade: A-
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