The Lego Batman Movie

After the runaway success of the Lego Movie, which grossed $469 million at the box office, it makes perfect commercial sense that a spin-off was commissioned. The Lego Batman Movie has landed and this parody is even better than its predecessor.

Chris McKay, the award-winning animation director who brought us Robot Chicken, has been given a licence to play by the folks at Lego and he has created a family friendly, feel-good extravaganza. The film is every bit as epic as the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight franchise, except its U rating guarantees more of a light knight.

Batman (Will Arnett) is a lone vigilante, the beloved guardian of Gotham city who can always be relied upon to save the day. However, in the words of his butler Alfred Pennyweather (Ralph Fiennes), Batman’s greatest fear is not any or all of the Lego villains, it’s being part of a family again. Even the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) is desperate for some emotional validation from the caped crusader – he just wants to be hated – but when Bruce Wayne scorns their relationship he pushes the Joker to hatch a Machiavellian revenge plot. Can the new commissioner Barbara “Babz” Gordon (voiced by Rosario Dawson) and Robin (Michael Cera) teach an old bat new tricks?

Lorne Balfe’s musical contributions make the movie all the more entertaining and the cinema-goers laughed along at this self-indulgent reimagining of a hero obsessed with his abs who never skips leg day.

Hilarity ensues as Batman is parodied and brought down from DC’s skyscraper-high pedestal. The director’s decision to position the hero in a mundane home environment is very effective and highly comical. We see him in mask and kimono as he warms up his dinner in the microwave and he later struggles to get his home cinema from source onto HDM1 4. All to the backtrack of “One is the loneliest number…”

A film to keep the whole family smiling, Lego Batman’s target demographic is undoubtedly kids; however, in the same mould as The Simpsons, it’s also laced with adult humour.

When the preview finished, the packed Empire theatre gave it a riotous standing ovation, which bodes well for its reception with the public upon general release. An animation on par with the best of the superhero blockbusters, The Lego Batman Movie also conveys a moralistic working together for the common good message.

Lucas Cumiskey

The Lego Batman Movie is released nationwide on 10^th February 2017.

Watch the trailer for The Lego Batman Movie here: