DC has had a bit of a reputation when it comes to films. Usually, they're dark, gritty, edgy, and often not very good. But after the surprise hit of the Lego Movie, Warner Brothers Animation decided they should create their own interpretation of DC's most famous character, Batman, based on his appearance in said Lego Movie. And just like the Lego movie, the Lego Batman movie was absolutely hilarious. Let's talk about it.

If they showed up in the Batman lore, they probably show up in this movie. 

Background and BTS:

The Lego Movie was released in 2014, to surprisingly high praise. What was essentially a giant hour and a half commercial for building blocks became the favourite film of many animation fans, including myself. One thing that fans loved about the film was the Batman character, played by Will Arnett, of Arrested Development and Bojack Horseman fame. People loved Lego Batman so much that it was decided he should get his own movie. The film also stars Zach Galifanakis (who starred in The Hangover series) as the Joker, Micheal Cera (who starred in Juno, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, and Arrested Development) as Robin, Rosario Dawson (who starred in Marvel's Netflix shows, the Haunted World of El Superbeasto, and Men in Black 2, among many others) as Batgirl, and Ralph Fiennes (who starred as Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, Skyfall, and the Prince of Egypt) as Alfred. Nearly every incarnation of Batman is referenced in the film, ranging from the classic Adam West TV series to the most modern appearance in Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice, and there are references and cameos from nearly every DC character, no matter how obscure or ridiculous. Even Condiment King from Batman TAS shows up. The film was animated in the same style as the previous Lego Movie, though with much less emphasis put on the fact that the characters and environment are made of toys. It was much more obvious that this movie was CGI, and not stop motion. I'll talk about this more in the Good and Bad section.

The real Justice League movie better be as awesome as this. 

Plot Summary:

The film begins with Batman narrating the movie itself, and then going to stop the Joker and the rest of the Rogues Gallery from destroying the city. He defeats them all, except for the Joker, who attempts to get away. He offers Batman an ultimatum; either save the city or catch his greatest enemy. Batman affirms that the Joker means nothing to him, hurting the Joker's feelings. He lets the Joker escape, and diffuses a bomb before it blows up all of Gotham.

The next day, Batman, as Bruce Wayne, attends a gala to celebrate the new police commissioner, Barbra Gordon. He initially has a crush on her, until he hears her plan to restructure the city's police force so that they can work with Batman rather than Batman working outside the law. The gala is interrupted when the Joker and the other villains appear, only to immediately surrender. Batman still suspects the Joker is up to something, but can't do anything now that vigilanteism is outlawed. He decides to steal Superman's Phantom Zone projector, which is a device Superman uses to send villains, like General Zod, to the Phantom Zone, a prison for the worlds greatest villains.

Meanwhile, Alfred, Batman's Butler, tells him he needs to take responsibility for his life, and his new son, Dick Grayson, who he adopted by accident at the Gala. Batman decides to get Dick to help him steal the Phantom Zone projector, and lets him use one of his Batman suits while they do so. They go to the fortress of solitude, and while Batman distracts the Justice League (who are having a party without him), Dick goes to steal the projector. He also decides that he wants his super hero name to be Robin. He manages to steal is and the two escape. They head to Arkham Asylum and send Joker to the Phantom Zone, only to get locked up themselves.

As it turns out, getting thrown into the Phantom Zone was the Joker's plan all along. He meets some of the other villains from outside the DC universe, such as Voldemort, the Wicked Witch, King Kong, Dracula, the Daleks from Dr. Who Suaron from Lord of the RIngs, and even the Gremlins. After he tells them he can get them out, they all agree to follow him. Harkey Quinn breaks into Arkham, steals the Phantom Zone projector, and uses it to release the Joker and all the other villains into Gotham, where they start destroying the city. The Joker also steals some of Batman's vehicles. Barbra, realizing she needs Batman's help, lets him and Robin out of Arkham. They, along with Alfred, head out to defeat the villains. Batman also give Barbra the alias Batgirl. When they reach Wayne Manor, Batman finds himself unable to risk losing the people close to him, and sends them away to face the Joker on his own. The villains surround him, and Joker accuses Batman of not being able to change, and sends him to the Phantom Zone. Once there, Batman sees that his friends need his help, and makes a deal with the Phantom Zone's gatekeeper, Phylis to send him back to Gotham for 24 hours if he can get every villain back to the Phantom Zone.

Batman manages to save his friends, and apologizes for his actions. He also lets the Rogues Gallery out of Arkham and enlists them to help him. They learn that Joker plans on using Batman's stash of confiscated bombs to blow up Gotham's energy facility. The villains are all sent back to the Phantom Zone, but the bombs go off before they have the chance to disarm them. The bombs begin to tear the city apart, and Batman finally admits that the Joker is his greatest enemy. Batman, The Joker, and all the citizens of Gotham chain-link themselves together and bring the city back together.

Batman reveals his true identity as Bruce Wayne, and explains he made a deal to go back to the Phantom Zone, only to be rejected. Phyllis explains that this is because Batman made such a big personal change in order to save Gotham. Batman lets the Joker and the Rogues Gallery escape, knowing that when they come back, he and the rest of the Bat-Family would be able to stop them.

This Joker's more comedic than others, but he has his creepy moments too. 

Characters:

This is probably my favourite interpretation of Batman. For a while, every version of Batman has been all dark and gritty. From the Arkham Series, to the DCEU, to the Injustice games, it's all the same. But this is one of the first times in recent years that we've seen legitimately funny Batman movie. In fact, I think it's the first genuinely funny Batman movie. He's pretty much the same character as the Batman from the Lego Movie, with a little more development. Will Arnett does an amazing job. Actually, I noticed that this Batman was slightly similar to Bojack Horseman, a character also played by Will Arnett.

Zach Galifanakis is one of my favourite comedic actors, so when I found out he was going to play the Joker, I knew it was going to be hilarious. And I was right. The movie plays Batman and the Joker's relationship as mortal enemies as a sort of parody of a romantic relationship, which I though was pretty clever. It made sense that people on Tumblr would love this version of the Joker.

There are a lot of different Robins in the original Batman comics. Originally he was an endearing figure for the readers of the comics to identify with, but more recently, he's been turned into an angst-filled edgy teenager. I can see why people like that interpretation of Robin, but I really don't. That's why I like this Lego version of Robin. He's enthusiastic, lively, and, just like the original Dick Grayson in the comics, he's endearing. Compared to the most recent Robin in the comics, Damien Wayne, I like this Robin a lot better. Micheal Cera's also a great actor, but I'd prefer if they got someone younger. I think someone like Finn Wolfhard (the child actor who plays Mike in the Netflix show Stranger Things) would have done a good job too. But Micheal Cera still does a great job, and I love this version of Robin. 

I'm not to much of a fan of Batgirl. But I do like what they did with her here. I do like Rosario Dawson, and she does an alright job as Barbra Gordon. She doesn't appear as Batgirl until the third act, but she's still pretty fun as Barbra. It's certainly a better interpretation than the Killing Joke movie. Man, I should review that too. I got a lot to say about that.

Alfred is usually a pretty boring character. He's the butler, and that's pretty much it. Recently DC has tried to make him a more interesting character, and I think this was the best way to do it. I really liked Alfred in this movie, and Ralph Fiennes is amazing as usual.

It's good to laugh at your failures. 

Good and Bad:

I don't think I have to say that this movie is so funny. Some of the writers of the film also worked on shows like Community and American Dad, which are both hilarious. The animation was great, and it felt like most of the movie really was made of Lego. Emphasis on "most". The easter eggs are also hilarious. If you're a Batman fan, or a DC fan in general, you're going to get a lot of jokes most general moviegoers wouldn't get.

Something I noticed about the movie was, as I mentioned earlier, the Lego aspect was played down a lot. In the original Lego movie, everything was Lego, and everything worked like Lego. The water was made of Lego, all the effects were made of Lego, everything was Lego. In this, however, the Lego aspect is mixed with other CGI elements, making it feel a bit more like just another animated film. For example, the water in the movie is just water. It's not made of bricks like in the Lego Movie. The same thing happens with the explosions in the movie, and Batman's mask. The eyeholes will often make expressions and change shape, which makes sense for an animated character, but not for a Lego Minifigure. However, this doesn't matter much, and hardly takes anything away from the movie. It's still fantastic.

All the classic villains are here. And I love their re-designs, especially Bane, Clayface, and Harley Quinn. 

Final Verdict:

The Lego Batman movie is one of the funniest kids movies in recent years. Parents will be able to enjoy it just as much as their kids, if not more. If you're sick of the modern gritty interpretation of Batman, watch this movie. You won't be disappointed.

Final Grade: A+

The movie ends with a huge Lego dance sequence with everyone in the movie, even the villains. 

Quotes:

Batman: "Black. All important movies start with black. And music. Edgy, scary music that makes parents and studio executives nervous."

Killer Croc: "I did something!"

Alfred: "You're scheduled to go to Jim Gordon's retirement party."
Batman: "What? No! I don't wanna do that!"
Alfred: "You're going to have a great time."
Batman: (Starts rolling across the floor while saying "no" over and over.)
Alfred: "You might meet some new people."
Batman: (Continues to say "no" while he rolls up the stairs.)
Alfred: "Even make some new friends."
Batman: (Starts saying "no" repeatedly to the tune of the Adam West theme song, beatboxes for a moment, and says "no" one last time.)

Dick Grayson: "My name is Richard Grayson. The other kids call me Dick"
Bruce Wayne: "Well, kids can be cruel."

Dick Grayson: "It's the Bat-Zeppelin!"
Batman: "Don't touch that."
Dick Grayson: "It's the Bat-Kayak!"
Batman: "Don't touch that either."
Dick Grayson: "It's the Bat-Dune Buggy!"
Batman: "No!"
Dick Grayson: "It's the Bat... Shark Repellant?"
Batman: "... Okay, you can touch that. It's completely useless anyway."

Batman: "DC. The house that Batman built. Yeah, what, Superman. Come at me bro. I'm your Kryptonite."

Joker: "It's either one or the other, Batman! Save the city, or catch your greatest enemy. You can't do both!"
Batman: "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Joker: "You can't do both."
Batman: "No, before that."
Joker: "Save the city, or catch your greatest enemy."
Batman: "You think you're my greatest enemy?"
Joker: "Yes! You're obsessed with me."
Batman: "Pfft. No I'm not."
Joker: "Yes you are."
Batman: "No, I'm not."
Joker: "Yes, you are! Who else drives you to one up them the way that I do?"
Batman: "Bane."
Joker: "No he doesn't."
Batman: "Superman?"
Joker: "Superman's not a bad guy!"
Batman: "Then I would say I don't currently have a bad guy. I'm fighting a few different people right now."
Joker: "What?"
Batman: "I like to fight around."

Pilot: "Batman will stop you."
Joker: "Pfft."
Pilot: "He always stops you."
Joker: "No, he doesn't."
Pilot: "What about that time with the two boats?"
Joker: "This is better than the two boats."

Computer: "What is the password?"
Batman: "Iron Man sucks."

Joker: "Hold on a sec. Are you trying to tell me that Bruce Wayne is Batman... 's roommate?"
Sauron: "Uh... yeah, sure."

Batman: "Yeah right. What am I gonna do? Get a bunch of criminals together to fight the criminals? That's a stupid idea."

Batgirl: "If you call me Batgirl, can I call you Batboy?"

Batman: "Does anyone have a knife?"
Batgirl: "Why?"
Batman: "Because someone needs to cut the tension between us - (Batgirl drops him) Okay, I deserved that."

Joker: "How am I supposed to get Batman's respect when I'm working with these... human farts?"