Lego Batman Movie: Over-the-top and a little smug, but still fun, fun, fun

HE WAS the standout character of The Lego Movie, but how does this miniature Batman fare as the star of his own film?

REVIEW

HE OF the gravelly voice and droll cynicism, Batman was easily the standout supporting character of The Lego Movie three years ago.

It came as no surprise this miniature Batman was going to headline his own action/adventure romp.

Maybe it’s not a fair comparison given the entirely different tone, approach and audience profile for this, but Warner Bros. could learn a lot from the brickman as it forges on with the rest of its DC franchise.

The Lego Movie was such a delightful surprise with its joyful spirit, it was wise of The Batman Lego Movie to not just try and replicate the same formula. You can’t recapture the flash-in-the-pan magic of the first one because that worked so well in part due to how fresh the concept and execution was.

This one is more like a “conventional” superhero story — the kind you see in animated TV series and not anything Zack Snyder ever touched. So while it’s not as blow-your-mind fabulous as the first, there is still a lot of value in Lego Batman.

On the plus side, this one feels less like you paid $20 to sit through a two-hour toy ad.

Tight quarters.

The plot, which is almost incidental, sees Batman (Will Arnett) battling Joker (Zach Galifianakis) and a cabal of supervillains to save Gotham City — but what else is new?

The real story is Batman’s relationships with everyone around him, including with the maniacal clown who’s desperate to be Batman’s arch-nemesis, to have a meaningful anti-bromance with the Caped Crusader.

This is a slightly petulant and sarcastic Batman who’s lonely and isolated but refuses to sustain any real connections (which manifests in a great pay-off near the end) with anyone.

The introduction of a school-aged, buoyantly optimistic Robin (Michael Cera in the role he was born to voice) pushes Batman into an emotionally uncomfortable space when he accidentally adopts the boy during a drunken sulk.

There are loads of tongue-in-cheek references that adults will appreciate — especially the ones to previous live-action incarnations of Batman stretching from Adam West to Ben Affleck.

It’s also clearly taken a cue from Deadpool with its very meta opening and closing credits — acutely aware of the commercial possibilities of a happy, upbeat song that kids will play on loop and line studio executive’s pockets.

“I just want to be loved.”

The soundtrack choices here are on point with the highly effective and repeated use of Harry Nilsson’s “One”. And the strains of Cutting Crew’s “I Just (Died in Your Arms)” will never get old.

But what it doesn’t get right is the new Barbara Gordon/Batgirl character who is shamefully underdeveloped. Rosario Dawson does some fine voicework but the characterisation was never in the script in the first place.

It’s also not heavily invested in subtext or nuance but then again, the young tykes that will surely dominate any session before 9pm will welcome its straightforward message of togetherness and teamwork. Who can really argue against that?

OK, it’s a bit over-the-top and it’s a little too pleased with its own cleverness, but there is a lot of genuine, inoffensive fun in The Lego Batman Movie.

Rating: 3/5

The Lego Batman Movie is in cinemas from today.

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Originally published as Lego Batman Movie: Over-the-top and a little smug, but still fun, fun, fun