Lego Batman Is The Best Batman Movie
Look, when Batman started back in 1989 on the big screen with Michael Keaton and Tim Burton partnering up, something magical happened. We finally got a super hero movie that would change the film making industry. The Bat franchise as changed and evolved, some of it not so good, over the ages. After the latest “non-descript, gritty Bat” edition played by Ben Affleck, where we were subjected to seeing the Wayne family tragedy, yet again, it was time for a shift.
That’s where Lego Batman does things completely different and makes you love Batman yet again. We all know that he has the gadgets and we all know that he is brooding but Lego Batman and Will Arnett make you enjoy the cool things about Batman while the filmmakers make fun of the seriousness that the famous character has emulated lately.
As an aside, this is what has made the Lego Universe one of the best things ever when it comes to pop culture movies. They stick close to the source material but they also have no trouble poking fun at the same source material. Lego Batman may be a serious, gritty character in the film but the way Arnett takes his representation of Batman is fantastic. Seeing grown Batman act like a petulant child when his surrogate father, Alfred, tells him to get ready and go to a party, definitely changes how one can look at the Dark Knight.
While Lego Batman is a kid’s movie, one of the other fun things that make it great for adults is how it makes fun of the previous Batman films. There are many references to all of the great history of Batman—including the useless Bat Shark repellant. How the film makes these references is great, including Batman’s “merchandise” gun, which was great for some bits.
The plot for the film is pretty straightforward with a lot of jokes for both the kids and adults. The main focal points of how Batman doesn’t feel that the Joker is his greatest enemy—which flies in the face of all things that are Batman universe related.
At the end of it all, it’s a great movie well worth the price of admission.