Over the last few years, there’s been a certain rule of thumb with movies based on DC Comics superheroes: A solo Batman film is always going to be better than any other adaptation. After all, The Dark Knight Trilogy is the most beloved run of recent DC films while subsequent filmslike Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad have been incredibly divisive. The trend looks like it will continue next year in an unexpected way with the release of The LEGO Batman Movie. Sure, the Wonder Woman trailer looks pretty epic, but the latest LEGO Batman preview is epic, fun, hilarious, action-packed, and incredibly inventive. Will Arnett voices the titular character, a lonely vigilante who is beloved by the public but whose only family is his butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes). Thankfully, he’s adopted a young orphan, Robin (Michael Cera), and the new police commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) wants the GCPD to team up with Batman. Just in time, too, as his archnemesis The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) has rallied some of his greatest advisories and threatens all of Gotham.
If the movie is even half as entertaining as the trailer indicates (the jokes about Robin’s costume are spot on), this could be one of best movies of 2017 — and certainly one of the best DC films in years. Check out the trailer above, and catch The LEGO Batman Movie in theaters on February 10th.There's some "bad blood" running through the veins of the new Lego movie, making Taylor Swift's hit song the perfect track to soundtrack its first trailer. With the first peek at The Lego Ninago Movie released Wednesday (Feb. 8), Swift's "Bad Blood" comes in mid-way through the clip just in time to accent the story's father-son drama. Jackie Chan, whose vocal talents are featured in the film, then explains a plan to form a secret ninja force, a humorous parallel to Swift’s squad in her music video.The movie stars a high-profile cast, including Justin Theroux and Olivia Munn. The Lego Ninjago Movie hits theaters Sept. 22. In the meantime, watch the trailer below.Is it weird that I’m as excited for The LEGO Batman Movie as I am for Wonder Woman?
That’s not weird, right? How can it be when LEGO Batman not only seems like it’s going to be a ridiculously fun take on the eponymous DC hero, but it also features an amazing female hero in Barbara Gordon, A.K.A. Batgirl? Ain’t nothing weird about being excited to watch Batgirl not only kick some ass, but also not take Batman seriously and put him in his place! In the above trailer, we get to watch Barbara (voiced by Rosario Dawson) in action both as Gotham’s top cop and as Batgirl, which is pretty sweet. As Gotham’s new police commissioner (So, what happened to Jim Gordon? We do get a glimpse of him in this second “Team” trailer…), Barbara expresses her desire to join forces with Batman, making explicit the police/superhero partnership that has always made Gotham run, and that Gotham desperately needs. It’ll be cool to see her not only be extremely good at her job as commissioner, but also at cleaning up the streets as Batgirl. My only concern is that I hope she doesn’t fall to Trinity Syndrome the way that Wyldstyle did in The LEGO Movie (or, uh, Trinity did in The Matrix).
You know, the super-awesome badass chick who’s good at everything…until the script requires her to suddenly become incompetent or unintelligent so that the male hero can shine? I hope that they actually DO team up and that it’s an equal partnership. And when LEGO Batman inevitably saves the day (it is The LEGO Batman Movie, after all), that it doesn’t happen at the expense of Barbara’s character development. The best part, though, is the fact that despite wanting to team up with Batman, she has zero patience for his nonsense. My favorite line in this trailer? “If you call me Batgirl, can I call you Batboy?” (Batman’s response is priceless) OK, no, my absolute favorite line, that I’ve seen in a couple of trailers so far is when Robin asks Batman why he built the Batplane with only one seat, and Batman says, “Because last I checked, I only had one butt.” Because BATMAN WORKS ALONE. LEGO Batman is straight-up becoming my definitive Batman, I’m not gonna lie.
Are you living for The LEGO Batman Movie as much as I am? (via Nerdist, featured image via screencap) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site! —The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.— Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.Posted February 9, 2017This weekend, "The LEGO Batman Movie," a spin-off of 2014's masterful "The LEGO Movie," opens in theaters everywhere (get your tickets now!). This time, everyone's favorite caped crusader (once again voiced, with gravelly rage, by Will Arnett) is made the main character, and his relationship with a young Robin (Michael Cera), newly minted police commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) and, of course, his arch-nemesis The Joker (Zach Galifianakis), is explored in hilarious depth.But what else do you need to know about the latest, brick-filled Batman adventure?
Read on to find out!1. It's a Great Batman Movie ...The first thing that you need to know is that this is a great Batman movie. Like, probably the best Batman movie since "The Dark Knight," which is saying something, and the best animated Batman movie since "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (and that was back in 1993). It features a number of his most famous villains (there's an ongoing gag about Batman's lack of commitment to the Joker that is pretty priceless) and there is real care and attention given to crafting the character that fans will not only understand but celebrate. He's given emotional depth and develops fully as the movie goes along. This isn't one of those animated movies that is just a series of jokes; there's a real story here and real characters and they're all perfectly Batman-y.2. And a Great LEGO MovieOne of the questions I had was: well, how is this a LEGO Batman movie? And, well, you'll see. I don't want to give anything away because a lot of what happens in the movie, particularly in its second half, hasn't even been hinted at in the marketing materials for the film.
But just know that if you loved the way "The LEGO Movie" playfully mixed IP with an original story about what it takes to be a "master builder" (a term that is reiterated here), then you are going to love "The LEGO Batman Movie."3. There Are a Thousand Easter Eggs (Seriously)About two minutes into "The LEGO Batman Movie," there's a scene where Batman is flying through the streets of Gotham and there are so many Easter eggs, hidden references, and old-school shout-outs flying by that I could barely keep up. I tried to write a few down (I got as far as a reference to Shreck's Department Store from "Batman Returns") before giving up. And that was the tip of the iceberg. If you're a Batman superfan, your mind is going to be spinning. There are references to every filmed Batman adventure since the old black-and-white serials–and that's just the beginning.4. It's Not Afraid to Poke Fun at the DC Cinematic UniverseOne of the more surprising aspects of "The LEGO Batman Movie" is that it openly mocks the self-seriousness of the so-called DC Extended Universe, the small cluster of mostly iffy films that have been based on DC Comics properties and exist in the same shared universe.
At one point, The Joker asks Batman who his arch-nemesis really is, and Batman responds, "Superman," a reference to last year's poorly (critically) received "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" (one of a handful of nods to that particular film). There are also at least two digs at "Suicide Squad," the all-villains romp that was released last summer (to a response similar to that of "Batman v. Superman"), and generally "The LEGO Batman Movie" seems to fly in the face of the current crop of DC movies. It's everything these movies are not -- full of heart, funny as hell, and unafraid to be super entertaining without being overwrought or gloomy. Even the score seems to heavily evoke the Christopher Nolan-directed Batman movies. It's been a long while since Batman was this fun.5. Oddly, Wyldstyle Is Never ReferencedSo here's something that's kind of strange ... the movie is about Batman's reluctance to start a family or engage emotionally with other people. But, in "The LEGO Movie," he's seen dating Wyldstyle (played by Elizabeth Banks).
This seems to fly in the face of everything the movie is trying so hard to establish. If he really is an antisocial loner, would he really have dated someone that seriously and agreed to go on a series of adventures in the way that he did in the previous film? Also, why aren't any of those characters around? If this is a shared LEGO-filled universe, shouldn't there be some crossover of some kind. What if Emmett just walked by in the background? It's Not Quite as Good as 'The LEGO Movie'Just know this: there was something almost transcendent about "The LEGO Movie." Maybe because it seemed, from the outset, like an incredibly crass cash-grab, so the fact that it was a really great movie was a huge surprise. But more than that, "The LEGO Movie" had to do with corporatization, organized religion, and millennial ennui in a way that was really refreshing and fun. Know that "The LEGO Batman Movie" doesn't have that much on its mind. It's still a total blast and will pull on your heartstrings more than once.