Number one at the box office for the second week in a row was The Lego Batman Movie. As a big fan of 2014’s unexpectedly entertaining hit, The Lego Movie, and of course, lover of all things Batman- most things Batman- some things Batman, I was looking forward to how this computer-animated family film would handle the Dark Knight. Much like it’s predecessor, The Lego Batman Movie a fun, colorful, rapid-fire comedy that’s better than it should be. Will Arnett puts on his best gravelly voice to play the Caped Crusader. When his arch-nemesis the Joker hatches a plan to takeover Gotham City- typical stuff- Batman must learn to work with others, including his adopted son, the police commissioner’s daughter, and his trusted butler Alfred to save the day. If it sounds familiar, it’s because it it is. But the filmmakers know that and satitrize the formula, the superhero genre, and all things Batman. The jokes come fast and frantically, and while they don’t all hit, it’s far funnier than your average family fare.
It’s full of meta-humor and references to the world of Batman, and fans of the character will get a real kick out of how obscure some of these jokes are. However because the movie throws so much at the viewer, from it’s kinetic animation style to the endless barrage of quips, it all becomes a bit repetitive and you become a bit numb to it by the end. The Lego Batman Movie isn’t quite as inventive or creative as The Lego Movie, but it’s still very entertaining and is recommended for fans of the character, young and old. I give it a B. The Great Wall and The Cure for Wellness hit theaters this weekend and they were joined by the hard-R rated comedy Fist Fight starring Charlie Day and Ice Cube. Charlie Day plays the straight-laced pushover who’s doing everything he can to save his job while Ice Cube plays the hotheaded instructor that believes the key to teaching is discipline. When one of his class lessons goes awry, Cube gets fired and challenges Day to a fist fight at the end of the school day.
As anticipated with such a preposterous plot, the characters in Fist Fight don’t behave like real people but more like sitcom characters where actions have no consequences and nothing is realistic. We follow Day as he tries to weasel his way out of the fight at every turn while also juggling family obligations and preparing for his job-saving interview at work before the climactic fight that embraces the lunacy of the concept. Charlie Day and Ice Cube, along with a talented supporting cast of comics, save the film from being a bottom-of-the-barrel comedy, but you still don’t have to rush out to see it either. It’s vulgar and crass, but ultimately forgettable and wastes it’s talented cast. It’s not without laughs though and at 90 minutes it’s a fast-paced disposable comedy that’s worth a rental if you’re a fan of the actors. I give Fist Fight a C.l Box Office Top 20: 'Lego Batman,' 'Fifty Shades' stay on top NEW YORK, N.Y. – Holdovers “The Lego Batman Movie” and “Fifty Shades Darker” led the North American box office for a second week, while Matt Damon’s “The Great Wall” — a hit in China, where it was made — struggled in its domestic debut.
Warner Bros.’ “The Lego Batman Movie” was No.1 again, selling $42.7 million in tickets over the four-day holiday weekend, according to final figures Tuesday from comScore. Universal’s “Fifty Shades Darker,” which led overseas business, earned $22.7 million Friday through Monday. But Universal’s critically panned action epic “The Great Wall,” the most expensive film ever made in China with a budget of $150 million, failed to make as much of an impact as it did on the other side of the world. After racking up $171 million in China earlier this year, the North American bow of director Zhang Yimou’s film netted $21.5 million. New releases “Fist Fight,” the Fox comedy starring Ice Cube and Charlie Day ($14.1 million), and Gore Verbinski’s “A Cure for Wellness” ($5 million) also struggled. The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theatres Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theatre locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by comScore: