When you release a successful video game, the sequel is usually about taking the same concept and going bigger. That makes the third game a bit of a challenge because how much bigger can you go? Take Lego Batman, for instance. First game is about Batman and the Bat-family doing stuff in Gotham. It was a hit, and so they did a sequel where you could play around with the entire Justice League. That was also a hit, plus the Lego-style Batman became more of a household name thanks to a certain Lego movie you may have heard of called The Lego Movie. Naturally, a third chapter is needed, but where can you go from there? There are three answers to this question: more characters, go to space, and add celebrities. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (“Two Batmen enter... One Batman leaves...”) has Batman travel the cosmos to stop Brainiac from using the combined power of all the various Lantern rings. Green Arrow is playable, which isn’t a big deal on its own, except Stephen Amell, TV’s Arrow, will be voicing him.
This isn’t his first time voicing Oliver Queen in video game form, as Injustice: Gods Among Us had a special Arrow-based skin for Green Arrow, complete with Amell’s voice. Director Kevin Smith will be joining the fray, which has to be the biggest honor for him. Smith is a massive Batfan, named his daughter after Harley Quinn, and wrote some comics where Batman smoked weed and peed himself. I mean, other stuff happened in those comics, but that’s really all anyone’s going to remember. He’s made an appearance in DC media prior in the animated movie Superman: Doomsday where he played himself, lampooning his infamous unused screenplay of the Nick Cage Superman movie. DC honcho Jim Lee will be there because if Lego Marvel can have Stan Lee, you might as well toss in another Lee to counter it. Then there’s Conan O’Brien, the most unexpected name in there. The talk show host will join the other heroes and famous people in space because...well, I have no idea, but I’m going to pretend it’s because Jay Leno has stolen an Orange Lantern ring.
Conan’s connections to DC and Batman are looser than the others, though he did write a failed pilot for an Adam West sitcom called Lookwell. If anything, it’s more shocking that the Bruce Timm-created alter-ego Flaming C isn’t there, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that hero doesn’t pop up somewhere, even in the form of DLC. Check out this behind-the-scenes trailer of our celebrity superheroes in action. Below that are some pics of some of the other heroes and villains you’ll see in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, including obscure animated names Condiment King (Batman: The Animated Series), Music Meister (Batman: The Brave and the Bold), and the Green Loontern (Duck Dodgers). There’s also an appearance by the Bruce Wayne from In Darkest Knight, the Elseworlds tale where Abin Sur’s Green Lantern ring chose Bruce instead of Hal Jordan. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham will be hitting stores in mid-November. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek.
And Google+, if that's your thing!Like the trailers promised, “The Lego Batman Movie” is a dazzling, knockabout, joke-a-second comedy set in the DC Comics universe that’s so overstuffed with gags that catching them all in one viewing is impossible. The pace is frantic but never exhausting. The humor ranges from “Mad” magazine-silly to surprisingly sophisticated, and the antics are witty and inventive (the screenplay is credited to five writers, all of whom earned their keep). If the guys who made the “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun” pictures had trained their sights on the superhero genre, the result might have looked a lot like this.“The Lego Batman Movie” also benefits from something else: Perfect timing. This thoughtful deconstruction of comic-book movies, steeped in a deep affection for the genre, arrives at a time when the drudgery of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Suicide Squad” and “X-Men: Apocalypse” left behind a toxic fog that tainted nimbler efforts such as “Captain America: Civil War” and “Doctor Strange.”
The idea of a “Wonder Woman” movie and “Justice League” and another “Spider-Man” entry feels like a threat now, regardless of how they turn out. One of the reasons the R-rated “Deadpool” grossed almost $800 million last year is that the movie didn’t care what a superhero picture is supposed to do. Like its protagonist, the film cheekily trampled on the do-gooder rulebook, and its vulgar brashness came off as subversive.But “Deadpool” was all shock value and hollow sensation, as edgy as a stand-up comedian dropping f-bombs through a megaphone in a school playground. “The Lego Batman Movie,” which was directed by Chris McKay (a veteran of TV’s shrewd “Robot Chicken”), is more substantial because it takes its subject matter seriously. The characters just happen to be animated and made up of plastic toy bricks.No other “Batman” movie has done such a deep dive into the psyche of billionaire Bruce Wayne (voiced by Will Arnett), who has always been — let’s be frank — a bit of a weirdo.
Yes, he’s tortured by the childhood memory of seeing his parents killed in front of him. But scenes in which we watch him microwaving a fancy lobster dinner and then eating it by himself in his mansion, or sitting inside his enormous home theater laughing inappropriately at “Jerry Maguire,” use humor to ask questions previous films have glossed over: What, exactly, is Bruce Wayne’s deal? And what’s with that raspy voice?The movie is just as astute at exploring the hero’s love-hate relationship with the Joker (Zach Galifianakis). The villain is so hurt by Batman’s refusal to admit the Joker is his biggest arch-enemy (that honor goes to Superman; see “Dawn of Justice”) that he turns himself in and gets all of his fellow evildoers (The Riddler, Bane, Scarecrow, Two-Face) voluntarily committed to Arkham Asylum. Without any bad guys to fight, how will Batman define himself?And as the newly-appointed commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) points out: If Batman is so good at his job, why is Gotham City always so crime-ridden?
The more familiar you are with the comics, the more you will appreciate how “The Lego Batman Movie” explores the hero’s relationship with his loyal servant Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) or his sidekick Robin (Michael Cera). The film features some fabulous setpieces, such as an attack on Gotham City by the most fearsome collection of famous villains ever assembled (including three British robots; ask your nerd friends). The cleverness extends to the film’s incorporation of Lego bricks, which play a critical role in the finale. Some scenes, such as Batman’s unannounced visit to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude to ask for help, are pure fanboy wish-fulfillment, refracted through a hilariously cracked lens.But the filmmakers’ fondness and respect for all things Batman are what elevate “The Lego Batman Movie” past the trappings of a funny cartoon. Who could have guessed, in the era of non-stop comic-book pictures, that a movie that uses toys as protagonist would do the most justice to the enigmatic Bruce Wayne?