The LEGO Batman Movie is packed with all sorts of Easter eggs and references, and while some are obvious, there’s a surprising amount of deep cuts you might have missed. Warning: this article contains full spoilers for The LEGO Batman Movie! Alfred recalls Batman’s history by referring to all of the live-action Batman movies: Batman v Superman, The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever, Batman Returns, and Batman (1989). All get LEGO-ized as Alfred lists them off, save for 1966’s Batman: The Movie which shows live-action Adam West. Speaking of Adam West’s Batman, Robin finds the Bat-Shark Repellant while exploring the cave. When Batman and Robin fight together, they hit the bad guys so hard that words describing the impact materialize in the air, a throwback to the signature onomatopoeia used during fight scenes. When the Joker hijacks the plane (humorously called "McGuffin Airlines," a plot device used to move the story forward), the pilot brings up how Batman always beats him by mentioning the “two boats” from the end of The Dark Knight and “the time with the parade and the Prince music?” from the Joker parade float sequence in Batman (1989).
There’s a couple more Tim Burton Batman references. Batman’s playlist is titled "Let's Get Nuts,” referencing what Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne said to Jack Nicholson’s Joker. LEGO Joker uses a line borrowed from Jack Nicholson's Joker, "Where does he get all those wonderful toys?" When Batman and Robin are speeding around in the Batmobile and screech to a halt to avoid hitting an elderly lady crossing the street, it’s a nod to a hijacked Batmobile almost doing the same thing in Batman Returns. The Penguin is modeled after Danny DeVito's appearance and he rides the same Duck-mobile seen in Batman Returns. And Shreck’s Department Store from Batman Returns can be glimpsed in the city. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice gets a nod when Batman names Superman as his greatest enemy. When Batman remarks that recruiting a group of criminals to fight other criminals is a stupid idea, he’s taking a swipe at Suicide Squad. Another Suicide Squad dig comes when Killer Croc swims underwater to simply push a button, a joke about how there wasn’t much point to his role in the movie.
There are a lot of custom Batmobiles and other Bat-vehicles in the cave, but there’s also recreations of movie Batmobiles like the Tumbler from Christopher Nolan movies and the Batmobiles from Batman (1989) and Batman Forever. While talking about crime in Gotham City, Barbara Gordon’s presentation includes images of Batman: The Animated Series and one of its animated movies, The Mask of the Phantasm, not to mention an image from Frank Miller’s iconic The Dark Knight Returns comic, the cover to Batman’s first comic appearance in Detective Comics #27, and even the Lewis Wilson serials, Batman’s first-ever on-screen appearance You’ll notice that when Alfred suits up, he first wears Adam West’s Bat-suit and then switches to the same domino mask that Alan Napier’s Alfred would wear when he went on missions during the show. And continuing the Adam West Batman love, we hear the theme song a couple times like when we hear the Batmobile’s horn and when Batman beatboxes.
There’s also the inclusion of the villain Egghead, a bad guy created for the show played by Vincent Price. Commissioner Gordon's partner is named O'Hara, a nod to Chief O'Hara in the show. The back of a magazine has an ad for "Barris Automotive" which is a tribute to the show's Batmobile designer George Barris. When starting up the Batmobile we hear "Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed!" which is the same thing Burt Ward's Robin would say in the show. The Batcave has racks full of alternate Batsuits, including the Batman Beyond suit. And the show’s bad guy Blight can also be seen among the villains. The family picture of Bruce and his parents is taken in front of the Monarch theater, the same place as in the comics. Iron Man is a genius-billionaire-superhero just like Batman, and so the film’s one dig at Marvel comes when Batman shouts “Iron Man sucks!” as the voice command to enter the Batcave. The Bat-team shouts it together later in the film, too.
The depiction of all Superman elements pull from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies, including the crystallized Fortress of Solitude, Jor-El resembling Marlon Brando, Zod resembling Terence Stamp, and Superman’s doorbell playing the John Williams movie score. Keep reading for the Justice League, villains, and more! on February 11, 2017 at 7:17 AM, updated Heath Ledger's legendary Joker in "The Dark Knight" emphatically nailed Batman by hissing three razor-sharp words: "Why so serious?"Batman IS so serious. So serious, he's ripe for satire. So overripe, if he were a banana, you'd mush him up and make banana bread. "The Lego Batman Movie" is aware of this, and exists to let the air out of Batman's balloon of pretention real loud and fast, so it makes that awesome flatulent BLAPALAPALAP noise. The animated film spins off of 2014's zany, hectic, self-referential "The Lego Movie," and toys with the Batman persona as only a movie that creatively and kinetically animates a ubiquitous line of (rather expensive) toys can, a movie that skeptics will call a clever marketing ploy, but only after they laugh their fool heads off at it and come to their killjoy senses.
Anyway, if the movie was a rocket ship, it'd be fueled by high-octane irreverence. It takes nothing seriously. Except maybe making us laugh. It's super serious about that. I'm pretty sure it's extra-super serious about that.) It succeeds mightily, especially if you're the type who snatches the shark repellent references with the ecstatic glee you feel when you finally get your hands on that rare Aquaman variant action figure you've been lusting after for months. In this subculture, few things are more timeless than a Batman/shark repellent joke. Will Arnett reprises the voice role of Batman, after rendering the character an obnoxious egotist and the du-jour scene-stealer in "The Lego Movie." Zach Galifianakis speaks as the Joker, and as is the case in many of the iconic Batman stories on paper or screens big and small, this classic hero-villain dynamic is the throbbing heart of the primary conflict. Here, the yin and yang of good and evil is fodder for comedy almost as sophisticated as it is ridiculous.
Batman is a loner who insists he doesn't need friends, family or even a psychodramatic foil. This upsets the Joker, whose emotional fragility not only honestly reflects the reality of his "relationship" with Batman, but also feeds his vengeful lust to destroy the guy. So how does Batman truly defeat the Joker? He hurts his feelings. Like, REALLY hurts them. Batman won't proclaim the Joker to be his arch-enemy. He stubbornly refuses to say "I hate you," and if anything stings more than dislike, it's indifference. The Joker's antipathy is tragically unrequited. "I think we should fight other people," Batman says. "I like to fight around." The Joker is crushed. But he has a plan. The Joker always has a plan. Of course it is. It involves dozens and dozens of referential in-jokes/familiar character cameos zinging by lickety-split. Meanwhile, Batman continues being an arrogant, self-centered jackass. He rap-sings a terrifically stoopid new theme song exploding with braggadocio. He bickers with his loyal butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes).
He feels his heart skip when he meets new Gotham City Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson). He bums out when the Justice League conveniently "forgets" to invite him to a party. He unwittingly adopts an orphan, Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), who unwittingly becomes his gee-whiz sidekick Robin, and is way too thrilled to be charging into battle wearing a green speedo, and no pants. Review: 'The Lego Movie' is crazy, funny, weirdly philosophical family entertainment "The Lego Batman Movie" opens with Arnett's voiceover commentary of the studio logos and the uberdramatic score, setting the tone for unapologetic lampooning. And silliness - heaps and heaps of it. It's followed by an uproariously funny sequence dense with blink-and-you'll-miss-'em jokes and maniacal action. The movie can't maintain such a crazy pace, because that would be impossible, and the audience might pass out, what with the physiological need to exhale more than occasionally. It cycles down a few notches for the film's funniest sequence, in which Batman heads home after thwarting evil and saving Gotham City from destruction (again, yawn), and goes about doing the mundane stuff we never, ever see Batman do.
He changes into his bathrobe. He microwaves his dinner. He sits down and cycles through all his TV inputs, eventually landing on "Jerry Maguire." The film makes a deliberate point of all this. I mean, he really futzes with those TV inputs, for far more screen time than we should ever see a movie character futz with TV inputs. This is the same stupid crap you and I do every day, except it's Batman doing it, you see. The damn Dark Knight, the World's Greatest Detective, the Caped Crusader, for crimony's sake, and he's just like us, futzing with TV inputs. Except on a TV way way way way way way bigger than yours or mine. Apologies if I'm giving away that joke, but fret not, there are scads of others, sometimes overlapping and crashing into each other, cascading from the screen like some kid just overturned a giant bucket full of colorful toy bricks and began building an insane new world. Appropriately, the film dashes along with the playful exuberance of six-year-olds making up anything-goes, off-the-cuff narratives with their playthings in the basement - although they'd have to be six-year-olds who know who Adam West and Burt Ward are.