If Lego Batman 3 proves nothing else, it’s that the decade-old style, started with Lego Star Wars, remains as inviting to play as ever. The Traveller’s Tales team continues to deliver no matter what franchise it’s spinning. The once modest studio hidden away in the leafy Cheshire town of Knutsford has transformed into one of the industry’s true powerhouses, having a hand in televised animation, and surely even informing the wildly successful Lego Movie with its brand of charming, sharp humour. In that time, we’ve seen the Lego series morph from basic hack-and-slash nothingness to sprawling open world behemoth, and it hit its peak with last year’s spectacular Lego Marvel Super Heroes. Where to go, then, for Lego Batman 3? Well, as the subtitle handily tells us, we’re going beyond Gotham. All the way into space, in fact. Before you get too excited, Traveller’s Tales hasn’t turned the entire galaxy into perfectly-formed plastic bricks, but the Dark Knight and his Justice League cohorts do indeed burst out over Gotham’s seams and into the great black unknown.
Sadly, this means Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is a more staid affair than its predecessor in many ways. With no open world to explore, we are offered a series of classic Lego levels, where players use their characters’ various special abilities to solve lighthearted puzzles, bash up a few enemies and enjoy the cutscenes. It all begins very slowly. Batman and Robin are out to stop Killer Croc, and have to plod through the sewers on his path. It’s a way to introduce the various costumes that each character can unlock, which act as different powers, much like in the Wii U’s Lego City Undercover. From there, a trudge through an overly-long section in the Batcave, a plod through the Halls Of Justice, and then finally, into space. While the quality of the visuals, production and writing can’t be faulted, the standard of puzzling and stop-start flow of the action can be tiresome, especially if you’ve come from Marvel or indeed Lego Batman 2. Be warned, too, that Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham can be fiddly if you’re playing with young children – some of the puzzles that require cooperation require a level of dexterity that may be above the very young, which can lead to frustration for both you and your kid.
Once you do manage to get out into space, though, the action picks up dramatically, and allows Traveller’s Tales to really enjoy itself creatively. A chap called Brainiac has decided he wants to take over Earth, much to the chagrin of the (hilariously smug) Green Lantern and his ring-bearing buddies. Batman and the rest of the Justice League fire themselves into space to try and stop him. Even on an early space level set on the outside of a rocket, it’s clear Traveller’s Tales is enjoying itself. That particular level operates with a Super Mario Galaxy appreciation of gravity, as you move around the outside of the rocket, while later levels set in the Green Lantern’s home world allow the artists to flex their muscles and deliver areas that are far more interesting to look at than the early game’s metallic interiors. Unfortunately, the creativity of the environments rarely spreads to the gameplay. While Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham probably offers the greatest variety of puzzles in the series’ history, and also its most intricate, this is still a game of placing the right character in the right place, and pressing the right button.
The occasional headscratcher tends to arise because the game’s signposting lets it down, rather than some Zelda-level ingenious conundrum. Now, these are games designed for children, or more specifically to be played cooperatively with children, so they shouldn’t be too taxing, but Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham can occasionally be a little tedious. Puzzles are good, but busy work isn’t. There are periods where the game feels like a step back for the ‘series’ (if putting all Lego games together can be considered a series). Obviously the production values are far higher than the Star Wars games, or Lego Indiana Jones, but the lack of true scope is a touch disappointing. Thankfully, the level of characterisation and charm oozing out of the game’s every plastic pore is typically high. Performances from a who’s who of gaming acting talent are universally fantastic, doing Traveller’s Tales’ script justice and delivering a steady flow of gags, references and very nerdy nods to all things DC – so nerdy, in fact, that you’d have to be the most super of super fans to even know who most of the characters are.
Still, praise must always go to Traveller’s Tales for its representations of the characters at its disposal. Batman’s brooding grumpiness doesn’t quite go as far as Will Arnett’s hilarious turn in the Lego Movie, but it isn’t far off, while just the mere sight of the Green Lantern’s strut is enough to crack us up every single time we see it. A particular shout must go out to Cyborg, too, who is clearly the most capable superhero of the bunch (not including ‘cheat mode’ Superman), yet rarely gets any credit. He’s such a nice chap that he doesn’t seem to mind, thankfully. And Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is nothing if not affable. This is highly polished, confident and competent stuff. It may not be as expansive as recent iterations, but Traveller’s Tales does not make bad videogames, and this is absolutely no exception.“The Lego Batman Movie” is a meta cannon blast of frenetic energy and visual insanity, a film that tiptoes on the edge of being utterly exhausting but just manages to stay satisfying.
It throws everything — and I mean everything — but a Lego kitchen sink onscreen, and does so with a wink. Above all else, it makes Batman fun again, and boy, was that needed. Following the ugly, dour “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” it was a necessity that the next Dark Knight effort feel light and fresh. “Lego Batman” more than fits the bill. Interestingly, however, the film is even wilder and more gleefully delirious than its trailers indicated. In terms of style and pacing, “Lego Batman” has more in common with “Airplane!” than “The Lego Movie,” the animated blockbuster that spawned its creation. It’s a superhero spoof, really, one that lobs up more attempts at humor per minute than any film in recent memory. A great many of these hit — some for kids, some for parents — and that means it’s going to be huge. Batman was one of the breakout favorites from 2014’s “Lego Movie,” and the character was a sensible selection for a spin-off.
Perfectly voiced by Will Arnett, Lego Batman is a pompous, ab-obsessed, spotlight-savoring jerk. But he’s a likable jerk, and plays to our collective conception of how a real superhero might behave. “The Lego Batman Movie” opens with an extended bit of chaos involving a bombing attempt led by the Joker (wonderfully voiced by Zach Galifianakis). The arch-villain is intent on showing Batman that he, the Joker, is his greatest adversary. Commitment-phobic Batman, however, refuses to make such an admission, and this insult sends the Joker into a spiral of upset. Meanwhile, the retirement of Commissioner Gordon means a new top cop is in town: Gordon’s daughter Barbara (voiced by Rosario Dawson), a graduate of “Harvard for Police” with a plan for tackling crime. The plan’s key element involves not relying on the Caped Crusader. Bruce Wayne’s foundations are shaken, and at the same time, his father-figure/butler Alfred (voiced by Ralph Fiennes!) is urging him to embrace the concept of family.
An opportunity presents itself in the form of wide-eyed orphan Dick Grayson (voiced by Michael Cera and yes, with Arnett and Cera, we have an “Arrested Development” reunion.) When the Joker’s plan to unleash the evil inhabitants of Superman’s Phantom Zone comes to fruition, Batman must accept the help of Grayson/Robin, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, and a spry Alfred, and finally learn to collaborate. Imprisoned in the Phantom Zone are baddies like Lord Voldemort, Sauron and King Kong, and it is at this point that “Lego Batman” becomes the big-screen version of the popular “Lego Dimensions” video game. This is the mini figure-fueled game in which characters from all manner of franchise — from DC superheroes to Marty McFly and E.T. — can play together. While that’s certainly clever and leads to some killer sight gags, this sudden infusion of villains nearly derails the proceedings. An already messy film becomes almost unmanageable, and quite exhausting. This is the point when children, especially, may become overwhelmed.
To the filmmakers’ credit, however, the jokes never stop, and the visuals never flag. Little ones may lose track of the story, but they’ll never be bored. Even so, at 104 minutes, “Lego Batman” is undeniably overlong. Parents who grew up on DC Comics’ heroes and heroines won’t mind, but that’s a lot of sitting for young ones. Director Chris McKay clearly learned much as animation co-director on “The Lego Movie,” and if the script is occasionally a letdown — at certain points, the plot feels like a million Lego pieces quickly stuck together — the verve of it all keeps things endearing. You couldn’t say that about “Batman v. Superman.” Adults should also appreciate that this is the most psychologically probing Batman story ever brought to the big screen. It zeroes in on the silliness of the character in a bold way, and it does so in a world made of … This mini-Dark Knight might not be the Batman we deserve, but he’s certainly the one we need right now.