Bring it on, Bat dudes and dude-ettes. I am not among those flapping my Bat wings with overflowing joy over “The Lego Batman Movie,” the latest building block in a burgeoning animated toy-box franchise based on 2014’s “The Lego Movie.” Before you head to the comments section below to disagree, consider that this dissent comes courtesy of someone who bestowed four whopping stars upon its predecessor, a supremely original and consistently entertaining outing about resisting socially-enforced conformity. It could simply be that I suffer from superhero fatigue these days. It’s a not-uncommon malady, one that seems to be also affecting even the stars of these repetitive enterprises as witnessed by current Bat surrogate Ben Affleck when he couldn’t summon the enthusiasm to also direct a sequel to last year’s critically maligned “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” I also haven’t really been truly fond of a big-screen Caped Crusader since Michael Keaton’s inspired outside-the-box interpretation of the role.
When he sneered, “I’m Batman,” it contained true menace. When Will Arnett throatily growls his lines in this Lego version, it is usually in the service of derisive mockery that only semi-regularly hits its mark.Of course, if I wanted to spend a morning with a narcissistic grumpy billionaire who claims he and he alone can bring law and order to the world while bragging incessantly about his accomplishments, I could have simply skipped the screening and turned on any cable news channel instead. Although Batman scores points for often beat-boxing rather than tweeting his self-praise.But besides an implacable me-first disposition, the synthetically molded superhero and a certain White House dweller also have a financial patron in common: Treasury secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin, who earns an executive producer credit on this spoofy spinoff. Are you thinking what I am thinking about how they might just build that border wall—namely, one Lego brick at a time?Granted, I will never be mistaken for a diehard Batman fan.
I was more into Superman as a kid, mostly because of Lois Lane—but I was a loyal admirer of the campy ‘60s Batman TV series (referenced here via its “na-na-na-na” theme song, cheesy villains and the pop-art “POWs!” employed during a fight scene—a bone thrown at us oldsters). So, yes, I am not the target audience. Then again, neither are kids under eight or so, who likely aren’t going to get most of the non-bathroom-and-butt-related humor. Basically, those who are batty for this stuff will positively devour all the Easter eggs that whisk by. But those who aren’t as up on the 78-year history of the character will likely feel as if their brains have been scrambled.That’s not to say I didn’t find some pleasure in this aggressively frenzied comedic spin directed by Chris McKay (who worked as an animation co-director/supervisor on the first Lego film) on this most dour of comic-book heroes as it draws upon decades of Bat lore for its inside jokes (no previous incarnation of the Dark Knight is left un-zinged, including an obscure baddie known as the Condiment King) and cultural references that zip by faster than any souped-up Bat
But it soon becomes apparent that not everything is quite as awesome this time around. For one, there is barely a plot other than how the bromance-inclined Joker (Zach Galifianakis, who turns his leering clown into an incessant whiner) is ticked off that Batman refuses to acknowledge that he is his No. 1 arch-rival. Instead, Batman hurtfully claims that Superman is his greatest enemy before admitting, “I am fighting a few different people … I Iike to fight around.”Action scenes consume most of the film's 104-minute running time, with a surplus of villainy summoned from not just the DC Comics universe but also home studio Warner Bros.’ warehouse of baddies—including the Eye of Sauron, Voldemort, King Kong, Gremlins, Godzilla and the Wicked Witch of the West and her Flying Monkeys. There is plenty of visual razzle-dazzle, to be sure, but not much else.The sequence that I most enjoyed, however, was a rare quiet and semi-serious one when Batman returns to his near-empty secluded compound that occupies an entire island and reheats the lobster thermidor thoughtfully left in the fridge by manservant Alfred (a fine Ralph Fiennes).
Dressed in a silk robe but still in his mask, Batman accidentally punches in 20 minutes instead of 2—glad to know I am not the only one who does this—and dines in solo silence before he heads to his Wayne Manor movie theater to giggle over the romantic interludes of such relationship flicks as “Jerry Maguire” and “Marley & Me.” Later, he gazes at photos of himself as a youngster alongside his parents, who—as Batman fans know—were tragically murdered. Bruce Wayne might be, as he declares, “the greatest orphan of all time,” but he also fears commitment to family, friends, even to fellow crime-fighters and foes.That all changes when Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson, who eventually becomes Batgirl) replaces her father and takes over as commissioner. Instead of being a lone vigilante, she wants Batman to work alongside the city’s police as a team, the better to keep Gotham safe. In addition, while at a charity event for an orphanage, Bruce manages to unknowingly adopt googly-eyed foundling Dick Grayson (a nicely eager-beaverish Michael Cera), who eventually assumes his own super persona as sidekick Robin.
Certainly, the five writers who pieced together this pastiche of Batmania have done their homework. But the story peters out long before it concludes with—what else?—a dance number. I guess I should semi-applaud any movie that employs Mariah Carey to provide the voice for Gotham’s pearl-wearing and pant-suited mayor. But when it comes to humorous satire, it is the movie that has to sing even while it stings. How to unlock all The Lego Movie Videogame characters? That question will be answered in this guide that shows you how and who to unlock to get the full roster of secret The Lego Movie Videogame unlockable characters on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC, PS Vita, 3DS, Xbox One & PS4. Discover where to find all 101 playable characters in the game! Here’s the funny The Lego Movie Videogame launch trailer showing the main characters. To unlock 96 of the The Lego Movie Videogame playable characters, you basically have to finish the Story Mode levels and explore the Free Roaming open world hub areas.
This goes especially fast if you have finished the game’s Story Mode levels before further exploring the Hub Areas (like The Old West & Bricksburg) where you can buy the in Story Mode unlocked characters as they walk around. — The 5 remaining spots that round out the 101 characters are at the bottom-right of the character select screen; They are reserved for for a cheat code secret character and 4 downloadable content (DLC) characters, which at first will only be available via a Special Edition at select retailers like Game.co.uk as a Wild West Pack DLC, but are likely to be released in a $4.99 paid DLC Pack sometime after the February 2014 release (for the 4 Wild West characters and 4 pants). — The 8 last spots on the character select screen’s bottom-left side are for the custom characters you can create at the “Cloud Cuckoo Land” stadium behind the rainbow-colored brick door that Unikitty can transform into a bridge. The Lego Movie Videogame characters guide and a full characters list follows here-under.
Index of The Lego Movie Videogame Guides: Here’s how to find, unlock & buy the hidden characters in this guide for The Lego Movie Videogame. How To Buy Unlocked Characters For Play: After finishing a Story Mode level you’ll unlock the characters in the game’s 15 levels. After that’s done, you can return to the Free Roaming open world hub areas like “The Old West” & “Bricksburg” to access the available characters as they walk around or stand next to/inside buildings. You can then go and find to buy the characters you’ve unlocked (with our tips from this page). To buy a character, go stand next to him/her/it and press the A button on Xbox / X button on PlayStation / B button on Wii U. — Additionally, you can hold the Y button on Xbox / Triangle button on PlayStation / X button on Wii U to bring up the character grid and select them to see their buying price and the option to buy them right away. After that you can finally play with them. It is important to note that this character buying/selecting menu cannot be accessed while you’re in Story levels/missions, it’s only accessible when you’re in the Free Roaming open world hub areas or when you’re doing Free Play.
This video shows the actual location of all purchasable characters in The Lego Movie Videogame. This includes all of the overworld Hub Areas such as Cloud Cuckoo Land, Bricksburg, Octan Tower and The Old West. Below we’ve listed the secret characters in alphabetical order. Take the following steps to unlock each one; Buying Characters Tip: Whenever you unlock a new character during gameplay, you can go right into the Character Menu via quick select, and buy him/her/it right then and there! — Or if you’d rather go look for them in the Hub Areas, then you can activate the “Character Stud Detector” Red Brick cheat to find them quickly (that link goes to our guide page for it). This video will show the character abilities of all 101 characters in a row: Video guide #1 shows you how some “The Old West” hub area natives are unlocked as playable characters: Where to buy Calamity Drone & Native is shown at 8:37 minutes, at the bubblebath house stairs & roof.
At the saloon with the wanted posters on the walls and a golden prison next to it, in front of it you’ll find Deputron for 150,000 studs & Sheriff-Not-A-Robot for 500,000 studs, Right of them Sir Stack-a-Brick for 50,000 studs is trapped in the gold prison (in front of the train station). Lastly, Robo Cowboy can be found for 125,000 studs in the town center. Video guide #2 shows you how certain “Bricksburg” hub area natives are unlocked as playable characters: Once you’ve finish the Story Mode, you can use the rainbow-colored portals to travel to all the Hub Areas to find the remaining characters standing or walking around at. The areas are called: The Old West (Flatbush Gulch), Bricksburg (Middle Zealand), Cloud Cuckoo Land, Octan Tower, and The Bonus Room (Finn’s Room). You will earn yourself several achievements or trophies for finding all characters in every level and open world area of The Lego Movie Videogame. The character-related achievements/trophies are:
* “The Special People In Your Life” (40 Gamerscore / Gold Trophy) — Purchase all Characters (Single Player). * “Complete Collection” (Silver PS Vita Trophy) — Unlock all Characters.(20 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Destroy 50 enemies as MetalBeard. * “The Opposite Of Happiness” (20 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Defeat 20 enemies as Rage Unikitty.(20 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Defeat 30 enemies as Emmet Cowboy.(5 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Defeat 20 enemies as Sheriff Not-A-Robot.(5 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Customise your character. * “A House Divided” (5 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Play as Abraham Lincoln and Lady Liberty.(10 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Complete all Master Builds in Server Room as Benny. * “I Super Hate You Right Now” (10 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Play as Superman and Green Lantern. * “The Prophecy, I Made It Up!” (10 Gamerscore / Bronze Trophy) — Switch from Vitruvius into Ghost Vitruvius.