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to please the Batman faithful. Indeed, if any character from the marvelous 2014 hit The Lego Movie warranted a spinoff, it’s Will Arnett’s why-so-serious Caped Crusader. “Really long dramatic production logos.” “Animal Logic animation studio.” Batman himself narrates the opening seconds in his deep growl. He then attributes an earnest lyric from Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” to himself. Oh, yes, this is an irreverent toy story coming to play. Life is pretty damn sweet for Batman these days. The good people of Gotham City like him. They know that as soon as the Bat Signal goes up, he’s going to rescue them from those pesky bad guys. Not even the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) can beat him. Off-hours, Batman takes off the codpiece and transforms back into billionaire bachelor Bruce Wayne. Wanna know what really transpires inside his lair? The guy microwaves lobster for precisely two minutes and watches Jerry Maguire in his private screening room. But the Joker is nothing if not persistent.
So when Batman — his archrival for 78 years! — has the gall to dismiss his antics by exclaiming “Batman and Joker are not a thing,” the villain plots his most intricate hostile takeover plan yet. This time, Batman and his wonderful toys can’t defeat him. He needs to ditch the brooding loner thing and (gasp) seek assistance. Enter a motley crew of eager crime fighters: wide-eyed Boy Wonder Robin (Michael Cera), the new Commissioner Gordon (Rosario Dawson) and trusty butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes).There’s delicious irony in noting the action and entertainment value here far exceeds that of 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. (Granted, it’s faint praise. That dud nabbed Razzie nods for a reason. Changing a light bulb in the bat cave is more thrilling.) The fact is, Lego Batman owes a major debt of gratitude to Ben Affleck’s incarnation. The latter portrayed the iconic superhero as a humorless, tortured soul seemingly impervious to warmth. All that darkness was ripe for the picking.
And, holy wow, does this film pick with glee. And the winking jokes come at breakneck pace. For starters, Mr. Grumpy Vigilante is the only superhero not invited to Superman’s rager in the Fortress of Solitude. And his patience with golly-gee Robin — who never realizes that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person, despite their similarities — wears thin in hilarious ways. (Shout-out to whoever thought to cast two Arrested Development vets in these roles.) This Batman can also can sing and dance about his greatness (sample lyric in his signature tune: “It’s OK if you stare/I’m a billionaire!”). We laugh because we love. At heart, the film is an homage to the superhero’s deep roots in pop culture. Listen closely for familiar references to everything from a Gotham parade set to Prince music (1989’s Batman) to “the two boats” in the river (2008’s The Dark Knight). Every single old foe lines up to torment him, including the Riddler, Two-Face, the Penguin and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Every single villain appears, period. Like nearly every spinoff and sequel, this doesn’t recapture the magic of the original. A straight superhero tale, even a sublime one, can’t compare with the joyous story of Chris Pratt’s smiling everyman Emmet learning how to save the day. And that movie’s inventive live-action twist just can't be topped. See what happens when the bar is built too high? (The Lego Batman Movie opens Friday, February 10.) get enough of Us? Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter packed with the latest celeb news, hot pics and more! Smart insights, hilarious jokes give animated comedy 'Lego Batman Movie' a Bat-rocket boost Video: The Lego Batman Movie trailer The Dark Knight, voiced by Will Arnett, has to choose what kind of superhero he really wants to be in the smart and hilariously funny animated action comedy "The Lego Batman Movie." The creators of "The Lego Batman Movie" could never have anticipated that their manic, animated kids' toy comedy would become the most prescient, overtly political movie of the 21st century so far.
The expected conflict between the Caped Crusader and his arch-nemesis the Joker takes a far back seat to the internal battle raging within the Dark Knight himself, presented as a decisive, take-charge superhero with a supersized ego used to getting his way and expecting to be constantly overpraised for everything he does. Batman's duality as millionaire Bruce Wayne and a vigilante crime-fighter sets the stage for a choice that he must make: to remain a hard-bitten conservative superhero? Or liberalize up a little? Independent, self-sufficient conservative superheroes go it alone. They don't need or want help from government institutions or social organizations that they distrust and view with great skepticism. More liberal superheroes think of themselves as essential cogs in a bigger wheel of life. They take support where they can and believe it takes a village to properly raise a child -- or an adopted son. In "The Lego Batman Movie," the Dark Knight's identity crisis roils beneath a cinematic tsunami of dizzying sight gags, staccato verbal jokes, clever pop culture references and spectacular action set pieces coming at us at the speed of The Flash on an amphetamine overdose.
This sequel continues Will Arnett's gravelly vocal performance as Batman after the Caped Crusader's memorable supporting part in 2014's brilliantly executed "The Lego Movie," directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. New director Chris McKay, who grew up in Libertyville, delivers a breathless comic experience (credited to five writers) in which animated blocky Lego construction bricks magically burble with personalities, moving across the screen exactly as you might imagine Lego bricks would, if they could. "The Lego Batman Movie" explodes with surprises, especially the revelation that Batman doesn't party with hot models after a hard day of fighting villainy. He watches teary relationship movies ("Jerry Maguire" again?) in the isolated, cavernous Bat Cave below Wayne Manor on Wayne Island, accompanied only by his computer companion (voiced by Siri herself) and his paternal butler, Alfred (erstwhile Voldemort Ralph Fiennes). Batman's life takes a twist when he attends Commissioner Gordon's (Hector Elizondo) retirement dinner.
He spots daughter Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson), the new cop commissioner. She enraptures him so much, he doesn't realize he's agreed to adopt an orphan named Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), who's overjoyed that he seems to now have two dads. Barbara isn't so taken with Bruce's alter-ego. "You can't be a hero if you only care about yourself!" Barbara says of the Dark Knight. An emo Joker (Zach Galifianakis), despondent that Batman has been seeing other villains, rigs a climactic blowout battle sequence involving the universe's greatest villains (including Zod, Jaws, Gremlins and the Wicked Witch) now freed from Superman's infamous Phantom Zone. Bruce/Batman continues to be torn between going it alone or being part of something bigger than himself. So what's Batman's greatest fear? "It's being part of a family again," Alfred informs him. He's referring to the family of humankind, represented by the citizens of Gotham City, who, at the end, must literally support each other to save their community.