Watching The LEGO Batman Movie feels like dumping a bag of Dark Knight-flavoured sherbet directly onto your brain. Within the opening ten minutes, Batman faces and foils almost every villain you could possibly name – and more than a few you probably couldn’t – in a spectacular and thrilling action sequence that rivals any found in the live-action Batman movies in terms of sheer excitement and scale. With Gotham’s worst incarcerated in Arkham Asylum – yet again – Batman retires to Wayne Manor where he microwaves a simple lobster thermidor for one. (Incidentally, watching Batman use a microwave is very funny.) Will Arnett’s Batman is probably the loneliest version of the character to date. This is played for laughs, of course, with Bruce struggling to go out in public without the cowl, but it’s also unexpectedly moving. We see Bruce rattling around his ancestral home, watching romantic comedies, messing about with HDMI feeds, and practicing rad guitar solos alone. There's something genuinely melancholic about watching the Dark Knight eating a ready meal.
Big changes are coming, too. With super-cop Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) taking over from her father, advocating reform over vigilantism, the very idea of Batman is under scrutiny. Meanwhile, the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) – struggling to cope with the idea that Batman doesn’t think of him as his arch-nemesis and frustrated by Gotham’s incompetent villains – hatches a plan to unleash the worst prisoners trapped within the Phantom Zone. It’s a simple yet brilliant plot, which allows director Chris McKay to take full and greedy advantage of DC’s rich universe – and a few others – to tell a uniquely bonkers but also surprisingly poignant story. There’s lots crammed into this movie, but ultimately it’s about Batman letting himself be part of a family once again. Although packed with great action and bags of character, The LEGO Batman Movie’s main strength is its frantic sense of humour. Every scene is studded with all types of gags – from smart allusions to silly stuff, sight gags and innuendo.
Even if they don’t all quite land, the script is so rapid-fire, you never have to wait long for a decent laugh to come along. That said, I think I could’ve done with less of Batman beat-boxing. The movie mines its best comedic material from Batman’s relationships with other well-known DC characters, riffing on our pre-existing knowledge of them. In particular, it has a lot of fun playing with the twisted inter-dependence of Batman and the Joker, articulated in the likes of The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight. Here it’s treated as if it was a dysfunctional hook-up, with the Joker heartbroken to discover Bats is ‘seeing’ other villains, and what they have isn’t special. Some of the funniest moments come from when the script taps into wider Batman mythology, and there’s similarly sharp and funny moments to enjoy with Robin, Superman, and the rest of the Justice League. Arnett’s gravelly tones and deadpan delivery are perfect for this reclusive, grumpy incarnation of the character.
LEGO Batman is bit self-absorbed and arrogant – the Dark Knight has never talked so much about his abs – but Arnett ensures he’s vulnerable and still likeable. But the real standout is Michael Cera’s impossibly wide-eyed Robin, whose enthusiasm knows no bounds. He plays the Dick Grayson version of the character, who is accidentally adopted by Bruce Wayne at a charity function. Before long, Dick stumbles into the Batcave and becomes Robin, wearing the tiniest shorts imaginable for extra mobility. Cera’s performance is bouncy and hilariously naive, while the animation is particularly strong – Robin’s cheery expressions and jam-jar glasses, magnifying the wonder in his eyes, consistently had me in stitches. As with Batman’s relationship with the Joker, the movie revels in making the dynamic between the duo as awkward as possible; it’s a cheeky acknowledgement of the situation’s inherent weirdness, yet the evolution of their relationship still feels authentically sweet and sincere.
Fiennes makes for a superbly dry Alfred, who becomes far more involved in the action than any of his forbears. And Zach Galifianakis delivers a perfectly decent performance as the Joker, without doing anything particularly memorable with the role. He really benefits, however, from some superb character design – the feral Joker look works really well – and some inspired animation. When he discovers Batman doesn’t think of him as ‘the one’, his face crumples, cycling through despair and devastation – it’s heartbreaking and hilarious. LEGO Marvel's Avengers: Character Unlock Guide LEGO games have always been heavy on options and unlocks, but this time, they have really outdone themselves – LEGO’s Marvel Avengers has over a hundred unique characters to unlock, including, of course, all the fan favorites from the films, but also featuring some really obscure, interesting, and jokey side characters, if you’re willing to hunt for them. It would be way too difficult to list all of the characters you can find in LEGO’s Marvel Avengers, but here’s a quick and dirty guide to the characters that are a little harder to find:
Note: You still need studs to unlock characters once you’ve found their tokens, and some (like Ultron and Loki) of them are pricey. Make sure you’re racking up those modifiers and saving for the heroes you want! Character Unlocks (by hub) All non-story characters are unlocked in free-play at the game’s major hubs. Tokens unlocked through missions involve finding or speaking to the character in question and performing a quest for them (this often involves taking selfies). They’re usually not too challenging, but they can sometimes be tricky to pull off. Discovered tokens are often locked behind a puzzle or hidden away from the main part of the zone. Make sure you’re checking everywhere! Agent Stillwell, Hazmat, Human Torch (Original), M.O.D.O.K. Chase, Firebird, Korvac, Ragnarok, Union Jack Echo, Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), The Other, Ulysses Klaue, White Tiger Black Goliath, Grandmaster, Moondragon, Nebula, Tigra Butterball, Gorilla Girl, Mantis, Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur, Squirrel Girl (Unbeatable)
Cottonmouth, Egghead, Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Laura Barton A-Bomb, Crimson Dynamo, Gargoyle, Hulkling, Extremis Soldier Bengal, Demolition Man, Ronin (Blade), Spitfire, X-Ray Arnim Zola (Classic), Blazing Skull, Bucky Barnes (Classic), Captain Britain, Crystal, Nova Captain America (Sam Wilson), Diamondback, Ms Marvel (Carol Danvers), Wizard Amadeus Cho, Happy Hogan, Justin Hammer, The Mandarin (Trevor Slattery), Rescue A.I.M. Agent, Iron Man (MK1), Iron Man (MK5), Iron Man (MK17-Heartbreaker), Iron Monger Beta-Ray Bill, Dark Elf, Lorelei, Thor Girl, Valkyrie, Odin Arkon, Laufey, Mighty Destroyer, Thor (Jane Foster) Manhattan is like a super-hub, and it has individual zones with characters to be found and unlocked in each. Here’s a detailed list: Note: The Peggy Carter missions need to be completed in a certain order. Financial District: She-Hulk, Cloud 9, Red She-Hulk (8th Peggy Carter mission) Times Square: Dr. Strange, Taskmaster, Iron Man (MK38 – Igor) (7th Peggy Carter mission), Speed
China Town: Ronan the Accuser, Beth the Waitress, Iron Fist, Fin Fang Foom, Squirrel Girl (Classic. 1st Peggy Carter mission) Residential District: Jewel (Jessica Jones), Finesse (2nd Peggy Carter mission), Hellcat (5th Peggy Carter mission), Striker (9th Peggy Carter mission) Central Park: Veil, Lou Ferrigno, Reptil, Iron Man (MK33 – Silver Centurion), Ant-Man (Classic) Industrial District: Destroyer, Daredevil, Jack of Hearts, Blue Marvel (4th Peggy Carter mission), Lightspeed (6th Peggy Carter mission) Slums: Luke Cage, Moon Knight, Iron Man (MK40), Agent Carter (Retired) (10th Peggy Carter Mission) Forest: Grim Reaper, Superior Iron Man, Swordsman, Wiccan, Trauma (3rd Peggy Carter mission), Death Locket S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier: Mockingbird, Iron Man (MK25), Doctor Helen Cho, The Protector Unlocking Stan Lee, Excelsior Stan, Iron Stan, and Stanbuster Unlocking Stan Lee (and his transformations) is the work of the entire game, and requires you to rescue every Stan Lee in peril.