The Lego Batman Movie

So, in case it wasn't already known, I like Batman. I like Batman a lot. I stood by my man in black all year last year after BvS came out and I'd do it again any year. You know what I also like? I like Lego. Lego's fun. I got the Lego Millenium Falcon for Christmas and I built it. It was sweet. So you know, combining Lego and Batman should be a great idea that would surely make me fall in love.

And that's what happened, back in 2006, when Lego started releasing Batman sets, and then fast forward to 2014, when Lego decided to release The Lego Movie. I loved the Lego Movie, it was one of my favorites of that year, and it still manages to melt my heart. And, of course, one of the best things about TLM was Batman, a self-aware caricature of our beloved caped crusader, voiced by the absolutely wonderful Will Arnett. So, it's obvious, money-wise that they'd make a Lego Batman spinoff. But is it logical...in other ways?

Well, TLBM follows...well it obviously follows the story of Batman. Batman's awesome. Everybody loves Batman and wants to be Batman. You're crazy if you do not want to be Batman. But Batman isn't perfect, in fact, he's actually quite lonely. Over the course of the film it starts to become more and more obvious that Batsy's loneliness is one of his biggest problems. Meanwhile, The Joker (Zach Galifinakis) is hellbent on getting Batsy to admit that Mr. J is his arch rival, so much so to threaten Gotham just to get him to admit it.

Every once in a while, there's an animated feature that manages to make me feel like a child again, in fact, there's pretty much one every year. For 2015 it was Inside Out, for 2016, it was Kubo, and this year, I'd have to say it could very well be Lego Batman. Not many movies can make me grin ear to ear throughout all two hours of it. Every joke, every plot point, every snide comment, hits on a perfect note that just leaves you satisfied. Every performance from the cast just feels so right. It's got so much going for it that the only real issue I could come up with was its pacing, which just felt a tad too rushed. Otherwise, it does well.

If Batman v Superman is how to do Batman wrong (I still disagree), then Lego Batman is definitely doing Batman right, even if it's a self-aware minifigure with bat ears and a gravelly voice. Nevertheless, Lego Batman gets a 8.9/10 stars. A very nice start to the review season.