The Lego Batman Movie

Guys, I don't know if you're like me, but I loved The Lego Movie. It is just a movie that is just a lot of fun and the humor was just refreshing.

But when they mentioned that they would be making a Lego Batman movie, I was a little bit skeptical as I can be with a lot of films. Why Lego Batman? Will Arnett made a fun character but he definitely wasn't the spotlight of The Lego Movie. While I love Batman, I wasn't sure that Lego Batman was the route I really wanted them to go. Of course the trailer dropped and it looked like itt was going to be a funny movie, but there wasn't actually a lot that made me think this movie was going to be as good as The Lego Movie...

Boy was I wrong.

Before I go on, did you ever notice that the promotion for this movie had Batman running a lot? He's kind of like Tom Cruise...

But anyway, Lego Batman follows exactly that, Lego Batman (voiced by Will Arnett). He is a pretty arrogant, narcissist in this movie, he knows that Gotham needs him, pretty much until there is a new Police Commissioner in town named Barbara (voiced by Rosario Dawson). On top of that he adopts a bug eyed orphan named Dick Greyson (voiced by Michael Cera). All the while there is an evil plot by The Joker (voiced by Zack Galifinakis) and man is it a good one because throughout all of this you might think that they're limited to only Batman characters. Not at all, they pull out villains from different movies, characters from other superhero movies, it is very expansive and a lot of fun, especially since this is very much DC's opportunity to make fun of itself.

I mean, let's be honest. Last year was a rough year for DC. Both Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, both movies that I liked but knew were not incredibly solid movies, were panned by critics. They had a lot of issues with them and this movie makes me think that DC understood the pitfalls that they had.

I think if I were to compare this film to anything, it would be DC's attempt at a PG rated Deadpool film. One of the great parts about Deadpool was that because he broke the 4th wall so often and his character is pretty meta, he was able to poke fun at previous movies and laugh with the audience at the issues past movies have had. This was DC's version of that. They make jabs at Batman v Superman, they make jabs at Suicide Squad. And they make jabs at DC comics in general.

Let's be real, the superhero world is a little bit of a weird one and if you take it too seriously, people aren't going to take you seriously. I think The Lego Batman movie was a perfect opportunity for DC to take a step back, take a bit of a chill pill, and take themselves less seriously.

But aside from self deprecating humor and making light of the superhero world, this movie is legitimately funny all around.

Because it is an animated film and it is in the same vein as The Lego Movie, it is (For the most part) a kids film. The colors are bright, the story is pretty simple and streamlined, but it still has a lot of humor that is for the adults so don't write it off if you wrote off The Lego Movie because both films are funny as hell and aren't ones you really want to miss if you like comedy.

But one of the perks of being a kids movie is having the simple message of family. And who better to bring in a message of family than the caped crusader who can't seem to get over his dead parents.

If you look at the voice cast of this movie, you'll realize that a lot of talented actors were used for this film and a lot of them I didn't even notice. I already mentioned Arnett and Galifinakis, but Ralph Fiennes played Alfred, Billy Dee Williams played Two Face (that is hilarious), Eddie Izzard plays Voldemort and Jemaine Clement played Sauron (year those two characters are in this movie). The rest of the cast are a lot of funny comedians of today but they also play a lot of obscure Batman villains.

Like I said before, this movie takes the opportunity to make fun of the source material but it also provides a lot of fan service for those fans who knew about these obscure B-list Batman villains.

The movie takes full liberty at utilizing these characters and they use them well. You will be laughing pretty consistently in this movie because they break out a lot of jokes and not all of them are comic book related in case you were worried about that.

I think if you're looking for a fun movie to watch with your kids, or even if you're bored and want to get a good laugh out of a film, The Lego Batman Movie is definitely a film you should check out. There's not a lot to hate about this film. I don't think I would put it on my list of best movies of 2017 just because there are a lot of really great movies that have come out already this year, but who knows, I hope I'll do a Top 10 this year and maybe we'll see Lego Batman on that list.

But what did you think of The Lego Batman Movie? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium or send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. So when The Lego Movie came out, they did the Everything is Awesome Song. It was a catchy tune that you probably had in your head for hours after watching that film. Well I think they're starting a trend with these Lego Films in putting in a catchy little tune in it. Here's the song from The Lego Batman Movie. Enjoy!