The Media Tourist

Caped Crusader gets spotlight in zipping, zany ‘Lego Batman Movie’

The Lego Batman Movie
Starring the voices of Will Arnett, Rosario Dawson & Michael Cera
Directed by Chris McKay
PG
In theaters Feb. 10, 2017

The fun begins even before the film does.

“All important movies start with a black screen,” intones Lego Batman, kicking off his riffing, running commentary on the movie’s pre-show parade of corporate logos and opening credits.

This movie, Batman is letting you know, is an important one—because it’s all about him.

When the movie starts, seconds later, it’s another geyser of fast-paced inside jokes, meta commentary and rapid-fire satire, just like its Lego Movie predecessor, such a wildly popular, multi-generational smash in 2014. Batman (voiced once again by Will Arnett), who made an indelible impression in that explosion of plasticized pop culture with his Master Builder skills and gruff, heavy-metal rapping, now gets his own full stage to strut.

And, once again, it looks terrific, and often bedazzling—a crazy, colorful, teeming Lego world, brought alive through the marvels and magic of computer-animated wizardry to make characters, cityscapes, interiors and more look like textured, 3-D creations composed entirely of millions of interlocking Lego blocks and accessories.

This time, the iconic Caped Crusader faces off against his longtime nemesis the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) while dealing with his own existential crisis: How long can the shadowy, egotistical, ridiculously self-absorbed, adamantly go-it-alone crime fighter—who is also, of course, Gotham City’s most eligible bachelor, Bruce Wayne—wall out the rest of the world?

How long can he go home to microwaved Lobster Thermidor dinners for one in stately Wayne Manor, figuratively and literally cut off from everything and everyone—including his loyal butler, Alfred (Ralph Fiennes)—on Wayne Island? How many nights can he spend cackling derisively, all by himself, mocking the most romantic scene in Jerry Maguire on his mega-den’s mega-mega big-screen TV?

Barbara Gordon & Batman

Batman eventually takes aboard—by mistake—the young orphan who becomes his sidekick, Robin (Michael Cera), and gets gobsmacked by his first look at lovely Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson), the daughter of retiring police commissioner James Gordon (Hector Elizondo). Barbara takes her father’s role at the top of Gotham City’s official law-and-order pyramid seriously, and—unlike Batman—sees crime-fighting as a collaborative, it-takes-a-village effort.

The movie gives this premise one hilarious, deliciously deep dig after another, drilling into the rich veins of Bat-mythology from DC Comics and its many offshoots on television and the movies, especially the broody Dark Knight films. You don’t have to be a big Bat fan to get on board the masterful joke-mobile, but the more you know, the more you’ll laugh.

“Words describing the impact will spontaneously materialize,” Batman explains to Robin as he introduces him to his first big bad-guy fracas—just before “Bap!” “Bam!” and “Pow!” appear above the action. There’s another gag about shark spray repellent that will be a lot funnier if you remember the cheese-tastic, cult-favorite scene from the 1960s TV series in which Adam West’s Batman actually used it—or have come across some of the memes and postings online that it has since spawned.

Chris McKay, the animation director of The Lego Movie now making his official directorial debut as he takes over the reins from creators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who remain on board as producers), never lets the bar drop or the cleverness droop. You certainly feel some of his former experience as a director and editor of the Cartoon Network’s stop-motion, pop-culture-skewering series Robot Chicken.

The movie parodies Batman’s long pop-cultural legacy with genius as well as genuine affection, particularly in his relationship to the Joker. These guys have been arch-“frenemies” for such a long, long time—finally, here’s a portrayal that explores how much they really, truly need each other.

To widen the playing field a bit beyond Batman, the tempest-in-a-toy-box storyline brings in a host of pop culture’s most villainous villains—the Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings films, the Wicked Witch and flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz, King Kong, Godzilla, gremlins from Gremlins and Harry Potter’s Voldemort.

And in between all the zipping, zany fun, there’s a message about what makes a “family,” working together, the importance of good abs, and why “Fly, Robin, Fly” or “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” just don’t cut it as superhero theme songs.

The vocal cast is outstanding, particular Arnett, the hub around which all the other zingers fly. And he’s got a chorus of great support, including Jenny Archer (Harley Quinn), Zoe Kravitz (Catwoman), Channing Tatum (Superman), Ellie Kemper (Phyllis, the keeper of the Phantom Zone) and Mariah Carey (Mayor McCaskill). Pay attention and see if you can match up Seth Green, Billy Dee Williams, Eddie Izzard, Adam Devine and Doug Benson to their Lego counterparts.

But this is definitely Batman’s show. There’ll be other superhero movies to come ripping and roaring down the pike this spring and summer, as always. But they won’t be any smarter, funnier or any more fun than this. Trust me, the Lego Bat is where it’s at.