My wonderful wife puts up with a lot of my quirks. Not only did she get me LEGO for Valentine’s Day, but she also accepted seeing the LEGO Batman Movie and pizza as our date for the evening. What sets did I get, you ask? Well, they are still in the mail with an estimated delivery date of Monday (they had to be ordered late so that I could get the free Batgirl poster). But, I have it on good authority that Penguin’s Arctic Roller (70911) and the Money Transporter (60142) are in the box. A few little extras might also have been thrown in to make the $75 requirement for this month’s Disco and Clown Batman freebie Minifigs. My wifey rocks.
Good fortune continued to smile on me this year as the LEGO Batman Movie came out just in time for the most romantic of holidays, and Valentine’s fell on a cheapie Tuesday at the movie theatre. So, we hit the 7:30 pm show after work. Now, there has been a lot of hype about this movie. In the days leading up to my viewing, there was no shortage of reviews online that I tried to ignore. However, headlines really built it up. The trailers were also hilarious. I find that often when a movie gets so much rave attention, it often lets you down in the theatre. Was this the case with the LEGO Batman Movie? No, it was not. Did I enjoy the film as much as I hoped I would? No, I did not.
Let’s consider the latter statement first. I attribute my post-cinema feelings about the movie largely to hype that came before it. As I mentioned before, hype leads to bloated expectations that are difficult to live up to. But, there was also A LOT going on in the movie. Without revealing too much, and I apologize if you consider this to be a spoiler, the whole Phantom Zone story and all the tie-ins to LEGO Dimensions were too much. Batman has such a rich character base already, you don’t need Sauron from Lord of the Rings, or Voldemort from Harry Potter, or any of the other cameos to make a fun and worthwhile story. The Dimensions stuff should have been saved for the sequel to the LEGO Movie since they already broached that topic in the first film. As a Batman fan, I feel the LEGO Batman Movie should have stayed in the DC Comics Universe.
With the negatives out of the way, I loved everything else about the movie. It was funny, light-hearted, and portrayed positive values of teamwork and family. The highlights for me were definitely the references to all the other Batman movies that have come out. Again without revealing too much, the scene with Superman’s Fortress of Solitude was hilarious, and I loved the one-liners, like “my plutonic work friend, who’s a girl” referring to Batgirl. Having Superman and Green Lantern reprise their roles from The LEGO Movie was also great.
Overall, I really liked the LEGO Batman Movie. I think it would have worked just as well without LEGO Dimensions thrown in though. Having a rogues gallery army forcing the super hero team-up would have been enough in my humble opinion. If they really needed more help, they could have called the Justice League. I am a bit of a fan-boy though, so non-hard core-Batman fans might not feel the same way. Go see it, and decide for yourself. Just try to ignore the hype.
Until next time,
-T.N.B.
p.s. None of the pictures in this article are my own. They are all promotional materials for the LEGO Batman Movie by Warner Bros.
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