First off, we at Psycho Drive-In would like to offer our condolences to the friends and family of the greatest Batman of all time, Adam West. He was always the classiest Caped Crusader and he will be greatly missed.
After giving The Lego Movie a 5-star review when it was released in 2014, we somehow missed reviewing The Lego Batman Movie in February. Well, hopefully, this makes up for that slight because The Lego Batman Movie is amazing. I have to admit that I was a little concerned when I found out that none of the creative team from The Lego Movie were involved in this one (they’re off working on The Lego Movie direct sequel), and the screenplay was a bit of a work by committee with five credited writers in addition to director Chris McKay (who did not get a writing credit).
However, the “story by” credit goes to co-writer Seth Grahame-Smith, who was responsible for both the novels Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as well as the screenplay for AL:VH, which means he knows his way around a mash-up. The other writers have backgrounds that include American Dad!, Community, and Wreck-It Ralph, so there’s some solid fast-paced comedy experience in the mix. And McKay is responsible for directing Moral Orel, Titan Maximum, and a bunch of Robot Chicken.
And it’s that Robot Chicken background that really gives you an idea of what The Lego Batman Movie is going to be like. Just with more heart and mind-blowing animation.
From its opening sequence, a massive heist-style action-packed ten minutes or so, it’s clear that the creative team is going to squeeze every last Bat-Easter-Egg into this movie as humanly possible. But it’s not only a fun and funny scene; it’s an amazingly animated piece of film. In fact, this entire film from start to finish is a wonder. It’s easily the best Batman movie since at least Burton’s Batman Returns or maybe even the 1966 Batman.
The reason I say this is because finally, we have a Batman that learns a lesson and becomes a better person in the end. Sure, it’s a film loaded with laugh-out-loud comedy but it’s got more heart than any of the post-2000 Batman films. It also has a bit of fun incorporating the entire film history of Batman into the world of the film, as different phases that Master Wayne has gone through over the course of his career.
Even that strange phase in the Sixties.
That was just the first of a number of shout outs to the Adam West version of Batman that made watching the film a little bittersweet this weekend.
Will Arnett reprises his Batman from The Lego Movie, with a heaping helping of egomania and bull-headedness. He’s joined by his new adopted son, Dick Grayson/Robin, voiced by Michael Cera, who brings a wide-eyed innocence and infectious glee to the part. Ralph Fiennes, as Alfred, does a fantastic doting father-figure who also gets his fair share of action moments before all is said and done. Rounding out the lead cast is Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon, the new kick ass Police Commissioner and eventual kick ass Batgirl, and Zach Galifianakis as an exceptionally needy Joker.
Of course there are a ton of celebrity guest appearances ranging from Conan O’Brien as The Riddler to Eddie Izzard as Voldemort (I guess it would be weird to have Fiennes playing the evil wizard here?) to Jemaine Clement as the voice of Sauron. What are Voldemort and Sauron doing in a Batman movie? The same thing Gremlins, Daleks, King Kong, and The Kraken from Clash of the Titans are.
Busting Gotham up so bad that Batman realizes he can’t take them down alone.
The Blu-ray release is loaded with extras, including deleted scenes, a tour of Wayne Manor, Rebrick contest winning shorts, trailers, promotional bits, a pretty entertaining director and crew commentary track, and two behind-the-scenes making-of featurettes. The first of these, “One Brick at a Time: Making the Lego Batman Movie” is the most impressive, giving an in-depth look at the work that goes into a Lego movie. Basically, everything that you see on the screen, is built digitally from digital Lego blocks – meaning that theoretically, the whole Lego movie world could be built in real life. The design and building of the Bat-Vehicles is especially impressive, as they are all actually built for real before being digitized and included in the film. They even go so far as to include wear and tear on the animated blocks to make them look like they’ve been used.
But best of all, the Blu-ray includes four new original shorts. If you’re a fan of Robot Chicken, then you’re going to really enjoy them as much as the film itself.