So, Mrs J and I went to see The Lego Batman Movie yesterday. Yes, without kids. Yes, utterly shamelessly. Yes, a couple of late 30-somethings did get some odd looks. No, I don’t care what anyone thinks.
Anyway. I had some thoughts. Here they are (don’t worry, there are no spoilers):
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE – GOOD STUFF
- Batman himself is as gloriously and daftly self-indulgent and petulant as ever. Vain, arrogant, ignorant, oblivious but magnificently buff. Will Arnett is perfect.
- The script does a great job of piercing the very idea of Batman and revelling in the dafter elements of the character. Yet the makers still clearly love their headline act deeply. Nice job.
- Batman in-jokes pepper the script. There’s a lot of fan service going on here, but it never interferes with the main story (such as it is) or becomes a distraction.
- Mad, crazy inventiveness of a kind not often seen in Hollywood. Or anywhere else for that matter. The creative department really cut loose here and it looks utterly fabulous. I simply couldn’t find fault with it technically or creatively.
- Some lovely one-liners, throwaway gags and background jokes. I’m sure it’ll take a huge number of viewings to catch them all.
- I’m not sure I’ve seen such impressive animation since, erm, The Lego Movie probably.
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE – BAD STUFF
- Woah! There’s a lot going on here, fellas. It kinda feels like a troop of pixies are punching my eyes from inside my skull.
- The “pew pew pew pew” gag was faintly amusing the first time. By the fifteenth time it was wearing thinner than a fat man’s cushion.
- Michael Cera as Robin. Is. Very. Annoying. Very annoying.
- The Joker should have been voiced by Mark Hamill. This is not even up for discussion. This may seem a minor point as Zach Galifianakis does a solid job. But it should have happened, Hamill is the definitive Joker (and, yes, I’m including Heath Ledger in that). Anyone else is a pale imitation.
Overall, it was pretty decent. Certainly a perfectly enjoyable and fun way to spend a couple of hours. However, we were both left with a vague and unsettling feeling that we’d just woken up from a particularly bizarre fever dream.
So, basically, The Lego Batman Movie is the cinematic equivalent of a pound of ripe stilton and half a bottle of Rioja, right before bed. If that sounds good, grab your crackers.
7.5 brooding and self-absorbed orphans out of 11
Still not sure if you fancy it? Check out the trailer then: