While it struggles to find a decent ending and gets a bit too twee towards the end, The Lego Batman Movie is packed with laughs, high-octane action, silly thrills and wacky spills, especially if you get to see it in 4DX. The film lends itself perfectly to the motions seats, wind turbines and water spritzers that make up the new technology in cinema, making what is otherwise a funny movie about Batman in Lego form into a whole experience that will stick in your memory.
The film itself is essentially a love story, of sorts, in which Batman refuses to accept the importance of his relationship with the Joker, forcing the smiling menace to up his game in a bid to get the Bad to admit that they have a thing. It makes for a genius proposition for the film and sets up a lot of great jokes. It’s added to by the isolation and self adulation that Batman has, with some hilarious scenes with his butler and father figure, Alfred Pennyworth.
If that isn’t enough great comedy material, there’s also a genius father son relationship between Batman and his recently adopted son, Dick Grayson, who goes on to become Robin. And just to top things off there’s a pretty funny love connection between the Bat and new police commissioner, Barbara Gordon – Jim’s daughter, who retires from Batbutton duties pretty early on in the film.
Will Arnett (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows) is perfect as the comedy incarnation of Batman, delivering some smart one-liners in his gruffer than gruff voice. Timing is spot on, especially between Batman and Robin, played with excellent twee counterbalance by Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World). The fact that the two have worked together previously on Arrested Development really shows, because they make a solid crime fighting duo with some of the best dialogue delivery in the film.
The only potential contender to rival this is Zach Galifianakis (Birdman) as The Joker, who makes Jared Leto look like a waste of space as the same character in Suicide Squad. Again, he has great lines with Arnett and the tongue-in-cheek hatemance does a to build out the film to feel more than just a bit of a laugh with some Lego and DC Comics characters.
The rest of the cast is pretty strong too with Rosario Dawson (Daredevil Series 2) putting in a good shift as Barbara Gordon and Ralph Feinnes (Spectre) is pretty witty as Alfred. There’s also an abundance of funny cameos to look out for with Conan O’Brien as The Riddler, Channing Tatum as Superman, Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, Eddie Izzard as Lord Voldemort, Seth Green as King Kong and Jemaine Clement as Lord Sauron.
The Lego Batman Movie looks very impressive and works well in 3D with more movement than a slightly unhinged roller-coaster ride. It’s not quite as impressive visually as The Lego Movie was a couple of years back, but a part of this is the lack of colour in a typically dark Gotham city. The visuals and movement lend themselves perfectly to the 4DX screenings that have started to materialise at Cineworld these days, and despite our initial reservations the whole things won us over within seconds of the film starting.
The only downer is the slightly meh final, final end to the drama as the film went on for just a little longer than it needed to, but overall The Lego Batman Movie is a funny blast of a film. Expect a lot of laughs, great action, awesome visuals and lightning fast delivery. Plus, if you opt for the 4DX version you might want to add in a few splashes of water, strong gusts of wind and the kind of seat movement that really puts you in the thick of the action. Good work all round!
The Lego Batman Movie review: 4.4/5
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