My first memory of Batman comes in the form of the Tim Burton adaptations back in the nineties mixed with Batman the Animated Series. Both were darker vastly different interpretations from Batman in the sixties. They also had one thing in common. Bruce Wayne did nothing else with his life except wait for the Batman signal to turn on (okay, I know he did more than that, but that still was his main purpose in life).
The Lego Batman Movie draws on this idea and flies with it to the extreme. When Batman is not fighting crime he does not know what to do. He sits in his bat cave, talks to Alfred and occasionally looks at the portrait of his family the day his parents died. It plays on Bruce Wayne's lonely life and while funny, the joke did get old eventually.
Batman (Will Arnett) enjoys battling villains including his arch nemesis Joker (Zach Galifianakis). When he's not fighting he watched Jerry Maguire, eats his favorite lobster dish and waits for the bat signal to appear in the sky.
There has been an abundance of Batman in the past twelve years. We got Christopher Nolan's take on Batman in which he tried so hard to make it realistic we lost Batman's charm. When that was over we got Zack Snyder's take on the hero which tried to incorporate more of Nolan's style, but still trying to add an element of fun. Both vastly different takes on the sixties and late nineties cartoony Batman. Of course being a cartoon film The Lego Batman Movie goes as far from the most recent adaptations as possible. He is dark and broody and brings a new life to the character that has not been seen in a while.
The story plays off of Batman's need to be alone. The Joker declares himself Batman's arch nemesis and not wanting to put a label on it, Batman denies it. Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) is promoted to police commissioner and wants to team up with Batman rather than rely on him to do all the work, and of course Batman does not want any part in that. When Batman unwittingly adopts Dick Grayson (Michael Cera) it takes him a full week to notice.
During the course of the film, Batman has to learn to let people in. It is fun, but as I mentioned the joke gets old pretty quick. I do not know much about Batman, but my boyfriend had fun noticing all the easter eggs thrown into the film. Even so, the film ends in a good, heartwarming manner.
I have never seen The Lego Movie, but if it is anything like this one I am sure it was fun to watch. The action sequences are bright and in your face. There are great cameos and I still do not understand why Ralph Fiennes was not used to voice one said cameo. Anyway, this film is sure to delight people of many ages particularly Batman fans. Some refuse to see their hero in any light other than a dark one, but it is good to see that even the best heroes are flawed.
