Seriously, what was wrong with it? There was so much to love about the movie, so why was I not crazy about it? Maybe there was just too much going on to appreciate in a single viewing. Perhaps something will click next time I see it… and of course there will be plenty of next times. I have two young boys, after all.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t dislike the movie. Not at all. As I said, there was SO MUCH to love. There were so many Easter eggs, cameos, and references that I’m sure even I didn’t catch them all in the first viewing. I know it will be fun to watch it again and catch new bits that I missed the first time around. There were tons of laughs, and even a few gut-busters (Sauron crying out, “MY EYE!!!!” was easily the show-stealer for me). Throwbacks to the classic ‘60s show lurked around every corner, much to my delight. Even the Shark-Repellent Bat-Spray plays a pivotal role in the film! Gad, I loved that! My recognition of the dozens of obscure villains boosted my nerd street cred, as well as giving me the resolve to track down and own a Calendar Man Lego figure. (Seriously, that is happening.) Without giving too much away – although, I can’t help it if you clicked on an article about a movie you haven’t seen yet – the resolution to the story was fantastic. It had definite shades of the earthquake from the epic No Man’s Land story, but with the quirkiness and joviality that you would expect to see from a kid playing with his Lego toys.
So why did I leave underwhelmed?
First and foremost, The Lego Batman Movie is NOT a super hero movie. That should be apparent, and I knew this going into it. I wasn’t expecting The Dark Knight. There is no reason to be disappointed in the movie because it failed as a super hero story, and I think that I’m objective enough to separate the two for the purpose of a critique. No, I was expecting something like The Lego Movie, and it was a bit of a let-down. The Batman character was one of my very favorite parts of The Lego Movie. Is it possible that this movie was too much of a good thing? Was everything that made Lego Batman great dragged out to the point of overkill? Hmmm. It’s possible, but I don’t think that’s quite right.
Perhaps it was the lack of a strong comedic foil. In The Lego Movie, Emmet and Batman played beautifully off of each other. The supporting cast of Vitruvius, Wildstyle, Benny The 198-something Space Guy, Bad Cop, and President Business all added their own perfectly crafted comedic stylings, and no one personality dominated the film. The laughs in The Lego Movie came from all different directions, whereas it was decidedly one-sided in The Lego Batman Movie. Barbara Gordon somewhat replaced Wildstyle, but with far less character development. I suppose that Robin was supposed to be this movie’s version of Benny, but it was with a much lesser impact. Frankly, Robin got a bit annoying. No, in this new movie, the jokes mostly came from Batman. And let’s be honest, how many times can we really laugh about a Lego figure having shredded abs?
Okay, so the comedy was somewhat one-dimensional, and that’s a bit of a minus, but the movie was funny. Maybe not as uproariously funny as The Lego Movie, but still funny. I don’t think that’s quite what left me feeling disappointed. I think the main problem with Lego Batman is that it simply didn’t feel like a Lego movie. In The Lego Movie, you felt like you were watching an extremely imaginative kid playing with his toys. Everything from the characters using Lego instruction books in their daily lives to Lego Superman fleeing in terror from the dreaded Orb of Titleist just rang of toys being used in creative play. It brought me back to my childhood and reminded me of the silly adventures I put my toys through. That’s what made the film so brilliant. The Lego Batman Movie has none of that. It’s really just a funny Batman story that happens to have been animated with Lego characters. Even the backgrounds bothered me. In The Lego Movie, it was clear that EVERYTHING was made of Lego. (Yes, I know it was animated, but everything looked like Lego.) The backgrounds in Lego Batman didn’t have that same effect. It looked and felt like a computer-animated Batman movie. A good movie, but lacking in the magic that made The Lego Movie so special.
It probably does sound as though I hated this movie, or at least that I enjoy nitpicking it. Let me assure you, that’s definitely not the case. I went in wanting to like the movie, and overall I did. It was definitely enjoyable, and I will happily watch it again. It just paled in comparison to the original. I feel like The Lego Movie accomplished something that perhaps can’t be duplicated. Let’s be clear, that inimitable magic should be seen as a testament to The Lego Movie, and not as a dig against Lego Batman. Batman is well worth seeing, and I encourage everyone to do so. They may never top The Lego Movie, but it will sure as hell be fun to watch them try!
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