Official Synopsis
The film finds Lex Luthor taking jealousy to new heights when fellow billionaire Bruce Wayne wins the Man of the Year Award. To top Wayne’s accomplishment, Lex begins a campaign for President – and to create the atmosphere for his type of fear-based politics, he recruits the Joker to perfect a Black LEGO Destructor Ray. While wreaking havoc on Gotham, Lex successfully destroys Batman’s technology – forcing the Caped Crusader to reluctantly turn to Superman for help.
Imagine all the cutscenes from the video game version of this movie extracted and somewhat expanded upon in some areas and you have yourself LEGO Batman: The Movie — DC Super Heroes Unite. It’s really that simple. Now, before you rush to judgement, understand that those cutscenes were not only well acted and scripted, but they were entertaining as heck to get to in between all the action sequences in the game. All of these elements make LEGO Batman: The Movie a treat to watch (with kiddos or not).
What I particularly appreciated about this film was how the nastiest of the villains was portrayed with a good amount of humor to keep the viciousness of their nature in check. For example, the Joker is an insane, ruthless killer through past films and comics. In this movie, he is portrayed as a true villain, but all the nastiness his character is known for is replaced with snide remarks, innocent insults and lines like, “I hope you like sharks, Batman, because they’re going to like you!” It dumbs down the anxiety of knowing that hungry sharks are going to eat up Batman, and replaces it with silly lines that dim the grim outlook of Batman’s predicament. Thus, the movie is kid friendly because of things like this, but it’s not too kid friendly that adults can’t enjoy the ride.
Credit the writing talents of Jon Burton and David A. Goodman for putting together a solid story. They did a sharp job of setting up a balanced three-act play that doesn’t disappoint. Having the film start out with the final climax was brilliant, as kids will be instantly hooked to see how Batman and Superman ended up in the predicament that they were in. Once the story grabs you then you’re there the entire 71 minute ride. The ending is quite fantastic and, much like the game, the overall film really is one of the strongest LEGO stories to be told on the Blu-ray format.
Of course, it didn’t hurt to have a nice cast to bring these characters to life. You get the great talents of Troy Baker as Batman, the beautiful voice of Laura Bailey as Harley Quinn (and a few others), and the Krabby Patty himself, Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor (he is Mr. Krabs in Spongebob, in case you didn’t know — oh, and he’s been in a slew of other films). They didn’t seem to hold anything back as all the actors bought into their roles, and it shows.
The only knock I have about this release is the lack of DC Super Heroes in the entire film. I felt like we got a small taste through most of it, but then collapse the ending with everyone. I would have loved to see them come in a bit earlier. It’s a minor issue, but one that could have made this film even better.
Overall, this movie is pretty darn good. It has action, adventure and humor to keep everyone in the household entertained. And when you have kids, that’s not a bad thing at all. If you have to watch something 30 times then it’s best if it’s a good thing. LEGO Batman: The Movie is a very good thing.
Moving on to the Blu-ray portion of the film, what about the animation? It’s solid as a rock. It looks far better on Blu-ray than it does in the video game. You get no compression issues, the colors are vivid and sharp, and there is absolutely zero color banding. The frame rate seems to have been bumped up with this LEGO movie (in comparison to the last one I saw, which was Star Wars). There also has to be improved animation techniques with LEGO Batman: The movie because the fabric on his cape is absolutely detailed to the last stitch.
Another big plus for this release is the overall tone. Keeping with the Tim Burton motif from the late 80s/early 90s, the tone of the film is dark and gritty. You get a lot of rustic looking locations in Gotham, worn down buildings and a very familiar ACME chemical plant to boot. All of it shines in HD (or glimmers in the darkness), even during some of the darker, uglier scenes like the Arkham battle (I won’t ruin it for you).
One particular element that I really appreciated about the film is the inclusion of the 1989 Batman soundtrack from composer Danny Elfman. Don’t get me wrong, Hans Zimmer did a fabulous job on the most recent Batman films, but Danny Elfman is on a different level completely. They added his musical score in this film and it sounds just as good as it did in 1989. A great move on WB’s part.
Finally, here is what you should be looking forward to in terms of special features:
– Building Batman
– Lego Batman Jumps into Action
– LEGO/DC Universe Super Heroes Video Contest Winners
– Bonus Episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Teen Titans
– Trailers
Much like the Star Wars LEGO release, you get some pretty solid features with LEGO Batman: The Movie. I particularly like the featurette on building Batman and the bonus episodes that come with this. Sure, this isn’t a huge release with a billion features, but it’s solid enough to compliment what you get with this Blu-ray release.
