The Lego Batman Movie, review: Scrumdiddlyumptious

Lego Batman is fuelled by irreverence, suspenseful action sequences and zany visuals, writes Charlotte O'Sullivan
Charlotte O'Sullivan22 November 2017

Humour is a killer weapon.

Few sane adults are looking forward to Zack Snyder’s The Justice League but loads of them are dying to see a children’s cartoon in which plastic toys attempt to save Gotham City. That’s because 2014’s The Lego Movie was one of the funniest films of the decade and everyone’s hoping this spin-off offers more of the same.

It’s not quite as good but it’s still scrumdiddlyumptious. Early on, Batman (voiced by Will Arnett) has a tantrum because Alfred the butler (Ralph Fiennes) asks him to attend Commissioner Gordon’s retirement do (Batman wants to stay at home and watch Jerry Maguire). Our hero writhes, in an angular fashion, to signal his fury. From that minute I was sold.

Those who object to product placement will be aghast that this franchise never stops celebrating what can be done with happy, shiny, tiny bricks. But Lego Batman is fuelled by the kind of irreverence that seeped into the world via The Simpsons, South Park and Team America: World Police.

When a song informs us that Batman is a billionaire who doesn’t pay his taxes, we know what kind of universe we’re in (a universe where pop culture is something to analyse, not dismiss). How refreshing, too, that this movie, unlike Deadpool, doesn’t indulge in “ironic” sexism. Babs Gordon (Rosario Dawson) is truly awesome.

Children won’t get all the in-jokes but they’ll adore the neat central conceit (no Batman is an island), villains with genuine depth (Zach Galifianakis’s needy Joker is a keeper), suspenseful action sequences and zany visuals. The word “childish” is used as an insult. D’oh! As demonstrated here, things connected with children don’t have to be immature.

Cert U, 104 mins

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