Shout-out to all the biggest, greatest & craziest fans of Batman out there like yours truly, we have a monumental duty to do - Thank Lego!
We've seen every face of Batman, ranging from the best cartoon adaptation show; the dark & thematically complex Batman: The Animated Series, Adam West's comical Batman from 1960, right to the adventurous silver screen journeys of The Caped Crusader in the 90s, Christopher Nolan's mighty The Dark Knight trilogy & Zack Snyder's third-rate quality of DC Extended Universe films.
When The Lego Movie was released in 2014, the immediate character who stood out in the picture was undoubtedly, Batman! Come on, we are talking about the most, again, the most legendarily notorious fictional character of all time! So, this isn't the surprise. It's not a question of who, but how & why. What the team & Will Arnett brought to the hero's portrayal - satire, is comedy gold! This is where the previous paragraph's 'every face' turns into 'almost every face'! How would you like to see Batman as a self-indulgence driven superhero who's irresistibly cute by being a dear and a darling? Well, wish no more as he exists now!
Obviously, when a particular persona is ridiculously famous, at this age, a spin-off is expected. And The Lego Batman Movie locks you from Scene 1. Meta-explanations of production companies' logos inform you that the dialogues from here on are going to continuously make you roll on the floor laughing! Iron Man Sucks as password, Bat Fax, snake clowns, voice mimicking gunshots, Bruce Wayne requesting for drink to spit in shock, Levitation Charm on Batman, Blu-rays, 'Alfred the Buttler', Godzilla going on a hiding after a mistake, BAT for Best At Teamwork, the 'click' when the toys are conjoined & Batman emitting coordinates sound effect will evaporate your sanity!
Sticking true to its goal, the script fleshes out the character & characterizations of Batman like no other! From the opening sequence, you get to see how prestigious & paramount the vigilante is to the people of Gotham. Right from the disguise prank to the Let's Get Nuts mix with Batman rocking his head after kicking the villains in a slow-mo, you understand how he views himself! He is rocksteadily proud of his job, his identity, his indestructability, everything! The first series of harsh dialogues exchange thrown at Joker (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) establishes who Batman is & where he stands. He works alone. He is full of himself. He is comfortable working with himself, and himself only. He takes all the credits. He doesn't consider anyone. He doesn't need any second, let alone third parties in his life. This comfort zone of his is further elucidated visually when he returns home. The elephantine Wayne Manor & Bat Cave to show how small, lonely and singular he is, enhanced by its pin-drop silenced environment & amplified by the lingering, eventless, slow plus mundane shots of Batman microwaving his food & watching a couples film alone in his home theater. Deep inside, he yearns for company when he stares at the photo of his parents. While doing these, the screenwriters have also shown his daily routine in the First Act. Killing two birds in one stone, aye? With all these scenes, we've fully fathom who's our protagonist & the dramatic premise of the motion picture we're about to watch.
Plot Point I reaches when Barbara Gordon (voiced by Rosario Dawson) announces how the citizens do not need to depend on Batman but the police force in order to restore permanent peace to the city, followed up by the episode where Joker surrenders himself & all the other baddies to them. This takes away the primary meaning to Batman's life. A person deemed to be exceedingly important to the people, is no longer wanted. What would he do without the only thing he does in his lonely life - crime-fighting? This point forward, the hero's dramatic need becomes about regaining his status that means the only and everything to him. To figure out what the Joker is really up to is one conflict, but to deal with an adopted son; a first new member in a new family is another! So, physically & emotionally, Batman has confrontations to be done! The writers present sequences after sequences to really bend his character arc into a beautiful curve, hence resulting a phenomenal metamorphosis! Besides Batman sent to Phantom Zone being a hooking twist, the villainy sides in him shown by Phyllis (voiced by Ellie Kemper) is an example of a remarkable impetus to complete the arc! Packing up the trio to Blüdhaven is touching to be honest. The reason why the screenplay required multitudes of scenes like that is because it's dealing with an arduous, tough, hard & stubborn character. If Batman was to give up on his ideologies way earlier & embrace the significance of company and family after a couple of persuasion forces, the dramatis personae would have failed miserably & end up super-unconvincing. Batman needed ample time & space. He is in denial. He hides his true feelings at every turn. Every plot points & occurrences happen at the right point and note. And that is why the message pays off at the end of the film! The same boring return-to-home activities are faster & more fun now. This forms the Bat family we all know of - Batman, Robin, Batgirl & Alfred. Good vibes!
There are also humorous nods to fill in the gaps & present us the best possible version of an unabridged Batman! Countless grumpy "No" on floor, selfie-bombing, good ideas tracker & rewinds to all the previous Batman in history including Bat-nipples are crazy! Apart from how painstakingly the writers have carved the Batman character, they did the same almost for all the other characters' motivations too! Joker capitulates as revenge, because without him, Batman will have nothing to do anymore. Are there any other better ways to make him realize he is zero without his villains? Simply brilliant! Also, Joker knew Batman would return for him, because for one, Batman has admitted to him that he doesn't like Superman stealing limelight, and two, what's a better plan than to snatch it back with the biggest idea that put Superman on the media attention - Phantom Zone. See, this is what we yearn for! Smart characters with smart reasoning behind smart decisions! And every little scenes too, none were included without a reason. Even the bomb comes back into play at the very end for detonation. This is how precise the screenwriting is! Top-notch storyline!
One aspect of this feature everyone is sure to fall in love with is the relationship between Joker & Batman! The way Joker feels & describes true hate passionately as true love, and the both expressing hatred each has on the other; I Hate You in a I Love You manner, is supreme! The irony here is so strong & effective! Talk about world building! Lego construction toys have been put to primal use to erect the Gotham we know & grow up with! Although you are watching a comedy, nothing stops you from feeling that this is a superhero film. A Batman film! From epic takedowns, vehicles library to all the costumes in the wardrobe catalogue, nothing is short of the satisfaction a live action Batman movie would provide! Antagonists, oh God, the antagonists! Riddler, Scarecrow, Bane, Two-Face, Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and… lost count! If you wish to see Batman facing villains from other universes in an absolute cataclysm, The Lego Batman Movie is ready to grant this impossible thought too! Who would you like to see, is the only valid question here. Lord Voldemort? Sauron? Dinosaurs from Jurassic Park? Shark from Jaws? King Kong? Medusa? Just name it!
In 2017, a picture is particularly mentioned only if the technicalities aren't great instead of it being outstanding. That's how technology has grown and we might be taking efforts to achieve perfection for granted. Maybe. On this note, Lorne Balfe's score is smashing. End credits is exceptional. But, it's the color that takes the cake. The ablaze, bold & warm usage everywhere highlights the entire 2 hours! There's a scene where Batman loses the one thing he has in life and he is in utmost sadness & disappointment. His surrounding turns monochrome, except for himself. The only other colored objects he could see are the villains - his aim / dramatic need / focus. This is how astutely colors have been utilized to tell this story, other than just decorating the scenes.
Definitely, issues made its attendance. Not once, but thrice. First, there were lags here and there. It is not at all times the proceedings onscreen were interesting, especially the Middle Act. This has a lot to do with the presence of Robin (voiced by Michael Cera). His hyperactive trait & superficial happiness are bloody annoying. Secondly, how could Phyllis show Batman what's currently happening on Earth like a CCTV up there in Phantom Zone? It's illogical. Thirdly and the biggest of all, is using all the supervillains to help combat Joker. Now, this comes off as a very silly move. How could the motivations of all, again, all the villains would have changed in one go, to a point all of them are teaming up to fight with Batman instead of against him? By right, they would be happy with Joker bringing back more gruesome villains in order to complete their supposed mission together. The 'betrayal' they're talking about, is flimsy! Here's how to fix it! Why not show Batman team up with all the superheroes at the 57th Annual Justice League Anniversary Party instead? It would have patched more of his egoistic self, right? He would have learnt to work side by side with equally talented heroes just like how he's doing it with the trio, right? He would have been accepted by the Justice League as a family member too, right? This is surely the superior move rather than the one written for this film. Last but not least, a couple of nitpickies. Batman asked whether Suicide Squad is going to be assigned to him to stop the villains, and a while later he contradicts himself & argues with Barbara about how heroes can't work with antagonists. It's at instances like this the writers have to be more meticulous. Unless the Batman portrayed here is the second generation one, him falling for Barbara does wrong to the comics origin. It is Dick Grayson whom she goes into a relationship with. But hey, this is something that will not bother non-comic movie goers. Plus, the makers of this film are only showing Batman's feelings towards Barbara, without actually showing them getting together as couples, so not a biggie. It is correct that the Lego filmmakers stick to the similar notion theme - about building, but it would be advantageous to them if audiences could experience different storytelling instead of just the same beat-to-beat exposition & climax from The Lego Movie.