★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Back in the early noughties, Warner Bros. took a mighty risk
on an up-and-coming director, Christopher Nolan, gifting him the reins of their
most lucrative property. Three films – bringing with them a decade of financial
and critical success – defined a comic book legend for a whole new generation:
tormented, elemental, and believable. Now another Chris (McKay, he of Robot Chicken fame) takes the directing
seat and immediately shines a spotlight on the rubber nipples, pointing out the
ridiculousness of trying to take a grown man and his cosplay obsession
seriously.
In this spin-off of sorts to 2014’s anarchically enjoyable The LEGO Movie, the focus is purely on
Will Arnett’s clueless crusader and his suits, villains, vehicles, puns, and –
as noted by Ralph Fiennes’ Alfred - “even that weird stuff from 1966”. Barbara
Gordon (Rosario Dawson) takes control of the Gotham Police force and suggests
an allegiance with Batman, thereby threatening the winged wonder’s lifestyle of
singlehandedly taking down criminals by day and guffawing at the dénouement of Jerry Maguire by night. Begrudgingly accepting
help from newly-adopted Dick Grayson (an ingeniously cast Michael Cera), Batman
sets out to prove his worth as a lone wolf with calamitous, hilarious results.
Moving at the same break-neck speed as its predecessor, LEGO Batman bobs and weaves through explosions
of comedy. A burning heart of child-like joy, an outer debris field of pop
culture content and smoky wisps of LEGO-obsessive in-jokes (the Gotham City
cinema advertises 'Two Shades of Bley') ensure not a single funny bone is left
un-tickled. It's not merely pointing and laughing at Batman; the screenwriters clearly
love the character and his stories, and so the barely-contained affection they
have for other fans shines just as brightly.
Arnett’s gravelly delivery never stops being hilarious and Cera
is the finest he’s been since Scott
Pilgrim, but our hearts belong entirely to Ralph Fiennes as Alfred and his very British expletives, always one
step away from lumping "Master Bruce" with an ASBO. Meanwhile, Zach Galifianakis
as the overly-attached Joker is a more interesting portrayal of the clown
prince of crime than Jared Leto and his method-acting hokum will ever be. Plus he’s
actually, y’know, funny!
The colourfully jovial attitude of the 60's TV show, a
bombastic score worthy of the Nolan movies (Hans Zimmer’s frequent collaborator
Lorne Balfe is an inspired choice of composer) and justice for some left behind
by the Schumacher films seal the deal (Billy Dee Williams reprises his role as
Harvey Two-Face after nearly thirty years). It's everything that 2016’s grossly
misjudged adaptation of The Killing Joke
wasn't: smart, beautifully animated and unquestionably cinematic, with a keenly
unique eye for the Batman-Joker relationship. Additionally, it doesn't make
Barbara Gordon surplus to seedy requirement, but instead an
equal, nay, superior force to the mammalian mansplainer.
Drawbacks? Well, the central message intended to give the
kids pause for thought is nothing particularly new. In fact, it borrows heavily
from The LEGO Movie's
"Everything is cool when you're part of a team" mantra...but frankly,
when's that ever been a bad thing? It’s a family film in message and content, it’s
‘U’ certificate signified by my favourite of all BBFC guidance notes; “Contains
rude humour”.
If there is any downside, it has to be that there aren’t any
Batman jokes to make anymore. Seriously. YouTube’s How it Should Have Ended series may as well announce redundancy now
that an entire avenue of superhero parody has now been swiftly neutralised with
the stroke of a well-aimed Batarang. Trying to grab hold of every joke is like
attempting to snatch bullets from the air, which seems entirely appropriate as
a fault when that's a job more suited to Superman. When ‘too much comedy’ is
the worst criticism I can level, there’s no choice but to concede defeat, don the
plastic cowl, do a bit of Bat-beat-boxing and lay down the ‘THWACK!’ on some
Daleks.
…oh, sorry, did I forget to mention there are Daleks in it?
