›Insomniac Movie Marathon: LEGO Batman@rvgenaille2443d
-via IMDb.com
Going into this flick, I have to admit I didn't care for The Lego Movie. I love zany comedies but it was too too much of everything and it annoyed me. I rented this one with trepidation and a little bit of superhero fatigue, hoping against hope that this would be more of a satire of those movies. And now that I've watched it, I'm not sure what to think of it.
Lego Batman is dark and deep and needs to lighten up and embrace the idea of not being alone. At least according to Alfred and The Joker. And he starts to get that when he accidentally adopts Dick Grayson and sends The Joker to the Phantom Zone only to have him return with a whole bunch of crazy super villain types. Batman must work together with Dick/Robin, Alfred and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl to save the day.
This film was not made for me. Sure, it had adult jokes and inside humour but the zaniness here was aimed at kids and the colourful spectacle was too sugary for me. The animation is outstanding but it was just colours on a screen after a while and, like The Lego Movie, everything was thrown at you at such a dizzying speed that there was no time to digest what was going on.
For years on the big screen we have seen only the most serious and tragic features of the Dark Knight. In Lego Movie: Batman, however, you can enjoy an extremely satirical version of the hero. Bruce Wayne's image encompasses Will Arnett ("Arrested Developmen"), who portrays an extremely sarcastic and self-effacing Batman. His voice sounds like Dirty Harry with heavy bronchitis again, but he does not forget to mention something about his impeccable stomach press.
The storyline itself follows the key formula of any other superhero film. The difference is that as part of the Lego: The Movie universe, everything is viewed through an ironic prism, from which light jokes come out with lightning. The main sacrifice of all this sarcasm is precisely Batman. Directed by Chris McKay ("Robot Chicken"), he skillfully selects the qualities of his characters and distorts them to the extreme. Bruce Wayne saves Gotham every day, plays electric guitar, makes face stubs for oblivion, but also watches Jerry McGuire on his own. He is self-loving and complex by his loneliness. That's why he can not let anyone come near. Although he deliberately criticizes the character, the film ultimately contributes to Batman's mythology. It shows us another side of his anguish and perhaps the most human fear he has - letting people into his personal life. We see Bruce Wayne coping with his complexes, rapping and praising his sculpted figure in the meantime. He is aware of everything from the crazy years of Adam West to the battles with Henry Kavall in Batman vs. Superman.
Barbara Gordon was one of the few weak points in the movie. Of course, it's not as tragic as it was in The Killing Joke, but Rosario Dawson's heroine strengthens a set of female stereotypes. Let's compare it to Wildstyle from "LEGO: The Movie," which was highly featured, but still part of the band. At the same time he tried to keep his identity and goodness. Barbara's problems come in two moments. First, she wants to change Batman without any respect for what his ideals are or why he is fighting for them. And secondly, after allying with Batman, it remains as an imperative and controlling voice over everyone else. The other characters were in place, everyone had a purpose, whether it was important to the story or from a purely humorous point of view. Michael Sera ("Juno"), as always, was infinitely sweet in the role of Dick Grayson / Robin. Zack Galifianakis was right in place as the Joker. Honestly, in recent years we have been tired of his awkward and strange humor, but here he fits well in the sarcastic setting. Bain made a pleasant impression, like a visual and vocal wink at Tom Hardy, as well as the monster in Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin. Everything from the music to the mockery of the villains (and they are many) serves as a reference to something else - the most common previous movie about Batman or even "The Suicide squad".
On a purely technical level this movie is fantastic. Each of the computer-generated blocks looks wonderful. Every battle is dynamic and fun. Sometimes it's a bit difficult to watch the action (but it's offset as the camera focuses on something important in the center of the screen). This talks about the standard of animation today, and we should be glad that we have lived to see Lego figurines playing without moving them. At last monopolistic capitalism showed us our charm because if Warner Bros. they did not have such a huge collection of films, we would not be able to see how Sauron was allied with King Kong and the Joker to destroy Gotham. It made me remember the time when I played as a kid and collected different sets to make it all more epic. This is the most fun part of the movie, awakens a nostalgic feeling in you. There is a strange awareness when you leave the cinema. You just watched Lego's two-hour ad, masked as a minor meta-comedy. I do not know if this is a cause of happiness or fear. You judge.
›Insomniac Film Festival #21: The Lego Batman Movie@rvgenaille3255d
-via IMDb.com
Going into this flick, I have to admit I didn't care for The Lego Movie. I love zany comedies but it was too too much of everything and it annoyed me. I rented this one with trepidation and a little bit of superhero fatigue, hoping against hope that this would be more of a satire of those movies. And now that I've watched it, I'm not sure what to think of it.
Lego Batman is dark and deep and needs to lighten up and embrace the idea of not being alone. At least according to Alfred and The Joker. And he starts to get that when he accidentally adopts Dick Grayson and sends The Joker to the Phantom Zone only to have him return with a whole bunch of crazy super villain types. Batman must work together with Dick/Robin, Alfred and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl to save the day.
This film was not made for me. Sure, it had adult jokes and inside humour but the zaniness here was aimed at kids and the colourful spectacle was too sugary for me. The animation is outstanding but it was just colours on a screen after a while and, like The Lego Movie, everything was thrown at you at such a dizzying speed that there was no time to digest what was going on.
›A Geeky Dad's Movie Guide to The Lego Batman Movie@hanshotfirst3424d
This could possibly be the shortest review in the history of time.
Go see The Lego Batman Movie right now!
*The creators of this movie could have phoned it in... but they didn't.*
Ok if that didn't work and you are not running out the door to find a theater, here's the real review.
I have been looking forward to this movie for at least one year. I loved The Lego Movie and thought Batman was the funniest part. I anticipated that this would be 90 minutes of that same brooding Batman fun from the first movie. I was terribly wrong.
It was 104 minutes of awesome Batman fun!
And I mean the full 104 minutes. Batman's jokes begin the second the previews end and the movie starts. He cracks jokes about the Warner Brothers, DC, and RatPac Entertainment logos. He even jokes about the theme music. The closing credits take place during a really funny dance number. The 99 minutes in-between are filled with non-stop laughs and action.
This is the second time this week I have left the theater exhausted. The first was caused by fighting back tears during Hacksaw Ridge. Today I was exhausted from laughing. I mean really laughing. It wasn't just me. Everyone in the theater was laughing out loud at least fifteen times.
This movie could have simply been 90 minutes of Batman fighting villains. It didn't have to be creative in the least. The animation would have looked cool, it would be exciting, it would make $100 million and everyone would be happy. The writers could have taken the easy way out. But they didn't.
*Number of good ideas the writers had... 1,000*
Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern, John Whittington actually wrote an incredibly entertaining story. They story actually made sense. Usually writers don't get "brownie points" for a coherent script, but after seeing Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad... it is clearly much harder than it seems.
Don't get me wrong, the story is only there as a vehicle for cool action and TONS of jokes, but it is still well thought out. Unlike those live action films, I can explain why every single character did everything they did. I still have no idea why Batman, Superman, or Lex Luther did anything they did in that piece of garbage. This is supposed to be a kids movie and it is far more intelligent than either of those live action fiascos.
To sum up the plot, Batman has to defeat many super villains. It might be more accurate to say he has to defeat every super villain. Luckily the writers create a plausible reason for this. He also has to grow as a person. This added depth was a great touch. It is a very simple and straightforward growth that any child can recognize... but it is also a transformation that adults can appreciate. Don't worry, it never gets too serious. There are no long breaks in the fun to deal with Batman's emotions. Just quick ones here and there to give the story a bit of depth.
One of the best parts of the movie is...
The Lego Batman Movie makes fun of other superhero movies including Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad.
Some of the biggest adult laughs come at the expense of these two disasters of a movie.
*Why are we mad at each other? I have no idea.
Is it because we don't know each other's mother's name yet?*
This movie also pays homage to the 1960s Batman TV show. It is hard to pinpoint my favorite part of this movie, but bringing back the villains, costumes, and BAM!s from this cornerstone of my youth may have been it.
The creators brought in some real actors to voice the characters and each is perfect. I could listen to Will Arnett riff as Batman all day long. Michael Cera's portrayal of Robin is filled with the perfect amount of youthful wonder and exuberance. Ralph Finnes and Rosario Dawson as Alfred and Barbara Gordon respectively are perfect. This movie did not miss a single detail. They even brought back Billy Dee Williams to play Two-face ( a role he played in Tim Burton's Batman).
The animation is perfect. It is simply amazing. As with the first Lego Movie, the music is also fantastic and fun. My kids and I will be singing "Friends are Family" for weeks.
I honestly cannot say one bad word about this movie. As soon as the movie ended, my kids and I immediately started trying to figure out when we could see it again. Both would have sat back down and watched it immediately. So would I. In fact I need to see it again. There were so many little "Easter eggs" that I know I missed some. The song that Batman wrote for his first epic battle of the movie was so funny that I need to hear it again to truly concentrate on it. I was too busy watching the action to catch all of the funny lines in the song.
We will most likely go to see it again tomorrow.
I guess I was mistaken when I said I couldn't pinpoint my favorite part of the movie. I actually can.
Here is the only "spoiler" I will share. I will only share it because I think there are only at most 5 people on steemit who will actually get this joke.
Robin is clearly a gymnast. At one point he offers to fight some bad guys and tells Batman, "Don't worry I know Gymkata". I nearly wet my pants laughing. My kids and pretty much everyone else in the theater thought I was nuts. Here is why that is so funny to me.
Gymkata may very well be the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life (yes worse than the Star Wars Holiday Special). It is also pretty obscure. I can't believe the writers included that line. At that moment I actually felt like the writers had said "Hey let's throw in a line just for that guy hanshotfirst".
Gymkata is a 1985 "martial arts" movie starring World Champion gymnast Kurt Thomas. In the movie he uses gymnastics to fight ninjas. I am not making this up. I have seen the movie at least 10 times. You can expect a post about that very soon.
In the meantime, here's the trailer for Gymkata.
Any movie that is so dedicated to cracking up geeks like me is a perfect 10 in my book.
Go see The Lego Batman Movie right now!
Geeky Dad's Movie Guide
Number of times I fell asleep: 0
Number of eye rolls: 0
Number of face palms: 1 (But it was a double face palm in amazement of them including a Gymkata reference)
Number of times my kids asked to go to the bathroom or get food out of sheer boredom: 0
Number of times I checked steemit: 0
Number of times I said "That's ridiculous": 0
Did my kids like it: Yes!!!!! We are seeing it again tomorrow.
Would I see it without my kids: Yes!!!!! I would see it again tomorrow even if they didn't want to go.
Full price/Matinee/Rental/Free/Not worth the time: Full price
Has anyone else seen The Lego Batman Movie yet? More importantly have you seen Gymkata?
-via IMDb.com
*The creators of this movie could have phoned it in... but they didn't.*
*Number of good ideas the writers had... 1,000*
*Why are we mad at each other? I have no idea.
Is it because we don't know each other's mother's name yet?*