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Movie Review: 'The LEGO Batman Movie'

By Bill Wine

KYW Newsradio 1060

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As a card-carrying member of the minority audience who found 2014's popular and commercially successful animated comedy, The LEGO Movie, to be little more than a 100-minute commercial for the titular toys disguised as a movie, I wasn't exactly excited about the prospects for a second LEGO movie.

Having seen it, I'll stand by what I said about the original, but quickly admit that The LEGO Batman Movie is a substantial improvement, as fresh and funny as its predecessor was cynical and strained.

Oh, there are still toys to be sold in this plastic universe, to be sure, but this time there's a clever movie doing the selling and mostly selling itself.

So I'll lego my complaints about Lego.

Lego remains a childhood playtime favorite made by a Danish company, The Lego Group.

Just in case you've been trapped under a large rock for decades, Lego are colorful interlocking bricks and accompanying gears and miniature figures used in the building of buildings, robots, and vehicles.

The name comes from the Danish phrase, "leg godt," which means "play well."

A follow-up but not strictly a sequel, The LEGO Batman Movie borrows from the Batman mythology to deliver a lighthearted Batman flick but with comedy and Lego.

In it, Batman, Bruce Wayne's secret crime-fighting identity, both voiced by Will Arnett (as they were in The LEGO Movie), goes on a personal journey to find himself and learn the importance of teamwork and friendship.

 

3
(3 stars out of 4)

 

Yep, the Caped Crusader must stop being a vigilante loner and learn to play with others in the hopes of saving Gotham City from a hostile takeover by the arch-villain, The Joker, voiced by Zach Galifianakis.

And while dealing with the criminal element, Batman must also take responsibility for raising the boy he adopted, Dick Grayson/Robin, voiced by Michael Cera.

Also along for the ride are Jenny Slate as Harley Queen, Ralph Fiennes as Alfred the Butler, Rosario Dawson as Batgirl, Mariah Carey as the mayor, Billy Dee Williams as the villain known as Two-Face, Channing Tatum as Clark Kent/Superman, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Jonah Hill as the Green Lantern, and Adam Devine as The Flash.

Making his feature-film directorial debut is Chris McKay, working from a script by five – count 'em, five – credited screenwriters: Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Storm, and John Whittington.

Their ace in the hole is Will Arnett, who gives a consistently hilarious gravel-voiced reading of the arrogant, antisocial, clenched, and narcissistic title character and, despite delivering just about constant banter, never wears out his welcome.

Consequently, he and the film are funny when they want to be – which is most of the time -- and even poignant, especially in the final reel, when that is the goal.

This despite breathless pacing that never lets up, action scenes galore, pop-culture references by the dozen, and a sky-high level of energy.

The sights gags are plentiful, but it's the laugh-out-loud one-liners and asides zipping by, aimed more directly at adults old enough to remember all the incarnations of Batman over the years than at the youngsters, that make you listen carefully, knowing that many of them will follow on the heels of another joke still being laughed at.

So, yes, it's a kidflick, but not one that ever disenfranchises the aging ex-kids in attendance.

Which is why we'll construct 3 stars out of 4 for the animated action-comedy spinoff, The LEGO Batman Movie. The first movie just toyed with us, but this one is a hoot.

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