Movie Review: Lego: Batman (2017)

Plot: A cooler-than-ever Bruce Wayne must deal with the usual suspects as they plan to rule Gotham City, while discovering that he has accidentally adopted a teenage orphan who wishes to become his sidekick.

After seeing Lego: Ninjago (2017), I wasn’t all that impressed. It isn’t awful, but there are little to no humor for me to relate to. It’s a kids movie, and as that it just fine. I was told that I had to see Lego Batman, and lofty accolades such as “This is the only movie from DC since Nolan that has been GOOD” – I was quick to point out the wonderful Wonder Woman (2017), but I had to check Lego: Batman, out.

So I’m not putting it above Wonder Woman, but there were truths to the claim – Lego: Batman is fantastic. It is hilarious and witty and the dialogue is fantastic.

How do they give building blocks such emotions? When Batman was sad, I was sad. The movie is full of popular culture references. There are some great quips – the password for the Batcave, the subtle hinting towards double standards in gender relations, and some things about dealing with your feelings that probably flew right over the heads of the little kiddos.

Will Arnett voices the perfect Batman, creating nuances in a plastic toy that couldn’t have been there without a healthy dose of talent. Michael Cera manages to be not annoying (probably because I couldn’t see that face), and is the trusty sidekick/orphan Robin. Ralph Fiennes provide heavyweight gravity to Alfred; although he sounds still like he’s enjoying himself so much and Zach Galifianakis as The Joker manages to get real emosh at times. I also loved Rosario Dawson – I’ve become team-Rosario since discovering her in Daredevil, and she’s the best Batgirl I could wish for. She puts Batman in his place and stands her ground, and she’s an all-around stand up woman.

I don’t regret one second of this amazingly funny film, and I’d definitely watch this again.

Have you seen this? Let me know!

Rating: 8/10

January 29, 2018January 24, 2018 by Natasha Categories: 2017, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Alfred, DC Comics, Lego, Lego Movie, Lego Ninjago, Lego: Batman, Michael Cera, Movies, Ralph Fiennes, Reviews, Rosario Dawson, The Joker, Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis 3 Comments

Movie Review: The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)

Plot: Shunned by everyone for being the son of an evil warlord, a teenager seeks to defeat him with the help of his fellow ninjas.

In an unexpected turn of events, I consented to watch the Lego Ninjago movie Sunday night. There are a number of films which I’ve seen, and wanted to see, in cinema this year, of which Ninjago didn’t even register as a possibility. However, I was under obligation to adhere to the “birthday-person-is-allowed-final-word” clause, and I sat down and watched Ninjago.

I suspect Lego is laughing all the way to the bank. It is pure genius business decision, and contains enough adult humor to entertain parents while stressing them out – every child that sits through one of these films will end up wanting some new Legos (hell, I think a lot of adults end up wanting new Legos after a film like this). It is a feast for childish imagination and is bright and colorful and really very excitable. I want to sanctimoniously preach to the parents who had their children out of bed on a Sunday night at our 20:30 screening, but I guess that is beside the point. It is child based and sweet, although it does pale in comparison to 2015’s Lego film. It is funny and cute but lacks some of the sharp dialogue that has become expected in animation films.

Ninjago also has some seriously crazy moments and I couldn’t help but wonder which choice herbs they were smoking when thinking of the ideas they implemented. It was very weird. I liked Jackie Chan as Sensei Wu, Dave Franco as Lloyd Garmadon and Justin Theroux as the not-so-evil-supervillain Garmadon. Typing that out made me realize that this film barely had a plot or a conclusion (the end is particularly haphazard), but ultimately, for children, it is fine. Personally I enjoyed the first Lego film more, and I’ve been informed that Lego: Batman is a finer film than Ninjago.  However, Ninjago has some laugh-out-loud moments and it was bright, quirky and still not nearly as bad as I expected so all to them.

Have you seen Ninjago? If so, what did you think?

Rating: 6.5/10

October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2017, Movies, movies, Review, ReviewsTags: 2017, 2017 Movies, animation, Dave Franco, Jackie Chan, Justin Theroux, Lego, Lego Movie, Lego Ninjago, Lloyd Garmadon, Michael Pena, Movies, Ninjago, Olivia Munn, Reviews, Sensei Wu 8 Comments