View Poll Results: THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

Voters
13. You may not vote on this poll
  • Yay

    13 100.00%
  • Nay

    0 0%
Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: The Lego Batman Movie (Chris McKay)

  1. #1
    In the belly of a whale Henry Gale's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    4,703

    The Lego Batman Movie (Chris McKay)

    Last 11 things I really enjoyed:

    Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
    Safe (Haynes, 1995)
    South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
    Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
    Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
    What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
    Diva (Beineix, 1981)
    Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
    The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
    Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
    Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)

  2. #2
    In the belly of a whale Henry Gale's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    4,703
    It might feel kinda pointless to discuss whether or not this is one of the best Batman films ever made as its a toy-licensed spinoff movie, and yet, it absolutely feels like the ultimate Batman movie, and in many ways the purest distillation of the character's cultural canon into a single film that still manages weight and sincerity. A celebration and evolution of the character and its universe that's just an incredibly joyful and hysterical treat of boundless imagination and irreverence.

    After Dawn of Justice, it's nice to remember what there is to love about Batman. Even when it's with such a goofy, somewhat parodic version of the character and his backstory, there's more respect and intelligence with him than anything in Snyder has done with him.

    ***½ / 8.6
    Last 11 things I really enjoyed:

    Speed Racer (Wachowski/Wachowski, 2008)
    Safe (Haynes, 1995)
    South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Parker, 1999)
    Beastie Boys Story (Jonze, 2020)
    Bad Trip (Sakurai, 2020)
    What's Up Doc? (Bogdanovich, 1972)
    Diva (Beineix, 1981)
    Delicatessen (Caro/Jeunet, 1991)
    The Hunger (Scott, 1983)
    Pineapple Express (Green, 2008)
    Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)

  3. #3
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    3,819
    This would make for an incredicle double feature with Holy Musical B@man!

  4. #4
    Cinematographer Mal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    1,070
    Fabulous, funny and frenetic at times. I can't imagine anyone not liking this.

  5. #5
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    29,050
    Haven't seen the film but I'm impressed by the character designs and how they managed to pay homage to and incorporate elements from different interpretations. Most obvious one is Bane, who is the giant, venom-infused, mask wearing hulk from the comics, while also wearing the coat from Nolan's film.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  6. #6
    Moderator TGM's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    3,819
    Billy Dee Williams as Two Face is my favorite such design. Sadly, they do very little with the classic Batman villains. Would've loved to have seen more from them.

  7. #7
    Scott of the Antarctic Milky Joe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    3,373
    This was great fun, even if it felt a little like pop culture just cannibalizing itself. These guys get it.
    ‎The severed arm perfectly acquitted itself, because of the simplicity of its wishes and its total lack of doubt.

  8. #8
    Producer
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    2,936
    In lieu of the framing meta-narrative of The Lego Movie, this has the long history of Batman and his DC universe to play around and be its second layer instead, so it lacks both the unexpectedly profound emotions and tighter storytelling of that one. Luckily, it is still so jam-packed with the same creativity, fun, and fondness of characters that are a complete pleasure. Also, this visually improves on The Lego Movie, which can be an eyesore sometimes in fast-action scenes. Really gorgeous, with deeper, more popping colors and smoother action. 7.5/10
    Midnight Run (1988) - 9
    The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
    The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
    Sisters (1973) - 6.5
    Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5

  9. #9
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Portland
    Posts
    19,723
    This was plenty funny, but the self-serious Batman gag does wear a little thin by the end. Also, it would be nice if they found a way to unveil the various characters without just throwing them all at us at once. It's not quite the revelation that the first film was, but I do hope to see more of these. The trailer for Ninjago cracked me up.
    Coming to America (Landis, 1988) **
    The Beach Bum (Korine, 2019) *1/2
    Us (Peele, 2019) ***1/2
    Fugue (Smoczynska, 2018) ***1/2
    Prisoners (Villeneuve, 2013) ***1/2
    Shadow (Zhang, 2018) ***
    Oslo, August 31st (J. Trier, 2011) ****
    Climax (Noé, 2018) **1/2
    Fighting With My Family (Merchant, 2019) **
    Upstream Color (Carruth, 2013) ***

  10. #10
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Brooklyn
    Posts
    30,529
    This was very obviously written by pretty hardcore Batman fans. It's not just the abundance of crazy obscure references and details (the fact that it cribs Joker's lair from Killing Joke and the climax from Cataclysm made my jaw drop), but it's also a superb distillation of every big Batman storyline's main theme, which is that he's a walking contradiction as a self-styled loner constantly in search of a family (one of the tedious things about Batman comics in the 90s was that he kept re-learning this lesson every couple of years because writers always wanted to push his badass loner-ness to a breaking point). It's what made the characterization in The Lego Movie so funny as a parody, but here they're kinda forced to take that aspect more seriously. It makes him feel closer to the "real" Batman and less of a piss-take, which I think makes him more palatable to follow for 2 hours, though unfortunately does make him less constantly hilarious.
    Quote Quoting Donald Glover
    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
    Movie Theater Diary

  11. #11
    A Platypus Grouchy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    9,853
    This was fun but I think the praise from raving comic fans killed it in a way for me. I appreciated all the obscure references to the history of Batman but I was prepared for them and, beyond that, I found the movie kinda long.

    I also chuckled a lot at the cribbing of villains from different franchises but let's be honest, that was a bad idea to take all the way through. It totally wastes the potential of Batman villains.

  12. #12
    Piss off, ghost! number8's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Brooklyn
    Posts
    30,529
    Quote Quoting Grouchy (view post)
    I also chuckled a lot at the cribbing of villains from different franchises but let's be honest, that was a bad idea to take all the way through. It totally wastes the potential of Batman villains.
    Yeah, actually, I agree with this. All of them would've worked better in the main Lego movie. It's very fun but seems to be included just to say that Batman can beat any bad guy. ANY BAD GUY.
    Quote Quoting Donald Glover
    I was actually just reading about Matt Damon and he’s like, ‘There’s a culture of outrage.’ I’m like, ‘Well, they have a reason to be outraged.’ I think it’s a lot of dudes just being scared. They’re like, ‘What if I did something and I didn’t realize it?’ I’m like, ‘Deal with it.’
    Movie Theater Diary

  13. #13
    Moderator Dead & Messed Up's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    New Canaan, where to the shepherd come the sheep.
    Posts
    10,620
    This was fun enough. Fair job of building a functional story around Batman, even if it's labored by the end. There's none of the fourth-wall-shattering genius that made the first Lego film so surprisingly emotional. The deep level of referentiality is supposed to compensate for that, although it's funny how quick the film is to point up the '60s film as weird, when it's really no more baroque than this film or BvS in how far it pushes its own sensibilities. Also, here's another Lego movie, like the first, that has one female role and jams all possible female roles into that one - compatriot, voice of reason, romantic interest, action gurl. The "boys club" mentality of these films gets a bit much at times.

    Agreed that there was little need to bring in all the public domain and WB-licensed villains into the end, when they had such a rock-solid stable of baddies waiting in the wings. It's shocking how little we get of Jenny Slate's Harley and Billy Dee's Two-Face.

    But yeah, there's still much to appreciate, especially on a visual level. Even more than the first Lego flick, I love the look and vibe of the animation, and how sometimes the Legos have little chips and dirt crusted at the edges.

    MVP is Michael Cera.

  14. #14
    I kinda ship this Joker and Batman. Overall, very funny movie and it had it's heart on the right place.
    Last Seen:
    Pantheon, S2 (C. Silverstein, 2023) ☆
    Pantheon, S1 (C. Silverstein, 2022)
    Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garc?a (S. Peckinpah, 1974)
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden, Dragon (A. Lee, 2000)
    Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (J. McNaughton, 1986) ☆
    Blowup (M. Antonioni, 1966) ☆
    Io capitano (M. Garrone, 2023) ☆
    Raging Bull (M. Scorsese, 1980)
    Network (S. Lumet, 1976) ☆
    Sideways (A. Payne, 2004) ☆

    First time ☆

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
An forum