That’s a marked improvement on the version of the superhero presented in the movie version of The Killing Joke. How else does Lego Batman outflank his grander counterparts? How about a feminist Batgirl (Rosario Dawson), who when told her fancy new suit comes with a less-than-flattering moniker for a fully grown woman responds: “Does this mean I get to call you Batboy?” Everybody wins, bar the teams behind Warner Bros’ other versions of Batman. Riffing off the historical dichotomy between solo Bats and the version who comes with an entire Batfamily, then throwing in other essential elements of the Batmythos – such as Bruce Wayne’s existential impotence as a result of losing his parents at a young age – Chris McKay’s movie delivers a richly cultivated, ingeniously self-reflexive storyline that works perfectly as both satire and sugar-coated kids’ entertainment.
Squeaky-voiced Michael Cera fires up the irritation dial to 11 and lets go with both silly cylinders as the bug-eyed, short shorts-wearing orphan, but for once the boy wonder is in on the joke. The Lego Batman Movie fully understands, and even celebrates, how much some of us simply can’t stand Robin. The Lego Batman Movie: trailer for superhero spin-off Guardian Why is it that the makers of The Lego Batman Movie seem to understand the caped crusader’s essential mythology so much more intuitively than the makers of DC’s live-action movies? If you are going to include both in a movie, it surely makes sense to at least reference the pair’s twisted eternal bond, even if the main focus is elsewhere. This is in stark contrast to the DC Extended Universe movies, the latest of which, Suicide Squad, featured a storyline in which Batman and The Joker barely speak to each other. The Lego Batman Movie plays beautifully on such shared histories, reimagining the Joker as a sort of tearful jilted lover who cannot possibly imagine that his greatest enemy deems various other DC icons – Bats has a whole list of them – to be his true classic nemeses. The original Killing Joke graphic novel even opened with a scene in which the Dark Knight admits his very identity is defined by opposition to Gotham’s clown prince of crime. Hand it to Moore, he did at least understand that any truly classic Batman story ought to feature the Joker. In reality – screw Justice League, and Affleck’s forthcoming solo turn in The Batman, which the Oscar winner now can’t even be bothered to direct – this is the only caped crusader you need to care about right now. In theory this is the kid-friendly take on the Dark Knight, the watered-down, ersatz, (literally) plastic version. And then of course there’s Lego Batman, voiced by Will Arnett.
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