Film of the Month

The Lego Batman Movie

27/01/17

These days, we seem to be watching an awful lot of animation. I’m not talking about that crazy orange dude from America with the wig and the small hands, who waves his arms about like a man on fire whilst talking about pussies and definitely not taking the piss out of disabled people; I’m talking about cartoon critters, the generated genre, non-boring drawings… that sort of animation. Ever since Toy Story blazed the trail for computer generated success way back when, audiences have found Nemo, learnt how to train their dragons, and actually heard the moment that Jack Black sold his soul voicing a fat, karate panda (it’s on the director’s commentary). It’s fair to say, however, that after a while, the scene became somewhat saturated with wannabes, and sequels. And whilst some of them were still very good, I’ve ended up feeling dizzy from Disney, woozy from the elixir of Pixar, and, frankly, bent over and team-worked by Dreamworks.

Having said that, now and then there’s a movie that puts the “me” back in “anime”, and this is one of those times. I absolutely adored the Lego movie, and February sees the release of the Lego Batman Movie. Yes, the hero who only uses black bricks (and sometimes really, really dark grey) has returned, which is, well, awesome, because Will Arnett’s Batman was the best part of the previous brick-flick. But if this blockbuster centres solely on our yellow faced caped crusader, then who’s the bad guy trying to make everything un-awesome? Who else but the Joker, voiced by Zach Galifianakis, who let’s face it, is going to piss all over Jared Leto’s turn as the Clown Prince. Expect more self-aware humour, awesome brickwork, and special guest cameos by the toy-box load. The first Lego was as funny for adults as for kids, and this promises more of the same. So, will it be masterpiece of creativity, or something painful to be stepped on in your socks? You’ll have to watch it and see.

9/10