Welcome to The Daily Cup a movie blog/writing project by Kyle B. Dekker, presented by Hot Chocolate Media. You can read series concept here. The basic rules, Kyle must watch 365 movies in 2018 and write about all of them. 292 of them have to be movies he's never seen before. Thanks for reading.
2017 was a great year for superhero movies, and one of my favorites was The LEGO Batman Movie. It’s fun, silly, and the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight. Thanks to the unexpectedly fun The LEGO Movie, this spin off featuring Will Arnett as the caped crusader swung into theaters and gave us some of the best LEGO sets of the year.
Batman as a character has made it to film many times. The results have been mixed, and a big reason for that is that we always get “action movie Batman” or “sad loner Batman” or a mixture of the two. We’ve really never gotten a great nuanced version of Batman in any feature film (please feel free to come at me if you think I’m wrong). The LEGO Batman Movie really works and resonates because it spoofs and leans into the film version of Batman as a character and plays it to 11. Will Arnett is a great casting to play this version of Batman as it requires a sense of taking oneself too seriously to work.
The visuals of the LEGO animated movies continue to impress me. It’s the little details that stand out, the flames from jet engines, the pieces of water, and the pieces that make up the movement and action all seamlessly made of LEGO pieces.
As a long time fan of the strange and goofball Batman villians it was a true joy to see them get some real love in this movie. When the Joker does the roll call of all the villains he’s added to his army of evil in the opening of the film it’s a true joy. I never thought I’d see the Condiment King in a feature film ever. Now I never have to explain my cosplay of the character at conventions.
The only place the film goes a bit off the rails for me is the third act. When Joker utilizes the villians from other properties, it’s a fun part of the movie but I wish they had not relied on the meta breaking/genre mashing that The LEGO Movie used. I would’ve preferred to have more of a Batman story than a Batman story about Batman toys. This is a nitpick, but director Chris McKay could’ve showed he was more skilled at telling a true Batman story than Zack Snyder.
As the parent of a five year old I can appreciate any movie that can keep my son’s attention for more than thirty minutes. The LEGO Batman Movie does that while also being fun and entertaining for me. There are plenty of great visuals, fun jokes, and solid performances from the voice cast. It makes me wish they did a LEGO Justice League movie rather than the very bland Justice League movie we got.
Tally
Movies new to me watched: 47/292
Other movies: 15/73
Total movies watched: 62/365
Have your own thoughts or opinions on this movie? Comment below or contact Kyle at kyle@hotchocolatemedia.net or on Twitter at @kbdekker.