The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

The film is a riotous yarn full of laughs and heart in which Batman learns the joys of friendship and togetherness while battling the Joker and other villains. Director Chris McKay and his writers lovingly celebrate Batman while mocking his mythology and previous screen incarnations, with an exemplary voice cast, eye-popping design and a script full of verbal and sight gags.

This comedic take on Batman succeeds with dense in-jokes riffing on the character’s history and a lesson about teamwork, making it the best Batman film in years. It works as both fan service and an entertaining kids’ movie with visual treats and quotable lines.

The review hails it as the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight, an impish parody that grasps and calls out the character's narcissism. It praises the inventive brick-by-brick world-building and visual spectacle.

The review deems it kicky, bedazzling and super-fun, a postmodern caper that mocks Batman's raging ego and superhero culture. It singles out the stylized satirical dreamscape and rapid-fire cleverness for praise.

The film successfully adapts Deadpool-style self-reflexive humor to a kid-friendly Lego format with a high hit-to-miss ratio on gags and references. It builds to a critique of Batman's loner persona, showing he is defined by relationships and made more human through the block animation.

The review calls the film an irresistible, silly gateway drug that balances a PG superhero story with gentle mockery of the genre's seriousness. It singles out Will Arnett's sepulchral voice performance as the brightest comedic element.

The critic hails it as a thing of wonder that is more stylish, spectacular and delightful than recent live-action Batman films, with frantic humour and a fresh spin on the character as a narcissistic billionaire. It packs multiple films’ worth of action and jokes into a streamlined story.

The film uses irreverence toward Batman to explore his duality and need for family and relationships in a good-natured, often hilarious way that makes the character more human. It is less essential and joke-dense than The Lego Movie but still irresistible for fans and kids.

The critic questions when knowingness becomes shtick but praises the film's crammed visual detail and its unexpected shift toward domestic innocence and family values. It notes the solid sequel status to the first Lego Movie.

The spin-off is not quite as good as The Lego Movie but remains scrumdiddlyumptious, fuelled by irreverence, suspenseful action and zany visuals. It celebrates Lego play while delivering a central conceit about teamwork and villains with genuine depth.

The critic calls it a relentlessly funny superhero parody that has fun with Batman’s macho pathologies while also being expressive and cinematic. It lacks the heart and novelty of the first Lego Movie but consistently amuses with its gags and meta-references.

The film is less satisfying than the original Lego Movie, with Arnett's Batman overexposed and the creative bar not cleared, though it remains enjoyable overall and will perform well commercially. The voice cast, led by Arnett, is praised.

The film is an entertaining if frenetic vehicle for Will Arnett’s voice work as a Bale-inspired Batman, delivering plenty of laughs as a follow-up to The Lego Movie. It satirizes recent DC disappointments while highlighting the character’s lonely egotism and need for teamwork.

The opening 20 minutes are hilariously effective as an antidote to solemn Batman films, but the rest of the movie dips sharply as jokes falter and the story turns sincere and less gonzo. The Lego conceit works best in the early sequences.

The critic finds the film less consistently entertaining than its predecessor due to superhero fatigue and an overload of inside jokes and action scenes. She singles out a quiet sequence of Batman dining alone for praise.

The movie is a high-tech feather duster that quickly numbs the funny bone, descending into a disappointing formula despite moments of comic lunacy and sharp satire of superhero tropes and politics. It soars mainly when ribbing other films but otherwise feels formulaic.

The film is not the best Batman movie but the best movie about Batman, delightfully exploring the character's ego, fears, and desire for family while embracing a freewheeling satirical tone.

The critic calls the film an anarchic, delightful joy and a worthy successor to The LEGO Movie, noting it is also a damn good Batman movie and a guide to being a better fan. It singles out the rapid-fire jokes, Easter eggs, and treatment of every Batman story as canon for praise.

The critic praises the film as a hilarious, irreverent yet affectionate take on Batman that balances absurd gags with an engaging story and an intimate character study of the lonely hero. It singles out the loving ridicule of the Batman franchise and its focus on Bruce Wayne's personal life for particular note.

It is the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight, a joyful romp that critiques the brooding loner version of the character, answers fundamental questions about heroism, and serves as a love letter to Batman film history.

The film is a terrific, funny, and satiric entry that gets to the heart of Batman more insightfully than some live-action versions while paying homage to his screen history. It features nonstop gags and references but sags a bit under their weight and lacks the emotional impact of The Lego Movie.

The film uses Batman’s emotional growth from loner to family man as a structure that supports its barrage of gags and gives the story emotional stakes. It gleefully parodies every mass-media version of the hero while delivering crafty verbal humor and outrageous visuals.