The Lego Batman Movie


The Lego Batman Movie is a 2017 computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by Chris McKay, and written by Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern, and John Whittington, and produced by Dan Lin, Roy Lee, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Based on the Lego Batman toy line, the film is an international co-production of the United States, Australia, and Denmark, the first spin-off installment of The Lego Movie film series and the second installment overall. The story centers on the DC Comics character Batman as he attempts to overcome his greatest fear to stop the Joker's latest plan. The film features Will Arnett reprising his role as Batman from The Lego Movie alongside Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes.
The Lego Batman Movie had its world premiere in Dublin, Ireland on January 29, 2017, and was released in the United States on February 10, 2017. The film was released in 3D, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, IMAX 3D and 4DX. The film received generally positive reviews from critics for its animation, voice acting, soundtrack, visual style, and humor; it was also commercially successful, having grossed $312 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million.
A sequel was announced in 2018 and scheduled to be released in 2022. However, with Universal Pictures having acquired the rights to The Lego Movie franchise, if it will still be produced is unknown.

Plot

Within the DC superhero dimension in the Lego Universe, Batman continues to protect Gotham City and fight crime. During his latest mission to stop the Joker from destroying the city, Batman hurts Joker's feelings by telling him he is not as important in Batman's life as he thinks he is, leading Joker to seek the ultimate revenge on him.
The following day, Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne attends the city's winter gala, which is celebrating both the retirement of Commissioner Gordon and the ascension of his daughter Barbara as the city's new police commissioner, only to be infuriated by Barbara's plans to restructure the police to function without the need of Batman. Joker crashes the party with the city's other villains, all of whom surrender except Harley Quinn, who disappears during the confusion.
Suspecting his archenemy is up to something, Batman plots to steal Superman's Phantom Zone projector, only for Alfred to intervene and advise him to take care of Dick Grayson, whom Batman inadvertently adopted as his ward during the gala earlier. Reluctantly agreeing to do so, Batman fosters Dick as Robin, whereupon the pair successfully recovers the projector from the Fortress of Solitude and breaks into Arkham Asylum to send Joker to the Phantom Zone. Suspecting that the Joker wanted to be sent there, Barbara locks up Batman and Robin.
While the projector is being seized as evidence, Harley steals it back as part of Joker's plan, and frees him, allowing him to return to Gotham with all the villains he had recruited in the Phantom Zone, including General Zod, King Kong, the Gremlins, the Wicked Witch of the West and her Flying Monkeys, the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts, the Tyrannosaurus rex and a velociraptor from Jurassic Park, Lord Voldemort, Sauron, the shark from Jaws, the Daleks, Lord Vampyre, the Mummy and the Swamp Creature from Lego Monster Fighters, the kraken from Clash of the Titans, Medusa, and Agent Smith and his clones. Realizing that the city does need him after all, Barbara releases Batman and Robin and teams up with Alfred and them to stop the Joker. Although Batman finds himself able to trust and rely on his new team upon reaching Wayne Island, he chooses to send them away, fearing that he might lose them after memories of his parents' deaths affect him. Upon facing him alone, Joker believes that Batman is incapable of change and zaps him to the Phantom Zone before stealing the Batcave's stash of confiscated bombs. Arriving in the Phantom Zone, Batman witnesses the harm his selfishness has caused everyone and slowly accepts his greatest fear. Making a deal with the Zone's gatekeeper Phyllis, a sentient Lego brick, to be allowed back to Gotham to retrieve the Zone's escaped prisoners, Batman arrives in time to save his teammates, apologizing to them for leaving them and requesting their help to stop Joker.
Realizing Joker's plans to use the explosives he took to destroy the city's energy facility that causes the city to come apart and be destroyed, Batman turns Barbara into Batgirl, before his team, Gotham City's other villains, who felt neglected by Joker, and he manage to successfully send the escaped villains back to the Phantom Zone. However, the group fails to stop Joker's bombs going off, as the explosion begins to tear the city apart at the plates beneath it. Knowing this was his fault, Batman reluctantly convinces Joker that he is the true reason for being the hero he is before they, their friends and allies, and the city's inhabitants, chain-link themselves together and pull the plates back together, saving the city.
With the city saved, Batman prepares to be taken back into the Phantom Zone to fulfill his bargain, only to be rejected by Phyllis, who chooses to let him remain after realizing he is a hero and seeing how much he had changed to save everyone. Afterwards, Batman allows Joker and his goons to temporarily escape with the confidence that whenever they return, they will be no match for the Batman family.
The movie ends with Batman spending a new life with his family.

Voice cast

Following the success of The Lego Movie, Warner Bros. greenlighted several multiple Lego films produced, including The Lego Batman Movie. Chris McKay, who co-directed The Lego Movie, was brought on board to direct the film, making it his solo directorial debut. In an interview about his work on the film, McKay stated that working on the film was "a very mixed blessing" owing partly to the film's hectic time schedule for its production, remarking that the two and half years allocated to the film made it difficult to fit in everything that he wanted for the movie, considering his earlier work on The Lego Movie. His work on The Lego Batman Movie was influenced by the comedy portrayed in both The Naked Gun and Airplane! film series, with his pitch for the film to the studios being described as like "Jerry Maguire as directed by Michael Mann". His proposal to combine all the Batman eras featured in the comic book series and various media formats, including movies and comic series, despite a couple of issues—the total inconsistency inherent to such a task, and Lego rejecting some of the characters he proposed to include in the film—was based on his desire of how to portray Robin within the film's setting. In an interview regarding his version of the superhero duo, McKay stated:
"I was thinking that we were basically taking the Burt Ward Robin and sticking him in the Batmobile with the Zack Snyder/Ben Affleck Batman, or the Frank Miller Batman. And putting these two different energies together. Somebody who’s like the grumpiest, dark grittiest, broodiest Batman with the most positive, indefatigable kid."

Prior to the release of , Chris Miller stated that all of the Lego movies are based on the imagination of a child character, with The Lego Movie events happening in young Finn's mind. Miller affirmed that The Lego Batman Movie was also from the imagination of Finn and Bianca, though the characters did not appear within the film, although Bianca was alluded to as Phyllis' boss.

''Batman'' and pop culture references

As part of its production, the movie was designed to make numerous references to previous Batman movies, cartoons and comics. In two distinct scenes where Barbara Gordon depicts Batman's long history of services for the police and Alfred quotes Batman's previous movies, they mention: the 1940s Batman serials ; the films Batman, Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, ' and Suicide Squad ; the television shows Batman, ', Batman Beyond and The Batman ; and the comics Detective Comics #27, The Dark Knight Returns and Gotham by Gaslight. Other references include previous costumes worn by Batman and Robin and the various Batmobiles used. In most cases, their appearances in the movie are done in a Lego style, with the exception being footage from a live-action shot of Adam West's depiction of Batman in the 1960s Batman series and a picture of Batman's suit from Batman and Robin. Climactic events from past Batman films involving the Joker have been mentioned, including "that time with the parade and the Prince music" and "the two boats".
Alongside Joker, the main antagonist of the film's story, and Superman, who features heavily and has notable links to the Christopher Reeve films Superman and its sequel Superman II, many other DC characters, both villains associated with Batman and other DC superheroes, feature in the film. The film's villains who have been featured in Batman comics, films and cartoons include: Man-Bat; Captain Boomerang; Egghead; Crazy Quilt; Eraser; Polka-Dot Man; Mime; Tarantula; King Tut from the 1960s series; Killer Moth; March Harriet; Zodiac Master; the Mutant Leader from The Dark Knight Returns; Doctor Phosphorus; Magpie; Calculator; Hugo Strange; an unidentified version of Red Hood; the Kabuki Twins from The Batman; Orca; Gentleman Ghost; Clock King; Calendar Man; Kite Man; Catman; Zebra-Man; and a variation of Condiment King from Batman: The Animated Series. The other DC heroes who feature, both from the Justice League and Super Friends, include: Wonder Woman; Aquaman; Cyborg; Green Arrow; Black Canary; Hawkman; Hawkgirl; Martian Manhunter; Apache Chief; Black Vulcan; El Dorado; Samurai; Wonder Dog; the Wonder Twins and Gleek. Although not part of the DC franchise, Iron Man from Marvel Comics is referenced in the film as part of a small joke about Batman's password for entering the Batcave, referencing the famous rivalry between DC and Marvel.
The film also features characters from other notable franchises and film series with them following the same narrative of The Lego Movie in that they came from worlds that co-exist alongside others of the Lego Universe, which are made up of Lego playsets of the various media franchises. These additional characters include: Medusa from Lego Minifigures; the Swamp Creature, Evil Mummy, and Lord Vampyre from Lego Monster Fighters; King Kong; the Daleks from Doctor Who; the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz; the Kraken from Clash of the Titans; Agent Smith and his clones from The Matrix; the great white shark from Jaws; Voldemort from Harry Potter; Sauron from The Lord of the Rings; the Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptors from Jurassic Park; The Skeleton Warriors from Jason and the Argonauts and the Gremlins. The way in which the Gremlins attack a plane references The Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet".
The film also includes Batman watching the scene from Jerry Maguire where Tom Cruise says "You complete me"; this line had previously been quoted by The Joker in The Dark Knight. In the scene where Batman discusses possible team names he mentions "Fox Force Five," which is the name of a failed television pilot mentioned in Pulp Fiction. The film's use of Cutting Crew's " Died in Your Arms" is a nod to the romantic comedy Never Been Kissed. The film's other references include Gleaming the Cube and Gymkata.
The casting of Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face references the 1989 Batman film, in which Williams played District Attorney Harvey Dent, before his transition to Two-Face.
A scene from The Lego Movie is reused in the film, depicting Emmet falling down from Lord Buisiness's tower into the real world, as television journalists explain what would happen if Joker detonates his bomb.

Soundtrack

The film's original score was composed by Lorne Balfe and features Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith. This makes the film the first in the franchise to replace Mark Mothersbaugh as composer. The soundtrack was released on February 3, 2017, on CD and for digital download, while the vinyl version was released on May 19, 2017.
;Track listing

Release

The film's world premiere was conducted in Dublin, Ireland on January 29, 2017, whereupon it went into general release from February 8; it was released in Denmark on February 9, and in the United States the day after. Its overall release saw movie theatres displaying the film in 3D, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX 3D and 4DX. though the latter format was restricted to 3D for North America, while international countries were able to view it in IMAX.

Marketing

The first teaser trailer for The Lego Batman Movie was released on March 24, 2016, and features the song "Black and Yellow" by Wiz Khalifa. It was attached to showings of in theatres. A second teaser trailer was released on March 28, 2016, and features references to all live-action iterations of Batman, from the 1960s Batman TV series to Batman v Superman. A third trailer was released on July 23, 2016. A fourth trailer was released on November 4, 2016. Over twenty Lego sets inspired by scenes from the film were released for the film including two sets of Collectible Minifigures. A Story Pack for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions based on The Lego Batman Movie was released on February 10, 2017, alongside the film. The pack adds a six-level story campaign adapting the events of the film, and includes playable figures of Robin and Batgirl, a driveable Batwing, and a constructible gateway model based on the Batcomputer. A Fun Pack including Excalibur Batman and his Bionic Steed was also released the same day.
On January 14, 2017, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Chevrolet unveiled a life-sized Lego Batmobile inspired by the design featured in the film, constructed from around 350,000 Lego pieces. As a related promotion, a Bat-Signal was projected on the Renaissance Center over the weekend, and Chevrolet released a new television commercial tying into the film, featuring the Batmobile as a crossover with its ongoing "Real People, Not Actors" campaign.
Warner Bros. released several promotional tie-ins on the week of the movie's release. LEGO billboard versions of several TV shows were shown outside of the studio lot, that took 300 hours to make out of 10,000 bricks. The Big Bang Theory included a LEGO version of the opening sequence in the episode "The Locomotion Reverberation" that first aired on CBS. In addition, the network aired two LEGO commercials featuring Batman and the cast.
The CW featured LEGO end cards for Supergirl, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow, respectively, on the week of the movie's release. All four DC shows also include a special variant of the Berlanti Productions logo that featured Batman's cameo and a new recording from Greg Berlanti's real-life father who says "Batman move your head" instead of the usual "Greg move your head". In addition, the network aired two commercials where Batman interacts with the characters from each show.

Home media

The LEGO Batman Movie was released on Digital HD on May 19, 2017. The release included the theatrical short film The Master: A LEGO Ninjago Short, as well as four new short films: Dark Hoser, Batman is Just Not That Into You, Cooking with Alfred and Movie Sound Effects: How Do They Do That?. The LEGO Batman Movie was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on June 13, 2017. The film debuted at No. 3 on the NPD VideoScan overall disc sales chart.

Sets

Video games

''Lego Dimensions''

Lego Dimensions includes characters from various franchises, including The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie. The game's Starter Pack includes Wyldstyle, while Emmet, Benny, Bad Cop, and Unikitty are included in Fun Packs. From The Lego Batman Movie, Robin and Batgirl are included in a Story Pack while Excalibur Batman is included in a Fun Pack.

''The Lego Batman Movie Game''

Based on The Lego Batman Movie, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released the endless-runner game coinciding with the release of the film. It was released for Android and iOS.

Reception

Box office

The LEGO Batman Movie grossed $175.8 million in the United States and Canada and $136.2 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $312 million, against a production budget of $80 million.
In the United States and Canada, The LEGO Batman Movie opened alongside two other sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and , and was projected to gross around $60 million from 4,088 theaters in its opening weekend. It earned $2.2 million from Thursday-night previews and $14.5 million on Friday. It went on to open with $53 million, finishing first at the box office. In its second weekend, the film grossed $32.7 million, again topping the box office; with the additional President's Day holiday on Monday, it made a total of $42.7 million for the weekend. In its third weekend of release, the film dropped to second at the box office, behind newcomer Get Out, grossing $19.2 million.
Outside North America the film was simultaneously released in 61 countries, and was expected to gross around $40 million over its first three days. It ended up grossing $37 million in its opening weekend, including $9.3 million in the United Kingdom, $2.6 million in Mexico, $2.3 million in Germany and $2.2 million in Russia.

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 90% based on 307 reviews, with an average rating of 7.53/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Lego Batman Movie continues its block-buster franchise's winning streak with another round of dizzyingly funny—and beautifully animated—family-friendly mayhem." It was ranked the 14th best superhero movie of all time on the site. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.
Mike Ryan of Uproxx gave the film a positive review, praising its comedy, and saying: "The LEGO Batman Movie isn’t the same experience as watching The LEGO Movie, but I also don’t think it's trying to be. It’s trying to be a fun superhero movie with clever callbacks to previous Batman films that can, at least, provide DC superhero fans with a taste of fun amidst all the doom and gloom. And at that, The LEGO Batman Movie succeeds." Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B+" and wrote, "LEGO Batman revs so fast and moves so frenetically that it becomes a little exhausting by the end. It flirts with being too much of a good thing. But rarely has corporate brainwashing been so much fun and gone down with such a delightful aftertaste." Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times was positive in his review, saying, "In its best moments, this gag-a-minute Bat-roast serves as a reminder that, in the right hands, a sharp comic scalpel can be an instrument of revelation as well as ridicule." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post praised the film for its heart, humor, and action which "snap together, with a satisfying click."

Accolades

Future

On December 5, 2018, McKay announced a sequel to the film was in the works, with himself returning to direct once again. The film was set for release in 2022.
With Universal Pictures acquiring the film rights to The Lego Movie franchise in 2019, the future of the sequel is currently uncertain.