"I am a hundred percent not Bruce Wayne."

I saw the Lego Batman movie this past weekend and it was a blast. I spent about seventy-five percent of the film cracking the hell up, more so than the mostly families with children that surrounded me, to the point where they might have even been a little annoyed. But not only is it funny for its own sake, I think it's WAY BETTER if you are a serious Batman fan. The film is a parody, the best of which have a deep understanding of the narrative being parodied. These writers must have been real fans, because all the humor and the essential spin on the storyline came from a real understanding of the essentials of Batman. As a person who has spent MANY HOURS picking apart the character and the most significant storylines, I had such an appreciation for what very well may be evidence of the work of very similar kinds of nerds. Because even on top of all the great jokes, the central struggle was based in the true heart of Batman-- his fear of getting close to people will just result in him getting hurt again, and they conveyed that in really effective terms. I wouldn't exactly say it had a ton of dramatic weight, but it was grounded in a real story that fit the character well.

So I highly recommend it. It may be the strictly best movie involving the character that's not part of the DCAU.

Some stuff I loved about it, in no particular order, with a spoiler warning:

- The driving conflict of the narrative was the Joker's need to be the most important person in Batman's life, manifesting as an obsessive romance with an emotionally withholding person
- Will Arnett's hilarious, gravelly, douchey performance, particularly in how Bruce Wayne was basically a non-self-loathing Bojack Horseman.
- Batman's persistent "fuck that Superman guy" resentment
- They embraced the father-son relationship between Alfred and Batman and Batman and Robin
- The basic acknowledgement that a Batman left to his own devices is kind of a huge douchebag and needs other characters like Robin affecting him to make him tolerable
- The romantic song playing in the background when Batman first lays eyes on Barbara Gordon is "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight"
- "Batman lives in Bruce Wayne's basement?" "Bruce Wayne lives in Batman's attic!"
- COSTUME TRYON MONTAGE
- Batman flopping around on the ground in protest of Alfred making him do stuff. (Bernie's comment: "Oh, my God, you are Batman.")
- The fact that the JLA doesn't invite Batman to parties because he's no fun to be around
- I have never actually enjoyed Michael Cera in any role before, but he was pretty great as Robin
- Barbara being played by Rosario Dawson, who I love, not least because she's CLAIRE TEMPLE AND I LOVE CLAIRE
- Barbara says there's gotta be a better way to deal with crime than just letting "Batman beat up poor people."
- The weird voice they gave Bane to make fun of the weird voice Tom Hardy used in Dark Knight Rises.
- The writing for the Joker is strong enough to make up for the fact that Zack Galifinakis is COMPLETELY BLAND and A TOTAL WASTE OF THE ROLE.
- Ellie Kemper's weird and weirdly adorable little cameo.
- Superheroes without pants jokes.
- When the Joker infiltrates the Batcave, he puts his butt on all Batman's stuff. (Bernie's comment: "OH, MY GOD, YOU'RE THE JOKER TOO!")
- Because they had Ralph Fiennes already in the cast as Alfred, they had him play Lego Voldemort too.
- The ceaseless mocking of earlier, more self-serious Batman films
- The final saving of the city involves SHREDDED ABS, which one could argue were seeded like a Chekov's gun throughout. So you could say it was a CHECKOV'S GUN SHOW WHAAAAAAAT
- "I AM A HUNDRED PERCENT NOT BRUCE WAYNE."