Review: The Lego Batman Movie (U)

The 2014 computer-animated comedy The LEGO Movie cleverly brought together DC Comics superheroes in a world of coloured building bricks. Humour was pitched perfectly between the young and the young-at-heart, and a knowing script mined humour from the physical limitations of LEGO without dinting the brand's enduring appeal.

SAVIOUR: Scene from The Lego Batman Movie Picture: PA Photo/Warner Bros.

This polished spin-off comes close to capturing the magic of the original. The opening five minutes of credits and droll voiceover are sheer perfection. “All important movies start with a black screen,” growls Batman (voiced by Will Arnett), providing a hilarious running commentary of the production companies responsible for his film. Sly digs at previous incarnations of the Caped Crusader on the big and small screen up the comic ante, as the titular vigilante panders to his overinflated ego. The rest of the picture is a delight but doesn’t scale the same dizzy heights of hilarity.

Batman wallows in loneliness at Wayne Manor where loyal butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) pinpoints the source of his master’s malaise. “Your greatest fear is being part of a family again.” Soon after, Commissioner James Gordon (Hector Elizondo) hands over control to his daughter, Barbara (Rosario Dawson), who calls into question the effectiveness of Batman when all his nemeses including The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) remain at large.

Arnett’s hysterical vocal performance is heightened by a gushing bromance with Galifianakis’ giggling maniac. Set pieces are animated and edited with boundless energy, whetting appetites for future forays into the LEGO universe.

On general release