The LEGO Batman Movie follows Batman as he accidentally adopts a child, meanwhile the Joker plots to take over Gotham City...again.
The movie starts out really good. The humor is spot on, the directing is solid, it was setting up to be a lot of fun, at the very least. And while it was fun, the plot wavers as it reaches it's climax.
It switches from the goofy, fun, and over-the-top tone that it'd been building up for it's entirety into an awfully serious, almost depressing movie. And while that isn't exactly a problem, the movie did a good enough job developing the characters through comedy and the like, it still had an atmosphere of seriousness, so a lot of the comedy was lost in that. I found it hard to laugh at a joke when the tone was constantly conflicting.
Furthermore, the movie is, like I said, fun, but also reasonably original. Or at least, it's not horribly formulaic. It follows a character with actual problems that people have, and it manages to have this all encompassing tone that is, while realistic, hilarious in how over-the-top it can be at the same time. But by the end it divulges into a formula-driven kids' movie. Characters make decisions that may not always make the most sense, and events take place that are just way out there. It becomes hard to enjoy towards the end, and even though there are a few tear-jerking moments, it still feels just a little off.
Probably the biggest disappointment was the animation. Yes, it's still LEGO, and yes it still looks great. But part of what made 'The LEGO Movie' so charming was the fact that it was made to look like stop motion (the frame rate was lowered). With this one that isn't the case. Everything is so smoothly animated that it almost doesn't matter that everything's made from LEGO bricks. I have no idea why this change was made, but it wasn't a welcome one.
Overall The LEGO Batman Movie is, while a lot of fun particularly at the beginning, it falters towards the end when it comes to conflicting tones and formulaic events. It wasn't a bad time at the movies, but the last act was a lot of flip-flopping. Sometimes it was really good, while other times it was hard to sit through. In the end I'd still recommend this movie, but by the standard that 'The LEGO Movie' set, it's not nearly as good as it could have been.
The movie starts out really good. The humor is spot on, the directing is solid, it was setting up to be a lot of fun, at the very least. And while it was fun, the plot wavers as it reaches it's climax.
It switches from the goofy, fun, and over-the-top tone that it'd been building up for it's entirety into an awfully serious, almost depressing movie. And while that isn't exactly a problem, the movie did a good enough job developing the characters through comedy and the like, it still had an atmosphere of seriousness, so a lot of the comedy was lost in that. I found it hard to laugh at a joke when the tone was constantly conflicting.
Furthermore, the movie is, like I said, fun, but also reasonably original. Or at least, it's not horribly formulaic. It follows a character with actual problems that people have, and it manages to have this all encompassing tone that is, while realistic, hilarious in how over-the-top it can be at the same time. But by the end it divulges into a formula-driven kids' movie. Characters make decisions that may not always make the most sense, and events take place that are just way out there. It becomes hard to enjoy towards the end, and even though there are a few tear-jerking moments, it still feels just a little off.
Probably the biggest disappointment was the animation. Yes, it's still LEGO, and yes it still looks great. But part of what made 'The LEGO Movie' so charming was the fact that it was made to look like stop motion (the frame rate was lowered). With this one that isn't the case. Everything is so smoothly animated that it almost doesn't matter that everything's made from LEGO bricks. I have no idea why this change was made, but it wasn't a welcome one.
Overall The LEGO Batman Movie is, while a lot of fun particularly at the beginning, it falters towards the end when it comes to conflicting tones and formulaic events. It wasn't a bad time at the movies, but the last act was a lot of flip-flopping. Sometimes it was really good, while other times it was hard to sit through. In the end I'd still recommend this movie, but by the standard that 'The LEGO Movie' set, it's not nearly as good as it could have been.