There was a laugh-out-loud moment halfway through this movie when Batman (made from LEGO pieces and voiced by Will Arnett with Christian Bale gravel) is told to take off his shoes for a security check. But because they are attached to his pants he has to remove them as well, resulting in the superhero doing the whole scene in his black undies. The incident is worth mentioning insofar as the grand illusion of art lies in its primal ability to make you believe in what is so patently not true – ie, despite the silliness of the concept, a LEGO Batman works! The setup is nothing out of the ordinary – the green-haired Joker (Zac Galifianakis) is back with a host of monsters hellbent on destroying Gotham City, and it is yet again Bruce Wayne who will don the pointy ears and cape to repel them. But it is an introspective Wayne, living alone with loyal butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) and still mourning the death of his parents (they were gunned down on the street when he was just a little boy – perhaps the most famous back-story in the history of comic strips). The drama within the film deals with Batman’s needing to overcome the fear of loss that has haunted him since that fateful day and led him to reject any form of commitment to other people. Cracks will inevitably appear in the masked crusader’s cold façade when the cute detective Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) arrives to help fight Gotham’s latest scourge. The movie alternates between plot development, with a lot of savvy dialogue laden with pop culture references – a computer password is ‘ironmansucks’ – and you-beaut humungous action. Adults might be surprised to find themselves easily taken in by the former, while the youngsters, above whose heads most of the script’s wittiness will fly, are bound to get off on the action. It is brightly coloured and the pace is frenetic, but an annoying self-awareness diminishes its otherwise life-affirming message.
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