‘LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Superheroes Unite’ Review
Stars (the voices of): Clancy Brown, Troy Baker, Travis Willingham, Christopher Corey Smith, Charlie Schlatter | Written by Jon Burton, David A. Goodman | Directed by Jon Burton
Starting as it means to go on with side-splitting spoof of the opening to Tim Burton’s classic 1989 Batman flick, complete with the dramatic Danny Elfman score, LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Superheroes Unite re-purposes the cut scenes from the recent LEGO Batman 2 videogame into a movie which sees billionaire Lex Luthor (voice by Clancy Brown) become jealous of Bruce Wayne (Troy Baker) when he receives the man of the year award instead of Lex.
Deciding to run for President, Lex teams up with Gotham’s supervillain community to create the atmosphere for his type of fear-based politics, recruiting the Joker (Christopher Corey Smith) to perfect a Black LEGO Destructor Ray to wreak havoc on Gotham. As Lex destroys Batman’s tech, Batman reluctantly turns to Superman (Travis Willingham) and the rest of the Justice League for help…
The hilarious opening is not the only homage to the live-action versions of Batman, as LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Superheroes Unite runs through John Williams’ score, the Joker’s hospital destruction in The Dark Knight and even a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to the end of The Dark Knight Rises! Of course this is a LEGO movie and, like its Star Wars counterparts, the film is filled with laughs: the usual sight gags making reference to the fact this is LEGO and not reality; the fantastic relationship between Batman and Robin – as Robin tries to impress Batman at every turn; and the moody Batman’s utter disdain for Superman’s cheery, ever-helpful, attitude.
Mainly composed of the cut scenes from LEGO Batman 2, for those that have played the game there’s nothing much new to see here besides the awesome opening and the odd piece of new interconnecting footage which turns the assorted scenes into more of a movie-watching experience. Despite this fact, there’s still a lot to enjoy about LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Superheroes Unite – it’s as charming, funny and family-friendly as its LEGO movie counterparts but with the added bonus of featuring all your favourite DC superheroes. in other words, a whole heap of LEGO fun!
LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Superheroes Unite is available now on iTunes in the US, with a DVD and Blu-ray release set for May 21st. No news on a UK release date as yet.
**** 4/5
