THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
Director: Chris McKay
Cert: U 104 mins
Lego Batman (Will Arnett) takes himself very seriously, stays up all night protecting Gotham City as a vigilante and sings songs about how awesome he is. However, he – very reluctantly – must learn that he can’t do it all by himself, but that he also needs a family, even if they're not related to him.
This serves as a nice reminder of the church. As spiritual orphans, we’ve been adopted by God the Father, and have been given a family of brothers and sisters in Christ (cf Ephesians 1.4-6).
When the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) gets jealous that Batman doesn't see him as his greatest nemesis, he hatches a plan which Batman thinks he can foil on his own, but he falls right into the Joker’s trap.
Needing others
Batman realises that he needs his found family, made up of his loyal butler and surrogate father figure, Alfred (Ralph Fiennes); Commissioner Jim Gordon's grown-up daughter, Barbara Gordon / Batgirl (Rosario Dawson); and Batman’s chirpy, accidentally adopted son, Dick Grayson / Robin (Michael Cera).
Even though Batman can hardly even bring himself to verbalise the word ‘Sorry’, the others still extend grace to him. This is a great reminder of God’s amazing grace, which forgives even our imperfect repentance (cf Romans 5.8, Ephesians 2.4-9).
The film has a similar sense of humour to The Lego Movie and continues Lego Batman’s characterisation in that film, but also stands alone.
Lack of cynicism
Batman is a character who often takes himself seriously, and many of his stories, though great on their own terms, tend to reflect this. The Lego Batman Movie goes completely the other way, and totally makes fun of Batman and his mythology, but from a place of love.
The Lego Batman Movie not only has Batman grow as a person by learning to let others into his life, but also overflows with wit and fun. In contrast to the bleakness of much of our modern storytelling culture, this gleeful lack of cynicism is a welcome antidote.
