Post by Afgncaap5 on Feb 18, 2017 2:56:36 GMT -5
I just saw this today, and I was delighted. This is easily the best Batman movie we've got for a four year radius... maybe five... Dark Knight Rises isn't Batman's best (and neither was this) but it's got some merit to it... tough call.
Anyway, it was great. I hadn't seen the original Lego Movie but I don't think I needed to. There were some times where it definitely stopped being a Batman movie and became more of a Lego movie, but those times weren't problematic. If this was a movie meant for adults I might not've liked 'em but in the context they were fine.
Ultimately, this movie worked both as a parody of everything awful or ridiculous about Batman, but also as a tribute to everything that makes the character awesome. The movie doesn't dwell on psychological trauma like a lot of Batman movies do, but it does bring about the question of growth, coping with loss, and looking at the kind of person who might decide to dress up like a Bat to punch criminals while also spending loads of money on huge amounts of self-branded gadgets.
The movie also thankfully took the choice of not showing us an origin. We don't need to see that again. You pretty much just get an old picture of a young Bruce Wayne and his parents at the Monarch theater with an ominous Crime Alley in the background. Even if you don't know Batman's story it's enough to communicate that this is a person who lost his parents, and if you *do* know the Batman story then you're saved five to ten minutes of however the director would've decided to artfully render the Wayne's getting killed this time.
The element of history and continuity was played with, too. Without going into details, the movie sort of accepted that every previous Batman movie "happened", and while there are elements of this movie that clearly contradict what's happened in previous movies, that doesn't mean that those other movies and their various plots weren't around in the history of this movie.
It goes without saying that this movie understood Batman a lot better than a lot of other movies did. I'm willing to take the extra step and say that this movie understood Batman better than a lot of comic book creators did. Lookin' at you, Frank Miller, and everyone like you.
Now, having said that, it wasn't a perfect movie. Most of the movie's fourth-wall jokes were great but one or two near the start made me worried about the quality of the movie. Barbara Gordon was cool, but she also wound up falling into the "sensible female foil" characterization that a lot of movies assign to women who aren't playing main characters. I didn't care so much for the closing credits sequence. And... okay, that might be it. I'm sure the movie has other issues but those are the only three that are immediately leaping to mind.
So... yeah. I recommend it. It's no Zootopia as its plot structure is pretty simple (but *solid*), but if all you want is some high-grade popcorn flick fun that actually has some emotional resonance and character depth to it then you'll probably really, really like it.
Anyway, it was great. I hadn't seen the original Lego Movie but I don't think I needed to. There were some times where it definitely stopped being a Batman movie and became more of a Lego movie, but those times weren't problematic. If this was a movie meant for adults I might not've liked 'em but in the context they were fine.
Ultimately, this movie worked both as a parody of everything awful or ridiculous about Batman, but also as a tribute to everything that makes the character awesome. The movie doesn't dwell on psychological trauma like a lot of Batman movies do, but it does bring about the question of growth, coping with loss, and looking at the kind of person who might decide to dress up like a Bat to punch criminals while also spending loads of money on huge amounts of self-branded gadgets.
The movie also thankfully took the choice of not showing us an origin. We don't need to see that again. You pretty much just get an old picture of a young Bruce Wayne and his parents at the Monarch theater with an ominous Crime Alley in the background. Even if you don't know Batman's story it's enough to communicate that this is a person who lost his parents, and if you *do* know the Batman story then you're saved five to ten minutes of however the director would've decided to artfully render the Wayne's getting killed this time.
The element of history and continuity was played with, too. Without going into details, the movie sort of accepted that every previous Batman movie "happened", and while there are elements of this movie that clearly contradict what's happened in previous movies, that doesn't mean that those other movies and their various plots weren't around in the history of this movie.
It goes without saying that this movie understood Batman a lot better than a lot of other movies did. I'm willing to take the extra step and say that this movie understood Batman better than a lot of comic book creators did. Lookin' at you, Frank Miller, and everyone like you.
Now, having said that, it wasn't a perfect movie. Most of the movie's fourth-wall jokes were great but one or two near the start made me worried about the quality of the movie. Barbara Gordon was cool, but she also wound up falling into the "sensible female foil" characterization that a lot of movies assign to women who aren't playing main characters. I didn't care so much for the closing credits sequence. And... okay, that might be it. I'm sure the movie has other issues but those are the only three that are immediately leaping to mind.
So... yeah. I recommend it. It's no Zootopia as its plot structure is pretty simple (but *solid*), but if all you want is some high-grade popcorn flick fun that actually has some emotional resonance and character depth to it then you'll probably really, really like it.