#Spoilers
The second movie in toy world of LEGO movies comes in this
season showing a different side of Batman! It’s Batman versus Joker and a huge
army behind them to make an interesting chaos.
The Story…
One of the Greatest Villains of all times – Joker (voiced by
Zach Galifianakis) sets loose some of the notorious criminals of Gotham as he
is having some crucial plans against Batman – The Saviour.(voiced by Will Arnett).
Now to begin with, Joker makes Killer Croc (voiced by Matt Villa)
plant a bomb in the City while other villains create a havoc by destroying it.
Batman comes to the rescue and in a mid-air confrontation hanging over a latch
he breaks Joker’s heart by stating that he means nothing to him and Batman and
Joker are not a “thing”.
That night Batman as Bruce Wayne attends the gala of
swearing in ceremony of the new mayor of Gotham – Barbara Gordon (voiced by
Rosario Dawson). At the ceremony, Dick Grayson - an orphan (voiced by Michael
Cara) wants him to be adopted by Mr. Wayne. Bruce who is engrossed in Barbara’s
beauty is not attentive to Dick and ends up adopting him unknowingly in on oral
deal.
Barbara in her speech says that even after so many victories
Gotham is still under the attacks of villains every now and then. She wants
Batman to team up with the police force of Gotham and fight the criminals once
and for all. Bruce obviously is adverse to the idea and argues with the new
Mayor. Joker and his team interrupts the ceremony and surrender themselves (all
except Dr. Harley Quinzel – Joker’s second hand voiced by Jenny Slate). The
credit to this feat goes to Barbara as the villains are now locked up in Arkham
Asylum – The premier prison in the City leaving Batman soggy.
Back at Wayne Manor Batman is joined by his newly adopted
son Dick and now he plans to send Joker to the Phantom Zone – The isolated
place for criminals up in the sky. To do so he requires the Phantom Projector
which is located at Superman’s (voiced by Channing Tatum) Fortress Of Solitude, Batman and Dick who
disguises himself as Robin successfully steal the device.
By smuggling the Phantom Projector into Arkham, Batman and
Robin send Joker to the Phantom Zone. For breaking into the prison with the
device Barbara locks up both of them up in the prison. However, Harley steals
the confiscated Projector and brings back every villain from the Phantom Zone
into Gotham City thus creating a mayhem.
Barbara, Robin and Alfred Pennyworth - The Butler (voiced by
Ralph Fiennes) join in Batman in his Batwing for the mission but still he wants
to work alone. They try to locate Joker who is now at Wayne Manor but Sauron -
The Giant Eye (voiced by Jemaine Clement) is locked on wherever Batman moves.
In a coup, Kraken’s Fireball meant for the Batwing hits and destroys Sauron, so
now Joker has no track of Batman’s actions.
The heroes celebrate and make it back to Wayne Island where
Batman locks up Alfred, Robin and Barbara in the Batwing transporting them to a
safe location so as to fight Joker alone thereby breaking the deal of working
as a team.
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| Joker and the villains |
The climax comes where Batman is surrounded by Joker and
other villains. Joker simply wants Batman to say that he is his worst enemy,
Batman refuses to do the same and Joker sends him to the Phantom Zone. There
Batman meets Phyllis (voiced by Ellie Kemper) – The talking LEGO Brick. Phyllis
makes Batman to come down to his senses and makes him realize that he is doing
wrong by locking up his friends and fighting alone. He makes a deal with
Phyllis to bring back all the villains to the Phantom Zone if she lets him go
back to Gotham.
Batcomputer (voiced by Susan Bennett also the voice of Siri)
releases Alfred, Barbara and Robin from the Batwing to fight the villains.
Batman apologizes them for the insensible behavior and the four of them
together defeat and send the villains back to Phantom Zone.
The earlier planted bomb by Croc starts creating a rift in
the city. Batman and other citizens of Gotham form a chain link of humans to
join it back together but they are inadequate. Batman is forced to ask for
Joker’s help where he admits that Joker indeed is his greatest enemy and the
city is now saved!
As promised before Batman must now return back to the
Phantom Zone but Phyllis appears and says that Batman is now changed for good
and can stay in Gotham.
Finally he accepts Dick as his son and reveals that Bruce
Wayne is Batman’s alter ego and they all hug together as a family. Everyone
including the enemies return to Wayne Manor and celebrate dancing on a song
written by Dick Grayson.
Review…
Keeping in mind the theme, the movie is really enjoyable for
kids and teenagers. There are only a few characters altogether who play their
role well throughout. The story has enough content and comes with a lot of
surprises frequently which makes it a bit difficult to grasp quickly. It begins
with a lot of chaos, slows down in the middle and again paces up really fast in
the last thirty minutes.
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| Dick Grayson alongside Batman |
Here, Batman lives in his King-sized mansion, eats the
leftover lobsters after microwaving them, watches ‘Jerry Maguire’ and also
misses his family. He believes his parents would have been proud of him seeing
how he saves Gotham today. Apart from the usual facts that he always works
alone, this new side of Batman is to watch for. The chemistry between Batman
and Joker is a delight – their anti-romantic scenes, rivalry and fights are
captured in a humorous and unique way. All the other characters also have a
major role in the successful completion of the mission. Dick steals the show
with his innocence and heroic tasks in the movie. Barbara and Alfred have the
major role in transforming Batman into a “family guy”.
But unlike the expectations went owing to the first LEGO
Movie, a little more music would have added an extra magic to the whole movie.
Other things to point out would be – A character named Dick and several other
similar references does not justify a ‘U’ certificate in a movie that is meant
for Kids.
Humour is the key element in the movie. The original sound
tracks and background score in situations blend in with the scenes. The movie
lives upto the marks of huge names like DC Comics, Warner Group and the LEGO
franchise.
For the love of Batman, The LEGO Batman Movie is a must watch in the season.
by Vrushabh Gudade
