In LEGO Batman, the caped crusader lives his life in with the aim to never losing another person who matters to him; by not letting anyone matter ever. The movie opens with the Joker plotting a caper intended to bring the city to its knees and cement his place as Batman’s GREATEST FOE. But at the height of the action, Batman balks at the Joker’s every attempt to “ship” them. The whole setup plays to the (barely) unspoken codependent relationship between Batman and Joker to sidesplitting effect. Batman then once again saves the city, takes his victory lap (really there’s just no way to describe all the hilarity). LEGO Batman will absolutely turn out to be the relationship goals movie for more than one dude-bro among us and we who have to live them can’t but be hilariously amuse at the irony.

Alongside this amusingly beleaguered bromance, Batman sees Barbara Gordon (voiced by Rosario Dawson) and immediately regresses to a fumbling, bad one-liner throwing goof in desperate need of (several) social engagement and interaction lessons. Barbara’s the ass-kicking, four-point plan having cop Gotham needs to wean itself off its dependence on Batman’s vigilante ways. As these two are at loggerheads, here comes the Joker – again – with a brilliant plan to make the Batman see just how much he really needs him… cue shenanigans, mad cap, beyond reasonable shenanigans.

If you thought the scenes from the commercial with Robin (Michael Cera) were hilarious you’re going to be reduced to tears before the end of the movie. *I will not spoil… I will NOT spoil*

LEGO Batman is the perfect follow up to the LEGO Movie. It brings the tongue-in-cheek vibe of the first movie to LEGO Gotham. With a hat tip nod to the first installment Batman’s skills as a master builder are all kinds of on display. The jokes are plentiful, the side-eye at the various incarnations of the caped crusader and his arch-nemesis a bound and the cameos are ridiculous (just ask your “nerd friends”).

Batman, voiced with Will Arnet’s dry-witted and comical delivery, pulls the audience in to this story in a way I only wish the DCU would get it’s shit together enough to give us in with its most recent live-version; funny what effectively drawing on every last property featuring Batman owned by the studio can do for a script.

It doesn’t really matter what decade you grew up, every last one has an incarnation of Batman and the makers of LEGO Batman know it, love it and embraced it with their entire snark-driven hearts. This is an easter-egg riddled, double entendre delivering, laugh out loud good time.

You walk out with a smile on your face and more than one quotable quotes to work into conversation. Go, enjoy and remember the password is: “Ironman sucks!”

Side-note: I want a Lego Justice League movie immediately – trust me you will too.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5

In the irreverent spirit of fun that made “The LEGO® Movie” a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble – LEGO Batman (Will Arnett) – stars in his own big-screen adventure. But there are big changes brewing in Gotham, and if he wants to save the city from The Joker’s (Zach Galifianakis) hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up. Maybe his superhero sidekick Robin (Michael Cera) and loyal butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) can show him a thing or two.

Voice cast: Will Arnett (Batman), Zach Galifianakis (Joker), Michael Cera (Nightwing), Rosario Dawson (Barbara Gordon), Ralph Fiennes (Alfred), Channing Tatum (Clark Kent), Zoë Kravitz (Catwoman), Jenny Slate (Harley Quinn)
Director: Chris McKay
Music composed by: Lorne Balfe