A few people are flying a plane over Gotham City to ensure that it’s safe. Then someone steps out, and the Joker enters the plane. Chaos erupts… until Batman comes and fights the Joker.

When he returns home, Batman takes off his superhero suit, and watches a movie. He realizes how much he yearns for a family since he lost his parents a while ago.

Not long after, Commissioner Gordon retires. During the winter gala celebrating that, which Batman attends, Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, Barbara, takes his place.

But that is interrupted when the Joker and other villains crash the party. He tells Batman that he “surrenders” being a villain and that there will be no need to fight him. Not only that, but Barbara plans also to eliminate all crime from Gotham City. So, Batman no longer has anyone to fight against, which displeases him.

During the event, a bubbly orphaned boy, Dick Grayson, finds Batman and expresses his interest in him adopting him. Although Batman lets him inside his home, he is resistant to having Dick as a son. He won’t even let him call him Dad. So, Dick decides to call him Padre, which is Spanish for both dad and buddy. 

Despite what the Joker said, Batman remains suspicious of him. He even considers sending him to the Phantom Zone, where other dangerous villains go as a punishment. He decides to set them free, and they start to attack civilians as well as destroy Gotham City.

Meanwhile, Batman and Dick are locked up inside a jail cell. But then Barbara shows up. Batman requests that she releases him. Yet she refuses… unless he is willing to let her, Dick, and even his butler, Alfred, join him in fighting the bad guys. Even though Batman likes to fight villains alone, he accepts Barbara’s demand.

The four try to fight as many villains as possible. Will they succeed?

I have to admit that this movie was very funny. I can’t even keep track of how many times I laughed and what specifically caused me to. The one thing I do remember is when the pilot at the beginning compared something to dirty underwear.

Another thing I admire is the characterization. Dick is actually Robin, whom he becomes later when picking out a suit to help Batman battle the villains. One thing that stands out to me is Dick’s personality. In other Batman adaptations, Dick, or Robin, is about as serious as Batman. And he is not his son either. He is merely a sidekick.

I also appreciate how Batman is willing to form companionships with Alfred, Barbara, and Dick. But one part that I found strange was when Alfred punished Batman by using parental controls to block access to his computer. He’s his butler, although there is a hint to how he might have looked after Batman after he lost his parents. Still–Batman is obviously an adult, thus too old for Alfred to punish him like a child. Yet that is the only flaw that I found in this movie.

A big part that I am impressed by is the animation. As much as how it looked like stop-motion animation, it is not. It’s CG animation but executed with Lego characters. I especially loved the special effects, such as the light shooting in various scenes, such as when Gotham City is under attack.

Overall, I enjoyed The Lego Batman Movie. Its humor, character development, and animation are what makes it so good. I liked it just as much as I did when I first saw it in the movie theater in 2017.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars and would recommend it to people of all ages.