The Lego Batman Movie

The title pretty much tells you what to expect. Batman/Bruce Wayne (voiced by Will Arnett in a deadpan rasp) contends with an army of bad guys (nearly all with celebrity voices) led by the villain he loves to hate, the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), while grappling with the instant family represented by the youth he inadvertently adopted (Michael Cera, “animated” in every sense). Comic book movies used to be fun, and the idiot solemnity of the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale movies are long overdue for ridicule. Director Chris McKay and writers Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern and John Whittington are happy to oblige. The result is more fun than Batman’s been since Adam West hung up his purple tights. Somewhere, surely, Batman’s late creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger are smiling. J.L.