Fridge / The LEGO Batman Movie

Fridge Brilliance

• The film actually subtly delineates the term "bad guy". There are "bad guys" in terms of villains, and there are "bad guys" in terms of guys who do things badly and behave badly — literal bad guys.
• Childlike "Pew-pew-pews!" sometimes accompany lasers being fired, which seems to indicate that once again, there's a kid acting out a story. It would explain Batman being a Memetic Badass and the idea of a child needing a dad to look up to — and a lot of children even in happy families often feel lonely.
• Finn probably as a 10 year old is frustrated with Parental Locks, and his father probably did buy self-help books on parenting.
• It's not just a throwaway gag: all of the characters are their previous incarnations. Batman is LEGO in this movie because that's his incarnation for this movie, and it's as valid as any previous movie, cartoon or TV show, and the film is acknowledging that. The same goes for every Robin, Barbara, Alfred, Joker, and so on, which is why the Superfriends are partying alongside the Justice League.
• More evidence that this is another child's story: Batman eating Lobster Thermidor would be a kid's idea of a fancy meal, since it's the best meal you can eat in The Sims.
• Alfred's nostalgia for "the '60s" - on the surface, just a Shout-Out to a (relatively) more well-adjusted incarnation of Batman. Extra-nerdy Batman fans, however, might recall that Alfred himself was quite the badass on the '66 show; a number of times, circumstances would force him into the field, and he actually beat (or at least held his own against) an impressive number of arch-villains without any fancy toys.
• There are keychains, tv-remotes, Christmas ornaments, and other merchandise in the iconic Lego brick design and on which the round plates are often light-up. This is likely the basis for Phyllis and her Nonstandard Character Design. While not actual Legos that can be used for building with the real pieces, any child who has such items would include it in the story as a unique type of Lego, which is exactly who Phyllis is in the film.
• The way that Batman building a "rope" with "Gotham Family" to bring Gotham back together again seemed to come out of nowhere until you go back the first battle where Batman used a "rope" (more like a missile) made of Crazy Quilt, Mime, and Calendar Man to take out Scarecrow's helicopter.
• The villains that Joker recruits in the Phantom Zone are obviously not Batman or even DC villains... which makes sense considering the first LEGO Movie's plot twist of most of the story being created by a kid and it's not uncommon for kids to use toys from other franchises to interact to create all sorts of weird crossovers.
  • In the same vein, how are so many characters from different continuities featuring Batman here? Simple - Finn might just not know enough about DC or Batman to know that there can be different continuities.
  • It also makes sense for the specific villains used; almost all of them are villains from movies, meaning they can't be used in Lego movies related to their own franchises, and the Multicolored Daleks who are apparently also under copyright so they can't appear in a Lego Doctor Who movie.
    • Also, many of those properties are owned by Warner Bros. A child would equate Sauron with a glowing eye atop a mountain instead of an actual person because of Pop Culture Osmosis.
    • And the most prominently used (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park) are LEGO sub-franchises.
• The performer at the gala sings Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror". Why that particular song?
  • It's thematically appropriate. Both the movie and the song are about changing yourself for the better before you change the world. This is also the reason why it's quoted at the beginning of the film (totally by Batman and no one else), and why it's played during the montage in the last scene.
  • Every chorus ends with "nanana"'s, just like the 1960's Batman TV series' theme!
  • A lot of the spoken dialog reference the lyrics to Michael Jackson songs, as well.
  • In fact, Batman literally ends up asking the man in the mirror to change his ways when he's looking back at his more callous moments in the Phantom Zone.
• Why the Joker didn't have to return to the Phantom Zone at the end? Given that the Joker with Batman (and everyone) working together to save Gotham, he, too, wasn't a 'Bad guy' for Phyllis herself.
  • This is even lampshaded when he's first tossed in there - all the other villains point out that he's positively mundane compared to them.
    • There's a basis for this in the Batman canon, considering the interpretation where he's more of a prankster who enjoys trolling Batman than anything else (the "Clown Prince of Crime" version, which can be seen as recently as Batman: The Brave and the Bold), or the interpretation where he's just a mob boss with a gimmick who's fine with murder but isn't really the mass murderer (with at least one depiction refusing to kill someone since it wouldn't be "funny") he's portrayed as in assorted post-The Dark Knight Returns appearances. In either case, it's no surprise that someone like Voldemort (a magical Nazi) or Sauron (more or less Middle-Earth's Devil) would be dismissive of Joker.
• The TV scientist's explanation of the geology beneath Gotham sounds a lot like a description of a table.
• How did Voldemort know right away that the Joker had come to the Phantom Zone to recruit villains against a superhero? Voldemort is a Legilimens, essentially a mindreader.
• The trailer line "Batman lives in Bruce Wayne's basement?" / No, Bruce Wayne lives in Batman's attic" is essentially a microcosm of Batman's major character flaw. He's so utterly consumed by his Batman persona that he has no Bruce Wayne persona anymore, he's the same person out of costume as in it and that person is Batman, to the point he keeps wearing his cowl even when he takes off the rest of the costume. For him, "Bruce Wayne lives in Batman's attic" is an accurately description of how he feels about himself.
• The inclusion of King Kong and the Kraken. In a film series dedicated to a stop-motion animation aesthetic, what better choices for giant monsters in Joker's army than the most iconic characters of the great stop motion pioneers Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen?
  • Suddenly all those skeletons don't seem all that random anymore.
• The line about Batman not paying his taxes is there to show his selfishness, but is also technically accurate, since he pays it all as Bruce Wayne, so Batman isn't actually paying anything.
• Why did the film use Alex Aiono's cover of "Man In The Mirror" rather than the original Michael Jackson version? Because Michael Jackson didn't say that, Batman did.
• Batman not wanting to allow people in doesn't make sense if you put The LEGO Movie before this chronologically, since Batman was in a romantic relationship with Wyldstyle. That is, until you remember that he and Lucy broke up at the end of the movie so she could be with Emmett, which might have reinforced his issues with letting people in because he is afraid of getting hurt again, leading to his isolation in this movie. He basically has post-break-up depression on top of all of his issues.
  • Also, if this movie also takes place in Finn's imagination, then it makes even more sense - when kids play with toys, they just want to put them on random adventures. They don't really care about things like continuity. They just want to have fun. The fact that Batman has basically the same personality as in last movie reinforces it - they can send their characters on whatever adventures they want, but sometimes, certain personalities they gave to their toys earlier stick to them.
• One line in Batman's song references turing Two-Face into "Black and Blue-Face". Not only is this a reference to bruises, but Two-Face actually has been depicted as black and blue in previous incarnations, one of which being this very movie.
• It's been noted that the Daleks tend to get beaten up very easily by our heroes whenever they appear. They also seem to be based on the brightly-coloured remodelled "New Paradigm" versions which were notably unpopular with the fan-base. A subtle Take That!, perhaps.
• Why does this version of Clayface sound like a little girl? Finn probably got some input from his little sister, which also explains why Clayface is the only brick-build character not resembling an enlarged minifig.
• A majority of the Mythology Gags are from the movies and the Phantom Zone villains are all from famous films instead of being DC supervillains. Given that this is all being acted out by a 9-year-old who probably doesn't have access to many comics, films are pretty much the only source of reference.
  • Worth noting he still does have a lot of obscure characters he's using, up to and including Condiment King. (Granted, IIRC Condiment King came from TAS, so he might've watched that growing up, but still...) Though he likely got some of the more obscure picks from other sources too. (Notably, Harley dresses in a nurse outfit somewhat similar to her appearance in Asylum briefly, which has a lot of collectible files on various Batman villains, combined with TAS he should be able to get a working knowledge on a good percentage of villains featured, and winged it with others like egghead.)
• Why did Batman not know it was Harley Quinn in disguise when she stops by with Phantom's Own laundry when he's the worlds greatest detective? Well not only is this Batman more muscle than mind, but Barbra Gordon states that he's never Captured any criminals, only stopped their plans. This means that none of them have actually gone into police custody and been unmasked. No one knows who Harley Quinn is, not even Batman.
  • Also note that Batman doesn't have his armoured face disguise removed when he gets captured, and indeed the rest of the rogues are also in full outfit when they get in trouble.
• Batman's constant refusal to accept that he needs help and that he can take on anything by himself makes sense considering the fight at the beginning of the movie. Despite being vastly outnumbered Batman utterly curbstomps his entire Rogue's Gallery in a couple minutes all to a music number, so he has good reason to think that. Additionally, Batman gets his butt kicked fighting alone against all the Phantom Zone villains because they aren't his villains. In the opening Batman has had years of experience fighting each of his Rogue's Gallery and thus knew exactly how to deal with them, but when he's up against enemies he's never seen before he's caught completely flatfooted.
• When Batman-disguised-as-Mayor asks Joker if he gambles, his response is a joyful "Yes", but when asked if he plays roulette, it's a less-enthusiastic "On occasion." The Joker takes his name from a playing card; he's probably got more experience with card games like poker and blackjack. Beginners at a given game, or even those who take multiple losses, will take any advice they can get, hence his being "all ears" when he's offered advice.
• Why is Harley's and the Joker's relationship not an abusive one as per the norm but a healthy one? If this is a kid playing with their toys, they probably wouldn't understand abuse, how their relationship really is like, or maybe just came up with something nicer for the two.
  • Or, keeping in mind the (parodied) Foe Romance Subtext between Batman and Joker that's the core of the plot, Mistah J. could just be more or less a Gay Best Friend to Harley.
  • And assuming the Lego Adaptation Games exist in the real world of these movies, Joker isn't really portrayed as abusive to Harley there either. At worst, she annoys him.
  • On that note, Joker has much sharper teeth here than usual. The first Lego Batman game had him with properly outlined teeth, likely painting Finn's interpretation.
• On a similar note, Catwoman doesn't inspire any romantic attraction from Batman, who is completely focused on Barbara. While classic Batman may show compassion to his enemies, Will!Bat doesn't have that as an Awesome Ego Jerk with a Heart of Gold. He's withdrawing himself from everyone he cares about, including the villain he occasionally dates.
  • Also, If going by the above "It's all acted out by a kid" theory, his more exposure to Animated Series will make Barbara being the natural attraction.
• Joker won't believe that Batman is Bruce Wayne, when presented with the evidence, and instead assumes they're roommates. Because Bruce is the logical extreme of an Upper-Class Twit, and Batman is a Memetic Badass. While Bruce spends his time holed up in his mansion, attending charity events and spitting out drinks, Batman spends his day taking down the Rogues. The difference is even more pronounced when Bruce is a philanthropist, and Batman is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Also, the Joker doesn't actually care who Batman really is. Sometimes the mystery just makes it more fun for him, and would rather not see him as anybody else but Batman.
• Why is it important that Barbara, a Badass Normal, takes down Voldemort? Voldemort hates Muggles. What's more, he was taken down thanks to a brave redhead in the books who refused to let her son die during a magical home invasion. So it's fitting that the person who takes him down is a brave, intellectual redhead who makes him "disappear".
• Why is Voldemort in the Phantom Zone? To protect him from a Fate Worse than Death. Harry Potter knew what would be waiting for Tom Riddle when the latter would finally "die": a painful form, wanting to board a train but unable to do so as a fragment of a soul. At least in the Phantom Zone, while Voldemort is obviously bored and slighted that Harry didn't try to kill him, he would be suffering that particular fate. Harry is seen as pitying Tom Riddle while also realizing he's a threat as long as he remains in the wizarding LEGO world. It's also why Voldemort agrees with Joker's sentiment about being unappreciated by their nemeses; Harry sending him to the Phantom Zone means that he treats the latter as a common criminal, a mass murderer, rather than a magical genius who would reform the wizarding world. Voldemort as a LEGO figure was luckier than his counterpart, so he wasn't turned into whatever that thing was in King's Cross.
  • Similarly, the Daleks may have been put in there because no matter how many times the Doctor wipes them out, they keep coming back in some shape or form. Likewise, Sauron is immortal as long as the One Ring is around, so he might've been banished there too for a similar reason.
• Early in the movie, Batman makes a point to say he fights Superman, only for Joker to point out Superman's not a "bad guy". Later, when Batman is in the Phantom Zone, Phyllis welcomes Batman as a "bad guy". What does Batman say? "I'm not a bad guy."
• When Alfred mentions that Batman has to go ^note  as Bruce Wayne to Commissioner Gordon's retirement party, Batman acts very reluctant at going. Why is that, exactly? It's a retirement party, meaning Jim's not going to work there anymore. Batman wants some things to remain the same, to the point where Status Quo Is God. And just now, he and Alfred just had a discussion about changing some things around Wayne Mansion (like facing his fear of being part of a family again.)
• As with the entire Batman franchise, Joker remains Batman's polar opposite, even in the Lego adaption. Lego-Batman is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who pushes others out of his life. Lego-Joker is an Affably Evil villain who keeps his friends close and his enemies closer.
• When Batman arrives at The Fortress of Solitude he's quick to assure Superman he's not there to fight, while Superman's response to that is a blunt "I would destroy you." Which is strange coming from Superman the ultimate Nice Guy, however it's established the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice have taken place in this film's continuity and if the fight between the two ended the same way: with Batman winning that would explain why Batman is so nonchalant on the matter and why Superman would seem a bit defensive.
• A small Freeze-Frame Bonus, but Alfred's tray doesn't lie flat on the ground when it's dropped. It has a LEGO stud so it can attach to Alfred's hand.
• The Calculator builds a CD rack, which resembles the "double decker couch" from The LEGO Movie. The fridge brilliance comes from it falling apart instantly — because he's not a Master Builder.
• Batman dismisses out of hand the idea of recruiting villains to fight bigger villains, saying it's stupid. While this comes off as a Take That! towards the premise of Suicide Squad (2016) (and it is pretty funny if taken that way), it's also the canonical opinion that Batman has of the idea in Suicide Squad itself, so it works even in-universe.
• Why is the police academy that Barbara Gordon trained at referred to as Harvard for Police? Simple, Finn likely doesn't know the names of any actual police academies, so he just thought of the police equivalent of Harvard University.
• Batman's computer literally just being Siri instead of being voiced by an actress seems like another joke but it's actually yet another way to show how sad and lonely his life is: aside from Alfred, Batman's only "friend" is an emotionless computer. Had they hired an actual actress the computer would have seemed too human and therefor make Batman's interactions with it seem more natural.
• The Joker calls the Daleks "British robots" (Ask your nerd friends), but they aren't actually robots or from Britain. They're mutant-cyborgs in armor from Skaro. Assuming this movie is also just a scenario being played out by kids, and children typically don't watch Doctor Who (Unless they can stomach the amount of Nightmare Fuel in it), it's likely Finn assumed they were robots.
• Sauron is accidentally "killed" by a fireball, but he can only be taken down by destroying his ring. It's more likely his (weak) physical form was killed, and he'll take another 3,000 years to gather enough power to manifest again-not dead, but nowhere near alive enough to worry about for aeons.
• Why are the Gotham rogues and the Phantom Zone Prisoners so much nicer than in canon? This is the imagination of a child, who would not only already have a naive idea of what villains are like, he would most likely be forbidden by his parents to read/watch the darker parts of the source material.
• Watch closely during "Who's The Batman". When Bats says "'Cause I'm a billionaire", it's right after he closes his Batwing's canopy, so none of the villains hear it. Even when he denies being Bruce Wayne, he doesn't sing it out loud. It's playing on his headphones.

Fridge Horror

• Anybody who has worked hard at the same job their entire life, only to suddenly be declared irrelevant/obsolete and so then laid-off, will find Batman's dejection sadly relatable.
• At the end of the movie, Batman reveals his secret identity to Robin and Barbara...Right in front of the other villains. For all we know, at least one of the villains saw Bruce without his mask. Plus, Barbara didn't have her mask on during that scene, so she could be in trouble too!
  • In Barbara's case, though, the villains would already be gunning for her anyway seeing as she's already the police commissioner. Besides which, these seem to be Batman's Rogues Gallery in their more Affably Evil Harmless Villain depictions.
  • It should be noted that the villains didn't show up until after Batman was about to head back to the Phantom Zone, at which point he'd put his mask back on, so they likely didn't see him as Bruce Wayne.
• We see Sauron get destroyed in Gotham, but we never see his remains get sent back to the Phantom Zone. Given that Sauron is a god who'll resurrect continuously so long as the One Ring exists, that means he could potentially come back.
• It may seem a little weird to have Captain Boomerang show up, especially since he's a Flash villain, and the only Flash villain in the movie. Not until you remember that Captain Boomerang is the one who killed Tim Drake's dad.