YMMV / The LEGO Batman Movie

• Accidental Innuendo: The song "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" by Cutting Crew accompanies the two scenes in which Batman/Bruce is lovestruck by Barbara Gordon. While the intended joke was probably that '80s music is inherently funny, the song is actually about having an orgasm (the title comes from the French expression "La petite mort," or "a little death"). Basically, this movie was one rating away from having that scene scored to a certain Lonely Island song.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • Snake clowns appear in the 1988 horror movie, Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
  • Batman constantly going on about his abs being important seems like it was done just for comedy, but a strong core (the abdominals being part of which) actually is essential for unlocking one's maximum possible strength, particularly if one takes Kinetic Linking into account. In fact, the consensus is that the core is the most important muscle group to work if you want to do borderline Charles Atlas Superpower-like feats, such as the Human Flag.
• Award Snub: It wasn't nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, nor did it get an Annie nomination in the same category, despite having better critical reception than most of the other nominees.
• Awesome Ego: Batman, naturally. He considers this movie a vast improvement on its predecessor simply because it revolves around him, and is constantly bragging about how cool a hero he is. He can't even apologize for kicking Alfred without mentioning his "incredible reflexes".
• Creepy Cute: The Joker falls into this, surprisingly enough. His inhuman mouth arguably makes him look less creepy than his more human incarnation in LEGO Dimensions◊.
• Cry for the Devil: The Joker. Sure, he's evil and has gathered Batman's rogues gallery to wreak havoc upon Gotham, but Batman doesn't consider Joker to be his rival and sees nothing special about the relationship between himself and Joker. Poor Joker looks like he's going to cry after that comment. In comics, the Joker's fixation on Batman is usually portrayed as unhealthy and as a representation of his insanity. Here, it's portrayed as sympathetic, with Batman's rejection of him coming across as a Kick the Dog moment.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Condiment King, just for being a Z-list Batman's Rogues Gallery villain.
  • Two-Face, due to Billy Dee Williams finally getting to play that part of Harvey's character, even if only for a few lines.
  • Kite-Man, for fans of I Hate Everything.
• Esoteric Happy Ending: Sure, Batman managed to open his heart and saved the day with his newfound family, but there's still his unresolved issues with Superman and the rest of the Justice League. When word gets out that Batman stole Superman's Phantom Zone projector, destroyed his personal property and almost got all of Gotham destroyed just to save face, Batman will probably be kicked out of the Justice League (and possibly even the Master Builders) for good. But he's also Batman, so...
  • In The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, the Justice League end up heading into space and vanishing for five years, meaning Batman doesn't have to deal with the consequences after all.
• Evil Is Cool: The movie's take on the Joker and his lackeys are popular with many, especially when Joker breaks dozens of other franchise villains out of the Phantom Zone and besieges Gotham with them, making a multi-property Villain Team-Up for the ages!
• Fanfic Fuel: The film is completely lacking the real world element of the original LEGO Movie, leaving it up in the air if this is Finn coming up with another story, or someone else better versed in the Batman lore, maybe someone he knows whom he could collaborate with.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: While Bruce is shown to be in love with Barbara Gordon (though Bruce swears that she is just a friend in the ending), search this film on Archive of Our Own, and the majority of stories that come up are Batman/Joker, since many of their interactions are filled with Homoerotic Subtext. It doesn't help in the former's case that Bruce/Barbara is seen as a No Yay ship by most Batman fans due to their usual father/daughter dynamic in the comics and most adaptations, even if Barbara is portrayed in this film as an adult who is equal to Batman, unlike most versions of her.
• Genius Bonus: The Gremlins are tasked with dismantling the Batplane. This is actually a nod to the gremlins in modern mythology, which pilots believed were the cause of unexplained plane accidents.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Batman commenting about how "macho" the Ratpac logo looks is pretty cringeworthy with later revelations about Brett Ratner's sexual misconduct.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Zach Galifianakis as the Joker delivers a surprising amount of pathos to a villain usually depicted as irredeemable, in addition to having a few moments where he actually sells the character as being intimidating.
  • Will Arnett as Batman is mostly comedic, but his performance also shines in the emotional scenes, specifically the scene where Batman is trapped in the Phantom Zone and he sees Robin, Barbara and Alfred in danger. His pleads to Phyllis and his discerning voice are genuinely effective.
  • Michael Cera busts out some serious voice acting chops as a cute, endearing, badass Robin. Not bad for a Older Than They Look actor who's often typecast as a meek guy. Of course, unlike the first two, he's had longer experience in voice acting.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • So we got a catchy song about a DC Comics hero singing about how awesome he is while taking down bad guys simultaneously. Robin and his teammates followed in his footsteps. Bonus points for also being a deconstruction of its source material.
  • Batman won't be the only DC superhero to use a fake Gandhi quote as part of a throwaway line of dialogue.
  • Zoë Kravitz was cast as Catwoman in a cameo role, and eventually was cast as the same character in live-action in The Batman (2022).
  • When Alfred suggests Batman that he should finally face his greatest fear, his guesses are snakes, clowns, and snake clowns. Fittingly enough, that's exactly what he ends up fighting in Batman vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when the Joker is turned into one.
• Ho Yay:
  • Dick Grayson being overjoyed that he has Bruce Wayne and Batman as his fathers... although he was oblivious they were the same person.
  • Also commented by the Joker, after being told that the Batcave is below the Wayne Manor, his reply was:
    Joker: Wait... you're telling me that Bruce Wayne is Batman...'s roommate?
    Sauron: Uh... yeah...
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Batman, as he realizes that Loners Are Freaks and he really doesn't have any friends. It's also worth pointing out that, since it's a Batman tradition, he lost his parents at a really young age and the movie clearly points out his less-than-heroic tendencies and desire to be alone all the time are partly a result of his fear of losing people he loves again and is completely terrified when he realizes that his Jerkass attitude almost led people he cares about the most to their doom and that Robin almost went down the same path.
  • The Joker. He may be insane, but is legitimately heartbroken that Batman doesn't think of him as his greatest enemy.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Slow it down all you want, movie. Still wasn't convinced you would let Alfred die.
  • Plus, even with the slow, somber tone of it, most viewers expected Batman's return to the Phantom Zone to not stick either.
• Magnificent Bastard: The Joker is Gotham's greatest villain, opening the movie by uniting every single supervillain in the city under his leadership and executing a plan to blackmail the mayor into accepting his rule. Heartbroken at Batman's refusal to acknowledge him as his Arch-Enemy, Joker surrenders himself and his minions to Barbara Gordon and tricks the paranoid Batman into banishing him to the Phantom Zone. Once there, he convinces the convicts to assist him in his revenge scheme, having Harley steal the Phantom Zone Projector to release them all onto Gotham. Giving Batman one last chance to say "I hate you", Joker sadly acknowledges that he'll never change and decides to move on, banishing him to the Phantom Zone. After Joker successfully sets off a bomb to destroy Gotham, Batman is finally forced to admit to their rivalry, with a grateful Joker helping undo the destruction he caused.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Many a YouTube commenter has decided that they're more excited for this film than (insert upcoming DC Extended Universe film here), or outright saying that this will be a better film.
  • The critical praise for the movie now caused it to be used in jokes refuting the conspiracy theory that critics hate DC movies or are being paid to bash them by Marvel.
  • The scene of Bruce Wayne looking awestruck at Barbara Gordon at Jim Gordon's retirement gala has been used towards similar Love at First Sight scenarios.
• Moe:
  • Dick Grayson is just downright adorable with his cheerful nature, helped by Michael Cera doing his voice.
  • Harley Quinn, her curly pigtails and clown/goth outfit for whatever reason makes her adorable.
  • Shockingly, the Joker of all characters delves into this at times, albeit in a Creepy Cute way.
• Nightmare Retardant: The information we get about Gotham City being built on two tectonic plates above an empty abyss may be terrifying to the characters, but to the audience it's hilariously clear that they're talking about a tabletop set.
• Older Than They Think:
  • The age gap between Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. In most media appearances, the two are depicted as being around the same age, and in a relationship. Their age range portrayed here is actually much closer to the original portrayal from the Silver Age of Comics When originally introduced, Barbara Gordon was a good 8 years older than Dick, and well into her career. It was until much later in the comics run that Barbara's age got retconned to being closer to Dick's.
  • Alfred wearing the batsuit is not an entirely new idea, as Batman (Rebirth) had him briefly don the batsuit in its fifth issue a year prior. Granted, unlike the film, he didn't do any actual crime fighting in the batsuit, as he only donned it to show up and distract Gotham until the actual Batman arrived to fight him.
• One-Scene Wonder: Pretty much the best any character and Batman villain not named the Joker or Harley Quinn can hope for in this movie. Some of the notable ones:
  • The pilot who doesn't react to Joker's Nightmare Face and Slasher Smile. After a momentary Oh, Crap!, he frowns and doubts Joker's plan.
  • Poison Ivy tries to tag Batman with her signature Kiss of Death, only to end up snogging a penguin. Six times.
  • The Mime is part of a huge chain of villains to get launched off the Batwing - and is the only one not screaming. Now that's dedication to a gimmick.
  • Killer Moth splats against the Batwing's windshield, and eats wiper.
  • Egghead ruins the police force's one plan of action by covering the Bat-Signal with eggs. He later shows up in an egg throwing mech suit.
  • For a non-villainous role, Adam West makes his final cameo as the voice of a Gotham citizen at Commissioner Gordon's retirement ceremony. In an uncredited role, no less.
• Signature Scene:
  • The opening, where Batman takes out his entire Rogues Gallery and saves Gotham from the Joker while singing and fighting to his own theme music.
  • The Joker unleashing the villains of other franchises on Gotham.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The music heard while Batman falls into the Phantom Zone sounds like "The Point of No Return" from The Phantom of the Opera, though this may have been a parody.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • In terms of voice actors, people wondered why Ralph Fiennes didn't reprise his role in playing Voldemort again. Word of God is that they didn't want to then have to contrive a scene between him and Alfred. Why that would be considered mandatory is anyone's guess.
  • Hector Elizondo once again returns to the Batman franchise, but does not reprise his role as Bane.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Despite being heavily shown in marketing, the majority of Batman's rogues gallery, in this case everyone except Joker, is reduced to being minor roles at best, due to the Joker recruiting villains from other LEGO properties instead. It also doesn't help that they used the entire rogues gallery, including lots of the silly one-off ones, so there's really no time to give them all attention. The most notable example of all is Two-Face. Billy Dee Williams finally gets to play Two-Face after being introduced as Harvey Dent in the 1989 movie... and he only has two lines and doesn't get much screentime.
  • Many, both fan and pro are further a bit off-put that the villains from other media franchises recruited from the Phantom Zone are used in such generic ways that one could completely swap the characters out and replace them with almost any other baddy without changing one iota of anything that happens, making it uncomfortably similar to the trend in modern spoof films where merely citing such characters exist is treated as funny in itself. The most notable exceptions to this are Sauron, who plays a crucial part in detecting the Bat-Family's movements and needs to be taken out in order for them to gain an advantage, Lord Voldemort, who serves at the Joker's right hand along with Harley and is constantly casting magic spells (all of them at JK Rowling's own suggestion!), and the shark from Jaws, whose presence revolves entirely around the fact that he is a shark and makes the Bat Shark Repellent Chekhov's Gun joke work.
  • Any character who is not a member of the Bat-Family, The Joker, or a Guest Fighter. The Justice League only appears once in a party scene and none of them do any superheroing.
  • We are introduced to the Phantom Zone with Superman telling us he sent General Zod there. Yet Zod is only visible as an extra among Joker's Phantom Zone villains.
  • Some people feel put off that Harley plays a minor role besides freeing the Joker and his new posse from the Phantom Zone. It doesn't help that Jenny Slate voiced her, which would normally seem like a great casting choice.
  • The film finally gives Billy Dee Williams the opportunity to play Two-Face, but essentially reduces his character to a Casting Gag rather than give him a meaningful role.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Rather, They Missed A Chance To Make A Perfectly Good Joke. While Word of God stated that they didn't want Ralph Fiennes to voice both Alfred and Voldemort, it would likely still have been funny to hear them interacting with one another and comment on how both characters sounded similar. However, that obvious joke was what they wanted to avoid.
  • Also, in a case of They Wasted A Perfectly Good Tie-In Opportunity, one would think that a multi-platform video game based on the movie by Traveller's Tales is guaranteed. Instead, it gets a game released on mobile phones, and a Story Pack in LEGO Dimensions.^note To boot, the Story Pack comes with the smallest portal build ever sold for LEGO Dimensions. Though considering Batman had a LEGO game way before this movie came out (Heck, three of them at the time), as well as a DTV movie based on said game, it's likely they wanted to avoid confusion.
• Trailer Joke Decay: Batman explaining why the Batwing only has one seat, though mitigated a bit by the scene in the film having the extra wrinkle that he just built the plane and knew full well he'd have company in it.
  Batman: Uh... cuz last I checked, I only had one butt.
  • There's also the scene where Batman is microwaving a lobster. Being quiet and drawn-out is funny on its own, but when it's advertised repeatedly the release just makes it seem like a premature intermission.
• Ugly Cute: The Joker may have jagged shark teeth, but he's still a cute little LEGO piece.
• Unexpected Character:
  • The film features LEGO versions of the Kabuki Twins from The Batman, Penguin's enforcers who had never before appeared outside of said show. The film also includes a good number of relatively obscure Batman villains, like King Tut, Crazy Quilt, the Mutant Leader, and even Polka Dot Man. It gets lampshaded; after Joker lists off a number of obscure villains, the person he's talking to asks if he's making some of the names up. He responds that he isn't, and tells them that it's "Probably worth a Google."
  • The movie even includes villains who aren't even DC Comics villains, such as the Gremlins, the Daleks, Sauron and the Wicked Witch of the West. While those villains had at least previously appeared in LEGO Dimensions, King Kong, The Kraken, and Agent Smith have never had their franchises represented in any LEGO media until now.
  • Among the rosters of the Justice League are almost all the original characters created for Super Friends (El Dorado, Samurai, Apache Chief, Black Vulcan, the Wonder Twins and Gleek, with Wonder Dog DJing the party). Too bad Marvin and Wendy didn’t show up.
• Viewer Gender Confusion:
  • Robin looks like Carrie Kelly but is actually supposed to be Dick Grayson. Word of God is that they're putting emphasis on Robin being effeminate.
  • Clayface's appearance is based on how he looked in Batman: The Animated Series (though much bigger in size), but is voiced by Kate Micucci. While the official website says that Clayface is male, this has not stopped some confusion among viewers who thought that this incarnation is actually female ^note 1 ^note 2.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Like its parent movie, the animation is stunningly beautiful.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: One line in Who's The (Bat)Man? mentions how Batman doesn't always pay his taxes. Remember that he's secretly the wealthiest man in Gotham.
• Win Back the Crowd: Early reception was highly positive, a welcome sight for Batman fans after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad (2016) and Batman: The Killing Joke were met with decidedly mixed reception.
• The Woobie: Dick. The poor boy is an orphan who's desperate to be adopted and wants nothing more than a family of his own. Batman treats him initially during the movie as an expendable sidekick who he originally uses simply for a mission that was too dangerous for him to go on by himself, with the young protege going along with it happily unaware Batman is basically sending him off to a potential death. Fortunately, he immediately impresses Bats with his own badassery.

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