Despite being utterly dissimilar in tone, The LEGO Batman Movie and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice share the same edgy protagonist. Critics have enjoyed the convenience of comparing the two, often favoring the self-deprecating awareness of the blockier iteration. The fact that LEGO Batman directly parodies BvS makes it all the easier, though many could argue that the film’s endlessly grim iteration of The Dark Knight was already an easy target for satire. The fact that Batman’s roots are tied to camp don’t automatically make him impossible to take seriously, but perhaps a certain level of self-seriousness simply makes him all the more likely to devolve into hilarity.
LEGO Batman spends the majority of its 106-minute running time illustrating this, and no sequence more readily demonstrates it than Batman’s intro in the film, in which the hero sings “Who’s The (Bat)Man?” (by Patrick Stump). Fans who haven’t yet seen The LEGO Batman Movie may want to check this clip out to better enjoy what comes next. (Also, if it doesn’t convince you that the film is worth seeing, it’s likely that nothing will.)
YouTube personality Cristian Ortiz realized a very specific need even before The LEGO Batman Movie hit theaters and created a mashup of Batman’s hard-hitting action scene from BvS, and edited it to his LEGO iteration’s hard-rocking theme song. Said Ortiz, “Look, someone was going to do this sooner or later.” (See the video above)
Regardless of your thoughts on the plot of Batman v Superman, it’s hard to argue that this scene wasn’t one of the highlights Batman’s history on film. It recreates, in live action, the fluid and brutal style of combat that’s recently been explored by the Rocksteady Studios Arkham video game series. With the exception of a few beats, the music actually suits the scene pretty well, (ridiculous lyrics aside).
So what do you think, readers? Does adding some levity to the increasingly grim Dark Knight improve him, or should the comedy and drama of Batman steer clear of each other? Let us know in the comments section, and stay tuned to Screen Rant for updates on every iteration of The Caped Crusader as they hit.
Source: Cristian Ortiz’s YouTube (via Reddit)
- lego batman Release Date: 2017-02-10 wonder woman Release Date: 2017-06-02 Justice League Release Date: 2017-11-17 Aquaman Release Date: 2018-12-21 The Flash Movie Release Date: 2023-06-23 Shazam! Release Date: 2019-04-05