Jon Burton | 71 mins | download (HD) | 1.78:1 | USA & UK / English | PG
Well. What can I say? Curiosity got the better of me.
It’s weird to think that a generation or two of kids have now grown up with there always being tie-in LEGO. Until about 15 years ago, the toy brick manufacturer did not do licences. For whatever reason that all changed with The Phantom Menace, when sets were released that tied in to both that film and the original trilogy. I doubt it surprised anyone when these were a huge success, and since then pretty much any action figure-friendly franchise has received the LEGO treatment: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, even The Lone Ranger and Prince of Persia!
It was such a success that they got kind of cocky and made a LEGO Star Wars video game. What the hell?! Except it turned out to be massively popular, thanks to its mix of irreverent but informed humour and clever gameplay mechanics that emphasised and utilised the LEGO-ness of the world. After multiple sequels and the concept again branching out to encompass more licenses, this same style made its way to animated TV specials and, ultimately, feature-length animations — of which I believe this is the first.
But it’s also a bit of a cheat. It’s an adaptation of the game LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes — so much so that it takes the game’s cinematic cut scenes and fills in the blanks (i.e. the bits you’d actually be playing in the game) with new animation. This has, understandably, quite irritated those who’ve played the game — it’s just the thing they’ve already seen, only less interactive. For the rest of us, it’s not startlingly obvious where all the gameplay bits would be, but every once in a while a character outlines a set of mission goals right before an action sequence, which slightly gives the game away (ho ho). The side effect is that at times it feels a little like watching someone play a computer game, and that’s rarely fun.
This wouldn’t matter so much if what was left was entertaining, but it’s a little weak. I’ve seen a couple of the LEGO Star Wars TV specials and found them to be quite fun, but LEGO Batman can’t reach their level. It’s not just that it’s almost four times as long as one of those, it’s that the humour it does contain doesn’t hit home in the same way. It’s often too juvenile, too “that’ll do”, too “I can tell this is supposed to be humorous but it’s just not funny”. I know I started by saying that I just watched this through curiosity, but partly it was that I’d found those Star Wars specials enjoyable enough and thought this would be more of the same with superheroes. It wants to be, but it isn’t.
The top thing that struck me, however, was this: imagine that, instead of Zack Snyder directing Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck in Batman vs. Superman in 2015, we’d instead been treated to Joel Schumacher directing George Clooney and Nicolas Cage in Batman and Superman in 1999. The result, I can’t help but suspect, would have been rather like LEGO Batman: The Movie. And yet, as a 70-minute kid-focused animated confection, it’s gone down a lot better than I suspect my imagined Schumacher opus would have.
I don’t really think it deserves to. In fact, I’d kinda rather see that Schumacher version.
This review is part of the 100 Films Advent Calendar 2013. Read more here.
Dogged by comparisons to 
A mash-up of mythology and… well, 
The fourth 
The second half is more familiar Toy Story stomping ground — indeed, if there’s one bum note, it’s that the villain and his ‘plot’ are almost a rehash of 
Apparently Toy Story of Terror! spent two years in development. While that might seem excessive for a mere under-half-hour animation, the time and effort have paid off handsomely: the result is a thoroughly entertaining short — and one that actually embraces its seasonal theme, rather than forcing it in as an afterthought. Terrific.
1956: global superstar Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) comes to England to star opposite Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) in his latest directorial effort, 
The supporting cast is a veritable who’s who of recognisable British faces, stars of screens both big and small. Barely a speaking part goes by without an actor you’re certain to recognise. I’d list them but, honestly, there are far, far too many. Despite Marilyn coming with a hefty entourage, Williams is the only American in the cast, meaning American accents are lumbered (to varying degrees of success) upon Zoe Wanamaker, Toby Jones, Dougray Scott, and Dominic Cooper. Hey, of course Dominic Cooper’s in it — is it even legal to make a mid-budget British movie without him now?
If you don’t know that name then you must be a young whippersnapper, because otherwise Ray Harryhausen needs no introduction.
Sometimes they’re a bit jerky, maybe, and the inevitable issues of scale show they’re models fighting or interacting with actors on set… but for all that they’re still not significantly less realistic than so many modern computer-based techniques, and they carry a charm and obvious level of skill that said renderings usually lack.
One thing I always wonder about ‘specialist’ documentaries is, do they have crossover appeal? Will someone with no interest in Harryhausen, or even in Cinema, get something out of this? Probably not, I guess. But that’s not a bad thing per se, because this is an informative overview of a man’s influential body of work that deserves all the appreciation it can muster. Even if, like me, you’re not that familiar with said work, this is a film that will show you why you should be.
A man books into a swish hotel, has a nice meal, then climbs out the window. Onlookers and police gather. Will he jump? Or is he just a distraction?
Documentary about the life and work of Georges Méliès, with particular attention to 
The Extraordinary Voyage accompanies A Trip to the Moon on DVD (or, if you fancy spending a small fortune, Blu-ray), but arguments that it goes beyond a mere ‘special feature’ are worth hearing. It’s a worthy biography/tribute to a cinematic force whose influence is still felt today, coupled with the extraordinary story of how his supremacy is being preserved.
“Old fogies go to India” is the setup of this frothy comedy-drama that clearly courts the so-called ‘grey pound’ — i.e. older viewers still prepared to pay to go to the cinema. But when said fogies are played by Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie and Penelope Wilton, it will surprise no one to learn there’s something here for us all.
Screenwriting partnership Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn vacate their usual milieu (see 
100Films.co.uk 