Everyone was shocked by how good The Lego Movie was. Everyone, that is, except Warner Bros. They seemed prepared for success, quickly release a schedule of spin-offs and sequels that would usually cause all sorts of concerns about low-quality cash grabbing, except that’s what many of us thought about The Lego Movie, and boy were we wrong.
That’s not to say that Warner Bros. isn’t marketing these films well and cashing in. Releasing the teaser for The Lego Batman Movie along with the massive opening of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice really upped its profile, and the series needs that kind of bump to sustain itself through the three year gap between the original film and this first spin-off. Two additional spin-offs and a sequel are in the works, so once the series starts releasing films again, it shouldn’t have to endure another big gap like this one. Again, this many spin-offs and sequels could be a red flag, but market saturation isn’t an issue if the quality of the films remain high.
So that leaves us with the multimillion dollar question: will The Lego Batman Movie be good? Well, it’s hard to tell from this teaser. Lego Batman was a one-note riff in The Lego Movie, and the character will need to be expanded to carry an entire film. The teaser is giving us the same riff and not much else, but considering that it’s a teaser and not a complete trailer, they might be holding back on the really good stuff. For now, this series has earned the benefit of the doubt.
Leading this caped crusader romp is first-time feature director Chris McKay, who was the animation co-director and supervisor for The Lego Movie and director of two stop-motion animation series, Robot Chicken and Moral Orel. With the comedy styles of those two series and his proven animation skills, it seems that this spin-off is in good hands. Let’s hope this series continues to delight.
The Lego Batman Movie is directed by Chris McKay. It stars Will Arnett, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Cera, and Zach Galifianakis. It will be released in the U.S. and the U.K. on February 10th, 2017. For international release dates, click here.
Do you think this series will continue its stellar quality? Let us know in the comments!
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