Six years ago, Warner Bros. released a film that revolutionized the DC universe, “The Lego Batman Movie.” While it caused little effect on the DC timeline, there’s no doubt that this is one of the top-tier Batman movies to be released. Even after watching a concerning amount of Batman films, I still think the Lego film is one of the best. But what does this masterpiece have that the other works don’t?

“The Lego Batman Movie” is a more family-friendly feature compared to the other notable works, but still holds up a strong plot for the masked bat. In this film, Batman is still the billionaire playboy everyone knows, but instead of focusing on his next big mission, the director, Chris McKay, puts a focus on an internal problem; Batman’s relationship issues. This time, the biggest enemy isn’t the Joker, but rather working on commitment and trust issues. Overall, it takes a new direction and shows us the inner life of Batman rather than showing him beating up villains for three hours. 

Most of the films settle for a simple archetypal plot; Batman discovers something bad, fights a villain, and typically wins in the end (unless the villain escapes mysteriously and leaves DC fans on a massive cliffhanger). 2022’s “The Batman” is a good example of this style being used. In the film, Batman is led on by The Riddler through a detective-style murder mystery leading the masked vigilante throughout Gotham. He gets into numerous fights throughout the three-hour tale and comes out somewhat victorious (I mean, the Riddler was in jail by the end, so one good thing was accomplished). 

While I can’t deny that “The Lego Batman Movie” uses the same archetype, it adds more to the simple story concept and expands on his internal conflicts. 

Bringing us to one of the biggest details; relationships. The overall Lego Movie saga is filled with fixing relationships between one another, but the Batman film really highlights this plot. In the Lego film, Bruce Wayne had closed himself off from the world and only really socialized with others when he went out as Batman.

Throughout the movie, however, he slowly opened himself up to close guardians, like Alfred, and even accidentally adopts a kid, Dick Grayson, that breaks him out of the shadows of the past which are holding him back. While Batman holds relationships with fellow heroes in other DC works, it does not feel as significant as the Lego work makes it. 

From the beginning of the movie, it’s clear to the audience that the hateful dynamic  between Batman and Joker has a giant dent in need of repair, but it doesn’t go right. Trying to gain back Batman’s admiration of being his greatest enemy, Joker hatches a plan that leads him to steal the Phantom Zone Projector and unleash every villain from the Phantom Zone. With the declaration that Joker is in fact the vigilante’s greatest enemy, the two find peace with one another and go back to their usual cat-and-mouse chaos. 

Typically, most Batman films highlight how the two are polar opposites and then delve deep into a fight, but this one focuses more on their attachment for each other, with Batman rejecting the relationship Joker wants as his “greatest enemy” and the villain striving for some sort of respect from the vigilante. 

Overall, “The Lego Batman Movie” strives to show Batman healing from the past and moving forward to open himself up to new relationships, diverting from the usual archetypal story most Batman media holds. There are so many remarkable details in this movie that make it stand out from the rest, leading to my firm belief that this is the best Batman movie.