Review: LEGO JUSTICE LEAGUE: GOTHAM CITY BREAK OUT

LEGO DC Super Heroes: Justice League: Gotham City Break Out (try saying that three times fast), is the sixth film set in the DC LEGO Universe (DCLU?). It’s the anniversary of Batman’s (Troy Baker) first mission, and to celebrate Batgirl (Sarah Hyland) and Nightwing (Will Friedle) take Batman out on a much needed vacation. Batman is reluctant to leave Gotham City unprotected, but Superman (Nolan North) and Robin (Scott Menville) are willing to fill in for the Caped Crusader. Superman underestimates the power of Batman’s villains and that leads to some pretty funny moments. The film shines when it’s Superman and and the Justice League trying to stop the Batman’s rogues. Joker (Jason Spisak), Poison Ivy (Vanessa Marshall), Harley Quinn (Tara Strong) and The Penguin (~~Spongebob~~ Tom Kenny) are the main antagonist of the League. Sadly this film has Justice League in the title, but there’s no debating, it’s a Batman movie. The main focus of the film is Batman and the Bat-Family on their vacation.

The kids want to take Bats on a trip down memory lane; taking him to see his old master Madame Mantis (Amy Hill). We learn that Deathstroke (John DiMaggio) was once best friends with Batman. The two studied under Madame Mantis, but she showed (slight) favoritism to Bruce, showing him the forbidden move. In present day Deathstroke kidnaps Mantis so he can learn the forbidden move [think Wuxi Finger Hold from Kung Fu Panda]. Only Mantis and Batman no this move. Deathstroke teams up with Bane (Eric Bauza) and enslaves the Trogowogs (an underground race of little green men). Batman has to fight Deathstroke, Bane, and their army of cave trolls, while the Justice League takes on Batman’s rogues gallery. The entire set up sounds promising, but it all pretty much goes to waste. This film has tons of good material, but it doesn’t know how to use it. Batman going on vacation and leaving Gotham with Superman should much more fun than it ends up being. The humor falls flat and it’s very predictable. I called every joke minutes before it happened. They still could’ve pulled it off if the jokes were funny, but they didn’t do enough to make it work.

One of the highlights of the film was the voice cast. Troy Baker is still a good Batman, Nolan North is a solid Superman, and everyone else is solid in their roles. The one exception is Jason Spisak as the Joker; it just doesn’t feel natural. Will Friedle sounds a little weird as Nightwing, but that’s mostly attributed to him sounding like Terry McGinnis. The animation is pretty good for a Direct-to-DVD, but it doesn’t feel as fluid as previous films. The film definitely feels like it’s geared toward a younger audience. Justice League: Gotham City Break Out isn’t terrible, but it’s probably not worth your time.