Today’s quick review: Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Gotham City Breakout. For the first time since he began his crusade against crime, Batman (Troy Baker) agrees to take a vacation. Nightwing (Will Friedle) and Batgirl (Sarah Hyland) take him to visit Madame Mantis (Amy Hill), his old master. Meanwhile, Superman (Nolan North) keeps an eye on Gotham, only to find that Gotham’s supervillains are a greater challenge than he expected.
Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Gotham City Breakout is an animated family superhero comedy set in Lego’s rendition of the DC Universe. The plot follows two separate threads: Batman’s vacation, which quickly turns into a battle against Deathstroke (John DiMaggio), and Superman’s attempts to deal with the Joker (Jason Spisak) and Gotham’s other criminals. The movie features kid-friendly humor but suffers from a bland and slow-paced plot.
Even with an enormous cast and the entire DC Universe to work with, Gotham City Breakout has a hard time finding things for its characters to do. The Bat-Family vacation has real comedic potential, but the movie immediately drops it in favor of a generic superhero adventure. Likewise, Superman’s stint as the protector of Gotham has the potential to be a fun kids’ story, but the movie wastes its setup on cheap gags and character cameos.
As a result, Gotham City Breakout doesn’t have much to capture the audience’s interest. There are only loose ties between the two plot threads, and neither one has enough of a payoff to feel worthwhile. Where other family comedies use characters and story to hook their viewers, Gotham City Breakout relies almost exclusively on humor. The jokes are light and irreverent in true Lego fashion, but their hit rate is splotchy, with more than a few duds.
Watch Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Gotham City Breakout if you’re a die-hard fan of either DC superheroes or the Lego style of humor. The movie has a good setup, some decent one-off gags, and a slew of DC heroes and villains in minor roles, but an aimless plot and a mediocre script put a damper on the fun. Some viewers will still enjoy its humor, but most viewers will have better luck with other family-friendly superhero comedies.
For a big-budget Lego superhero comedy with a sharper sense of humor, try The Lego Batman Movie. For another entry in the same series that strikes a better balance of plot, character, and humor, try Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash. For an animated Marvel movie with a young target audience and a similar set of flaws, try Iron Man & Captain America: Heroes United.
6.0 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it the same for middling humor and a weak story.