'The LEGO Batman Movie' is the best Batman film since 'The Dark Knight'

The INSIDER Summary

• "The LEGO Batman Movie" is a great movie for both kids and adults.
• The movie is fun, an area in which the live-action DC movies are lacking.
• "The LEGO Batman Movie" understands the way audiences interact with DC characters.
• There are a bunch of surprise cameos that aren't teased in the trailers.

They've finally done it. Warner Bros. has finally made a great DC movie again.

After 2016's underwhelming duo of "Batman v Superman" and "Suicide Squad," "The LEGO Batman Movie" is the Batman film fans have been desperately longing to see. 

From the moment the film begins and Will Arnett's pint-sized Caped Crusader says that DC Comics is the house that Batman built, you know you're going to see something special. 

What follows is a non-stop barrage of action, Batsongs, and jokes at previous Batfilms. The followup to the self-aware 2014 hit, "The LEGO Movie," the film's spin-off doesn't shy away from delivering punches to any other DC movie. Some are obvious — like Batman pondering why you would ever consider having villains take down other villains, a nod to last summer's "Suicide Squad" — and others are more subtle jabs that adult viewers of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy will appreciate.

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No one goes unscathed. There's a blatant Marvel diss and an even more subtle Trump jab from Batman.

Director Chris McKay, who has worked on Adult Swim's animated parody series "Robot Chicken," gracefully takes the reins from comedy duo Chris Miller and Phil Lord ("The LEGO Movie") in delivering a humorous and heartfelt story.

Moreso, it's also just fun — an area in which the previous few DC live-action films have been lacking. The live-action films have been so adamant about being grounded in reality that it has taken something out of the characters that made audiences fall in love with them in the first place. It's clear that McKay and the rest of "The LEGO Batman Movie" team understand DC's characters in a way that accurately depicts them to the fandom. 

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While the film delivers a lot of laughs for kids and adults alike, it's complemented by a larger story that gets to the heart of the Caped Crusader himself. Seemingly content with being alone — and being an awesome vigilante crime fighter — Batman slowly comes to realize that he can't be the best hero Gotham needs by working solo and only thinking of himself, especially when a horde of villains is unleashed upon his home.

He's joined by the likes of Dick Grayson/Robin (Michael Cera), who balances out Batman's ego with a delightful overeagerness to please his new father. The many iterations of "dad" he uses to refer to Batman throughout the film are both endearing and chuckle-inducing.

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Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (Rosario Dawson) is a tough-as-nails crime-fighting machine, and the new Gotham City commissioner, who likes to boast that she trained at "Harvard for Police," knocks some sense into Bats that it's okay to sometimes let your guard down and be vulnerable. 

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And finally, someone gets that the way to focus on the Joker on-screen is by highlighting his unique, passive-aggressive relationship with the Caped Cruader. Zach Galifianakis takes over as the latest iteration of the Clown Prince of Crime who just wants Batman to admit that he is his greatest enemy ever. (Sorry, Joker. That title seems to be with Superman at the moment, as Batman points out.)

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They aren't the only ones to watch out for. The film is also filled with a lot of great cameos from Mariah Carey to Billy Dee Williams, reprising his decades-old role as Harvey Dent/Two-Face from 1989's "Batman." Keep an ear out for Ellie Kemper of Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schimdt," too.

The biggest surprise — and treat — comes later in the film when a few surprise characters show up. Kids will instantly notice the brilliant tie-in to Lego's popular "LEGO Dimensions" video game, which brings together characters from a plethora of Warner Bros. movies and brands together in one place. The addition of several instantly recognizable characters makes it feel like a simple extension of the game and brand. Seriously, despite some Gremlins briefly popping up in a TV spot, bravo to DC and Warner Bros. for not unveiling and spoiling the twist in the film's many trailers and television ads. 

Bigger props to Warner Bros. for not hammering viewers over the head once again with Batman's somber origin story. Every iteration of Batman spends wasted time retelling how Bruce Wayne's parents were killed in front of the child to move the story along. 

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Keep your eyes searching on the screen throughout the film. There's so much going on in the backgrounds of some action-packed sequences, that you'll want to go back and see some scenes again or slowed down, especially true for anyone trying to spot tiny nods and Easter eggs. 

Not only is this the Batman movie we need, but it's also the Batman and Robin movie fans have wanted. Now that Warner Bros. knows what makes a great Batman movie, hopefully it can start making live-action DC movies great again. 

"The LEGO Batman Movie" is in theaters February 10.

Check out the trailer below:

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