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| Title: | LEGO DC Justice League: Gotham City Breakout |
| Genre: | Children/Family |
| Starring: | Troy Baker, John DiMaggio, Nolan North, |
| Certificate: | U |
| Picture: | 1.78:1 |
| Audio Format: | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Subtitles: | English, Spanish, Italian French, German, Dutch. |
| Runtime: | 1 Hour 15 mins |
| Studio: | Warner Home Video |
| Release Date: | Jul 11 2016 |
| See If You Like: | LEGO DC Justice League: Attack of The Legion of Doom |
When the Bat’s away…
The latest straight-to-DVD animated Lego Justice League movie; LEGO DC Justice League: Gotham City Breakout; is not only as well made and enjoyable as its predecessors, it’s every bit as fun and silly as you’d hope.
After a small intro telling us who the various characters in Batman’s world are, we see Batman and Robin are very much on top of things in Gotham; they foil a robbery perpetrated by Harley Quinn and the Penguin, round up some other criminals, and head off for a party. So when Batgirl and Nightwing suggest Bats takes a vacation, he agrees with very little persuasion.
Batman, Batgirl, and Nightwing then go on their vacation (visiting a mentor from Batman’s past) but needless to say things don’t go exactly as planned; when they end up in the middle of a dastardly plan orchestrated by Deathstroke and Bane; and Gotham has its own troubles as while Superman has been left in charge of Batman’s gritty city, he’s promptly allowed The Joker to escape from Arkham Asylum, bust out most of the known super villains, and run amok in the city.,
Comic book fans and lego collectors will recognise the huge cast of characters in an instant; as well as those already mentioned we’ve got Poison Ivy; Beast Boy; Starfire; Scarecrow; Commissioner Gordon and more; and be thankful they’re voice by recognisable DC voice artists such as Troy Baker (Batman); Nolan North (Superman); Khary Payton (Cyborg); Grey Griffin (Wonder Woman); Tara Strong (Harley); and John DiMaggio as Deathstroke, meaning the voice talent is both extremely strong, and suited to the world, not to mention what many young viewers have come to expect to hear (the sole exception being Jason Spisak’s Joker who, while acceptable enough, fails to live up to Mark Hamill’s performances).
Yet while there are an abundance of names and characters here, these Lego films are masters at not becoming overcrowded, and give each character plenty of time to shine individually; with two concurrent stories running alongside one another we not only get to delve into Batman’s past, but see Superman struggle to deal with the situation in Gotham, watch Cyborg pine for affection once more, and even see a deeper side to Deathstroke; giving both older and younger viewers plenty to get to grips with and enjoy.
And, as with any Lego movie (particularly these straight-to DVD Justice League affairs) there’s still plenty of puns, a swathe of slapstick comedy, and all manner of trips, falls, prop-gags, goofs and daft laughs which will make it highly entertaining for the kids (and, dare we admit it, the parents too), because who doesn’t love a bit of silliness now and then?
Obviously, it doesn’t have the production values of the upcoming solo Lego Batman movie, and it’s unlikely to be remembered as one of the great family films of a generation, and basically amounts to being one gigantic toy commercial (you’re bombarded with high-priced Lego set after high-priced Lego set for the entire runtime), but it’s still a great watch, an hour and a quarter of fun, and given the enjoyable, well-meaning, positive storyline and the low price point, LEGO DC Justice League: Gotham City Breakout is a fantastic buy for a little one, especially on the eve of the summer holidays – it even comes with an exclusive Nightwing mini-fig!
Matt Wheeldon – @TheMattWheeldon.
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| Buy From Amazon.co.uk | Buy From Amazon.com |
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