The LEGO Batman Movie – In Theaters Friday!

 

 

The LEGO Batman Movie – In Theaters Friday!

In the irreverent spirit of fun that made “The LEGO® Movie” a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble – LEGO Batman – stars in his own big-screen adventure. But there are big changes brewing in Gotham, and if he wants to save the city from The Joker’s hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up.

I had a chance to attend the worldwide LEGO Batman Movie last weekend with my daughter and let’s just say I do believe it will be as big of hit as the last one if not more so!  We laughed throughout the movie and there are a ton of references the adults will chuckle at (no spoilers here) but the screenwriters and actors do a great job of including kids and big kids alike with so many references to our own childhoods.  And isn’t that the best when you can enjoy the movie as much as your kids do? This movie is much more than Batman fighting crime, it has a sweet message about how we can’t do it alone.  It being life.  Batman realizes that not only does he fight the bad guys better with help, but that he actually enjoys (and needs) to have friends and family around him.  It’s a message about not going at it alone and appreciating those you love.  Plus you’ll be laughing the entire movie – between Will Arnett, Michael Cera and Zach Galifianakis, how could you not?!

And the best part of covering the press junket was meeting Rosario Dawson and Will Arnett in person!  See our interview below with these talented folk.  I’ve always appreciated Rosario’s work but after meeting her I have to say she is one of the nicest actors I’ve met – in fact, one of the nicest people I’ve met!  Plus her character, Detective Barbara Gordan, is all business and represents a strong female character which is always good to have in movies for our young girls to emulate and boys to appreciate.

 

Will Arnett reprises his starring role from “The LEGO Movie” as the voice of LEGO Batman, aka Bruce Wayne.

Zach Galifianakis (“Muppets Most Wanted,” the “Hangover” films) stars as The Joker;

Michael Cera (TV’s “Arrested Development”) as the orphan Dick Grayson;

Rosario Dawson (TV’s “Daredevil”) as Barbara Gordon; and Ralph Fiennes (the “Harry Potter” films) as Alfred.

 

 

What a treat meeting Rosario Dawson this past Monday!  Like I mentioned, I’ve always appreciated her work but after meeting her in person I have to say she is one of my favorite people in Hollywood!  Seriously one of the nicest, and most geniune people I’ve met!  And SO smart.  Listening to her speak about her character and what she represents (see our interview below) all I could think listening to her was that I wished I could be that articulate and smart.  Really!  She is just a really special and intelligent woman and I am so glad she took on this role of Detective Barbara Gordan.

 

 

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  Hi.

Bloggers:  Hello.

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  This is so funny.  I love this.

Blogger:  Good morning.

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  Hi, good morning.

Blogger:  I’ve got a question.

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  Oh, go for it.

Blogger:  Okay.  So, I’m going to ask you, did you watch Batman growing up–?

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  –Yes–.

Blogger:  –And in your wildest dreams, did you ever think you would be Batgirl?

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  No.  I mean, I grew up with Batman.  My uncle’s a comic book artist.  My mom is six foot tall, so she was always Wonder Woman.  Her theme song was Brick House.  So, I grew up with these really major characters that I loved so much.  So, I literally was getting my hair and makeup done in a Batman onesie that my friend got me for Christmas, totally not because of this movie, but just in general like I just love everything Batman.

And the Go-Go gadget belt version of the Batman was amazing, and you had Eartha Kitt as Catwoman, and it was just so amazing and theatrical and powerful.  And I just loved it.  I loved the campiness.  And they wouldn’t put that on television now.

But, there was something really sexy and powerful and also scary about these characters and dynamics.  There was something really weird.

I just loved it, it was always something I was a fan of.  And I had to keep catching myself the whole time here and just be like I’m doing this.  I think that’s one of the reasons why I only got to work with Will [Arnett] on that one day.  We did all of our voice stuff by ourselves because the one day that I was with him, he put on the voice, and I was just like–oh, yes, this isn’t working, we’re going to have to separate you guys.

Blogger:  So, welcome.

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  Thank you.

Blogger:  Your character Batgirl exudes so much confidence, so what message are you actually giving to young women after they watch this movie?

 

Ms. Rosario Dawson: It was so interesting about the way you just said that because it was like I hadn’t thought about it being a confidence thing.  But, like there is something like so remarkable about her character.  It’s so different than so many of the other sort of origin stories for a lot of the other heroes that you would find, and a lot of it’s tragedy that kind of brought them to that position, and then they kind of like a hard line in the sand which way are they going to go about it.  You can have tragedy in your life like the Joker and end up becoming insane and just pushing that violence onto other people, it happened to me, why not you, or you could have that tragedy hit you like Batman and go, you know what, I’m going to do everything I can to stop that from ever happening for somebody else, you know?

You can exist all along the spectrum.  And for her, she grew up as Commissioner Gordon’s daughter who had this remarkable relationship with this incredible figure, Batman and the two worlds, bringing it together of just going crime is really rampant and insane and crazy and this is an insane world where magic and heroes and all this kind of stuff exist.

So, having the regular police force, you’re going to need to marry that to someone like a Batman that you can trust.  And for her to grow up inspired by that, go to school to like train to be the best version, not take it for granted that she’s just going to follow in her dad’s footsteps but like try to be the best to like honor his legacy and to be so inspired by Batman that she also then takes that to push her limits even more to be that much more excellent.  And that she’s an amalgam of that and her own spirit.

She’s not like trying to be Batman, and she’s not trying to be her father Commissioner Gordon.  She’s trying to be the version of herself and it’s beautiful to see what her contribution is.

It’s definitely flattering and it’s really lovely to see this young woman who’s so inspired that she wants to emulate these incredible men in her life, but it’s also really powerful and dynamic to then see those same men being moved and challenged and pushed by that same woman who takes what they taught her and adds something even more to it.  And it’s just beautiful to see that evolution.

I think that’s where that confidence comes from, because she’s someone who knows her purpose.  She knows what she wants, she knows what she’s capable of and what she’s willing to do to get what she wants.  And that’s really, really powerful and a gorgeous lesson.

I hope that other people see that because that’s where confidence should really come about, not other people complementing you or like you getting a lot of likes on your post or something, but about the work that you put in for the things that you care about and having that have an actual effect in the world and then seeing what that ripple effect is.  That should be where you get your confidence from.

And you can see she’s confident because she put that work in, and she knows what she’s contributing, and that’s why she’s able to fight for it.  Even when there’s doubters around her, she’s like, no, and she’s able to really push to add that because she’s already Commissioner Gordon, she’s already Batgirl.  She’s already got that spirit of Batgirl.  That should be enough.  But, she pushes it even further, and that’s really amazing.

Bloggers:  Well said.

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  Thank you.  I really like that.  I literally just thought of that, though, like because you just said that, and when he was talking the whole time, I wasn’t listening to a word he said.  I was like thinking about like this question.  But, there’s something about how you said about her confidence that I hadn’t thought about, but I think that’s what it is because she knows exactly who she wants to be and what she wants to do, and she knows that she’s right about that, that she’s not wasting her time or her energy in those pursuits.  And that’s something really remarkable when you see something because people doubt themselves all the time, and it’s beautiful to see.  I really was so moved by her.  I want to watch it over and over again because she’s so patient, and she handles these bizarre situations so good.

And when we were doing the recordings, because we never did it with anybody, we never locked in anything.  So, we did really different versions.

There were versions where I was much tougher with Batman and much sterner, and I would do like improv where I’d be like, no, no, put it down, no, and like be like joking.  It was really funny to have that dynamic, but at the same time, it was kind of like, I don’t know, she really admires him, so I don’t know that she would become Commissioner Gordon to like challenge him so pointedly all the time.

It was really cool because they clearly needed that dynamic for Batman, but then they shifted it to Alfred, which I didn’t know until I watched the move on Saturday because I didn’t know what version of her would be in the movie because I just have been recording her for a couple of years now, and we would try everything.  But, I never read a script, and we did it cold every time, and I didn’t read with anybody, and I didn’t see anything until this Saturday.

Blogger:  Wow.

Ms. Rosario Dawson:  That’s why I’m like still in a revelation about her because I didn’t know who my Batgirl was or my Commissioner Gordon because there’s been really different iterations that we played with.  So, now to see who she is, she’s badass.

I remember when I saw the poster, She’s So Boss, and I was like I hope so.  But, I watched the movie and I’m like, she’s so boss.

 

 

Grab your partner in crime and make a date to see #LEGOBatmanMovie – in theaters FRIDAY https://tickets.legobatman.com/

 

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We all enjoyed our visit from Will Arnett, he even used his Batman voice on us mom bloggers (which we loved).  Here he speaks a bit about the movie and parenting.

“Thank you Warner Bros. for the invitation to an advance screening and press conference interview.”

 

 

And good news!  Enter our LEGO Batman Movie Giveaway which includes this cool backpack, hat, stickers, stationery set, soundtrack download,  notebook/journal and Batman t-shirt (Youth S).  Good Luck friends!

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