Lego Batman: the darkest knight yet?

“All important movies start with a black screen,” growls Will Arnett over the opening of The Lego Batman Movie, as he breaks the fourth wall to speak to the audience with the same knowing tone which unexpectedly stole the original Lego Movie in 2014. And although this latest outing mines the same seam of pop culture irony – to often hilarious effect – there is a bitter aftertaste: the film also reinforces many of the property’s toxic tropes and legacies.