When I first heard about 2014’s The LEGO Movie, I shook my head and arrogantly thought: This sounds like childish trash.

Then the movie was about to be released and I was incredibly surprised to find critics nearly unanimously loved the film.  (At this point in time, the movie has a 96% positive among critics and an equally impressive 87% positive among audiences over at Rottentomatoes.com)

Yet I didn’t see the film when it was released.

A few months later, it so happened the family and I were (don’t be jealous) vacationing in England and on the very long flight over there I checked out the films available for me to see and one of them was The LEGO Movie.  I decided to give it a try because, frankly, I was curious why the critics so liked it.  I still couldn’t believe it could be any good, yet I gave it a try and…

…I was smitten.

The film was incredibly creative, original, and hilarious.

One of the best things about the film was the way it incorporated so many characters into the story.  Characters like, you guessed it, Batman.

In fact, its safe to say that of all the special guest stars within The LEGO Movie Batman was the most consistently amusing, which is why it isn’t too big of a surprise that the studios realized they had a damn good thing on their hands and green lit, and this past weekend released, The LEGO Batman Movie (I’ll refer to it as TLBM from now on).

Here’s a “Behind the Bricks” featurette:

Once again featuring Will Arnett voicing Batman, TLBM also features a host of other well known actors voicing other characters.  There’s Michael Cera as Robin/Dick Grayson, Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon, Zach Galifianakis as The Joker, and Ralph Fiennes as Voldemor—no, he played Alfred (why exactly didn’t he voice Voldemort, whom he played in the Harry Potter films?!  Oh, they got Eddie Izzard to do that!).

The big question is: How does TLBM compare to The Lego Movie?  Is it on the same level?  Is it as good, as creative?

Sadly, the answer is no.

That’s not to say TLBM is a bust.  Far from it.

The movie’s first half, in particular, is incredibly amusing and often laugh out loud funny.  Unfortunately, somewhere along the line this film, at least to me, lost its momentum and, while its second half wasn’t bad, neither was it quite as sharp and amusing as that first half.

Please don’t misunderstand me: TLBM is a damn good film and easily recommended to not just those who like the LEGO world but to anyone who wants to see a good comedy (it helps if you have a geek’s awareness of many of Batman’s iterations, too, especially the Batman TV show of the 1960’s).  Just don’t expect the sustained highs of The Lego Movie.

Recommended but with that one little caveat.  (BTW, and without spoiling too much, the absolute best joke comes at Marvel’s expense.  Loved it.)