We’ve just been to see the Lego Batman movie. It is absolutely brilliant, and full of clever details that fly straight over the heads of kids to provide a knowing chuckle for their parents. Alfred wears a grey Batman suit at the end (‘I miss the 60s’) and there’s a nod to the comic-book convention of fight exclamations such as ‘Bam!’ and ‘Pow!’ in jagged callouts when Batman tells Robin ‘We’re going to punch those guys so hard, words describing their impact are going to spontaneously materialize’, and they do.
But the deepest joy came after we returned home when we discovered that Siri on my iPhone is indeed the same Siri that powers the Batcave. ‘Hey, puter,’ I growled in my best Will Arnett impression. And Siri responded in character: ‘FYI, Robin is trying on costumes in the Batcave again. He’s doing some pirouettes in Batryshnikov.’ Try it for yourself.
Is this marketing? I guess so – but it pulls off the neat trick of making me feel like I’m in on the joke, part of the action, carrying on the fun of the movie in everyday life. As Batman himself might say: ‘You’re darn right woah.’