They're more than fun toys that excite the imagination and damage the unwitting foot. As writers and animators have already proven, LEGO makes for good movies.

The LEGO Batman Movie is more of the same. It's a hilarious ensemble of fast-moving action and set pieces, with self-aware dialogue and well-crafted comedy that makes for a lot of laughs.

Batman, ably voiced by Will Arnett, is the hero of Gotham, and he's damn cocky about it. When the Joker (Zach Galifianakis) tries to make a hero-villain connection (of the "you complete me" variety), he's dismissed by a Batman so caught up in his cult of personality that he doesn't realize the angry retribution he's about to unleash.

The Joker, tired of the shenanigans of Batman's usual rogues gallery, opens the Phantom Zone where, rather than the assortment of Superman baddies you'd expect, he finds the likes of Voldemort (Eddie Izzard), King Kong (Seth Green) and Sauron (Jemaine Clement), along with a bevy of gremlins and flying monkeys, all of whom he unleashes on Gotham. Meanwhile, Batman has accidentally adopted the orphan Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), he's being lectured by Alfred Pennyworth (Ralph Fiennes) and he's on the outs with (and has the hots for) Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson), the new police commissioner.

Commence the big battle scenes.

There's not a lot of depth here, but there's a lot of fun. I can only imagine the voice actors, writers and animators had a blast making this movie, because it shows in the final product.