‘The Lego Batman Movie” may be the best corporate money grab ever. Considering every toy company and TV show from our childhoods now has its own movie (“Trolls,” “Angry Birds,” “Transformers”) the fact that moviegoers actually get an obvious cash grab that’s as well-made and hilariously self-aware as “Lego Batman” is pretty awesome.

This doesn’t make it any less of a corporate money grab though, which is obvious the more you watch it, and it’s definitely not as good as “The Lego Movie.” But for any fan of Batman, from your kids to huge fans of any iteration of the Dark Knight, “Lego Batman” is still a must-see, even if you can just wait to rent it.

The plot isn’t anything deep, as the cocky and arrogant Lego Batman (voiced by Will Arnett) saves Lego Gotham for the umpteenth time from Lego Joker (Zach Galfianakis) and every other Batman villain ever.

Joker decides to ditch the rest of the Batman villains and concocts a ruse to recruit much more powerful Lego villains from various other notable franchises to aid him and finally destroy Lego Batman.

Meanwhile, back at the batcave and Gotham city, Batman copes with his own arrogance, utter loneliness, eating the same dinner every night, a new police chief (Barbara Gordon, voiced by Rosario Dawson) that wants to rain on his parade and an accidental adoption of young orphan Dick Grayson, who many know becomes Robin (excellently voiced by Michael Cera, who may be the funniest part of the movie).

Loneliness and the need for family are well-covered themes in “Lego Batman,” and considering the movie at points seems like just a big advertisement, it’s admirable that the filmmakers who tackled the movie actually put heart, soul and hard work into something that could have been just one big bad idea.

The stop-motion animation effects are absolutely great, just like the original “Lego Movie” (mostly no computer-generated effects — what you saw in the original and what you see here are actual Lego buildings, figures and vehicles shot in tiny movement frame-by-frame). The only slight drawback is that where all of the effects in the original were completely with Legos, some of them here — like weather, a molten landscape of lava and some of the environments — aren’t done with Legos at all, opting for CGI instead where necessary.

This was probably done to save the filmmakers from countless more hours of painstaking work, and while this isn’t really a drawback, it is noticeable if you loved the original movie’s effects and use of Legos for every single thing, like I did.

The absolute best part of the movie however, is the writing. “Lego Batman” pays respect to everything iconic about the hero, while hilariously ripping on everything odd about Batman you may or may not have noticed. It also takes jabs at the various major psychological issues that someone would have to have in order to hang out with a kid as a sidekick and dress up like a bat to fight crime.

The movie is a comedy first and foremost, and it definitely gets that right. With good writers, a funny comedy doesn’t have to be raunchy schlock, and “Lego Batman” proves that with outright laughs for everyone. There were a few jokes that will definitely go over kids’ heads that adults will find hysterical, especially one about Robin’s real name that had me in stitches.

Every iteration of Batman is referenced and made fun of, too. The entire opening of the movie will appeal to fans of the Christopher Nolan “Dark Knight” series, while the Adam West series may be the easiest fodder for jokes in the movie. Major Batman fans, and I mean MAJOR Batman fans, will spot something for all of them, with references to the 1990s Batman animated series, the Tim Burton movies, every series of Batman comic ever, including Frank Miller’s “Dark Knight Returns” run and older obscure villains that were so cheesy to begin with the movie outright labels them C-grade villains, (ever heard of the Crazy Quilt or Orca? Didn’t think so.)

While in the end the movie feels just a little bit like an advertisement for both the Batman and Lego franchises, there is enough quality and good laughs here that most people probably won’t care or even notice.

One can’t help but worry the path the Lego movies are taking, though, as one of the trailers before the credits shamelessly advertises the next Lego spin-off in the form of the “Lego Ninjago Movie,” based on the sub-franchise of Lego Ninja figures. It does not look funny at all.

Definitely give this movie a chance, though, especially if your kids want to see it and/or you are a huge fan of Batman like myself. You won’t regret shelling out cash for tickets at all, but if it isn’t a big-screen must-see for yourself or loved ones who want you to go with them, you can wait for the DVD without losing out on any kind of huge cinematic experience.

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“The Lego Batman Movie” is currently playing at the Riverside Cinemas, 1017 S. Boone St. in Aberdeen.

George Haerle holds a bachelor’s degree in creative writing for media and lives in Cosmopolis.