ANI-MOVIES, *Lego DC Batman: Family Matters

Since the addition of Robin, the "Batman Family" has spawned off dozens of characters for 80 years, most of which are superheroes. There's been multiple Robins, Batwomans, Batgirls, plus additions like Alfred and Ace the Bat-Hound. So, it was about time they did an animated movie highlighting the majority of the Batman Family. This concept has been looked at before in The Lego Batman Movie and in Batman: Bad Blood, but Family Matters is probably the most expansive ones ironically blending two mature story arcs, Under The Red Hood and Infinite Crisis.

The Lego Game universe version of Batman decides he's tired of dealing with Wayne Enterprises while keeping his secret identity, so after his scientists unveil a new AI system called Brother Eye, Bruce decides to sell his company to dedicate to being Batman full time. A new masked villain called Red Hood teams up with Two-Face to buy up Wayne Enterprises, along with control of Brother Eye, which creates an army of robots to take over Gotham. Red Hood also implements several villains into splitting up the Bat-Family so he can capture them one at a time. After taking down Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwoman, and the new Robin(Wayne's son Damien), he calls Batman back to the Batcave to confront him. The Dark Knight deduces that Red Hood is really Jason Todd, the second Robin, who in this universe instead of getting killed by the Joker just dropped out because Batman wouldn't let him finish a video game. Bruce convinces Jason to stop being such a jerk and go back to being a good guy, just as Two-Face reveals his plan to take over Gotham with his robots. The Bat-Family springs back into action along with Red Hood's help to pull the plug on Brother Eye, and stop Two-Face.

Family Matters is a good expansion of the Lego DC Universe, for once narrowing in solely on Batman Incorporated instead of the wider Justice League roster. It's a better story involving the Batman cast instead of Gotham City Breakout which was only good when it switched back and forth to the JLA trying to nab the regular Gotham villains. The dub has former Batman Beyond, Will Fredle as Nightwing, and regular Teen Titans Robin, Scott Menville as Damian Wayne. Unlike most of the Lego DC features, this one also implements the fact that Batman and his disciples are "Master Builders" in their own universe when they combine several vehicles using Lego bricks.

ANI-MOVIES, *Song Of The Sea

Tomm Moore's second full-length animated film with Cartoon Saloon after Secret Of The Kells was a welcome followup deep in Irish lore and European urban fantasy. Where as the previous production took place during the viking era, Song Of The Sea brings the mythology up to modern day.

Ben is a young boy living in a lighthouse on a small inlet in Ireland. He cared very deeply for his mother that supposedly died giving birth to his younger sister, Saoirse, who is a mute. Ben now lives with his father, sister, and their dog Cu. The family gets a visit from their grandmother on Saoirse's 6th birthday, but leads to the young girl finding her mother's old cloak that allows her to transform into a seal, which reveals that her mother was a "selkie", a water spirit with the power to take on a human form for a number of years. After discovering Saoirse's secret, her grandmother convinces their father to let the children move in with her, miles away from the ocean. The ancient goddess Macha sends her owl lackeys to capture Saoirse because a selkie's song could free all the faeries she turned to stone by taking away their emotions. Ben and Saoirse leave their grandma's house on Halloween while encountering the last three local faerie folk not under Macha's curse. The trio tell them of Macha's plans to kidnap Saoirse, so the siblings barely escape the creepy owls, but Ben loses his sister. Luckily, the lad stumbles across an old storytelling spirit who leads him to Macha's lair, and uses the goddess' stolen emotions to make the old crow feel again. Saoirse is still not feeling well, and Macha informs them she needs her mother's robe to heal her. After finally reaching the lighthouse, they use the robe to change Saoirse into a seal again, while Macha uses her magic to free all those still under her petrifying spell. This summons the spirit of Ben and Saoirse's mother who removes the robe from her half-selike daughter, making her now fully human.

Song Of The Sea is very deep in Celtic folklore, although you don't need to have a degree in mythology to enjoy it. The story is easy to accept as a present day fantasy, and despite its dark overtones the film rolls along good enough for all ages to watch. The animation is above the quality that Cartoon Saloon did in Secret Of The Kells, and you can see how far they've come during the five years between movies. Even though it's limited U.S. box office time got it an Oscar nomination, it didn't raise the level of success as your standard Disney animated movie.

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