I want you to think of your favorite movie right now.

If you swing toward more popular films, a superhero movie may be the first thing you think of. If rom coms are more your speed, you might like The Notebook, The Kissing Booth (blegh), or The Holiday. If you like horror movies, you may think Hereditary, The Conjuring, or Midsommar is the best. If you’re what I’d like to call a film-bro, you might be thinking Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, or perhaps even Joker is the pinnacle of cinema.

Well, I’m here to tell you that you are all wrong. There are many reasons that validate this opinion.

The Lego Batman Movie came out in summer of 2017. Life was simple. We were young, free, and pre-pandemic. The unicorn frappechino was taking over middle schools everywhere, the Wonder Woman movie made its debut, 13 Reasons Why premiered, there was a solar eclipse, every child wanted a fidget spinner, and the first season of Stranger Things dropped. Pop culture only went downhill from here. Why? Because they couldn’t compete.

You might be thinking Emma, what is wrong with you? Before you slander me, hear me out!

Firstly, and mostly, the comedy in it is unmatched. When you think about a children’s Lego movie, you would assume its cheesy, childish, and maybe even a bit cringy, right? That is how I approached this movie when I watched it for the first time, and I was shocked. Breaking news, we are both wrong! It is so good! I am not exaggerating one singular bit when I say that I was cackling out loud within the first ten minutes of runtime. It’s the peak of manmade comedy.

On top of this, The Lego Batman Movie is on a level of meta comparable to the Deadpool franchise. This movie is self-aware that it is a ridiculous Lego movie, and it has fun with that idea! It WANTS to be pointless. Conscientious comedy is self-explanatory. Think Spaceballs, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or Cabin in the Woods; their comedy speaks for itself.

Thirdly, the movie makes no sense regarding the Batman timeline or lore. Within the first twelve minutes, we are presented with almost every single villain Batman has ever fought in one place at the same time. There are nods to every Batman movie made before this one throughout the film. It’s absolute chaos, but it’s controlled chaos. It works because, going back to the self-awareness aspect, it knows how crazy its own concept is. The creators know audiences don’t want yet another Batman reboot, so they took his character and stripped him down to his base: his dead parents, Alfred, a wacky villain, a Robin, and his solitude.

Pure teenage angst in Will Arnet’s best Batman voice is matched against the innocence of Michael Cera’s Robin. The two fit well together because they complement each other.

This movie is funny, stupid, and is truly a rom com at its core. Zoom out for a moment: the plot of The Lego Batman is in his relationship with the Joker. He wants Batman to hate him, as all superheroes and villains do, but simultaneously he wants Batman to love him.

The Lego Batman Movie has great casting, comedy for everyone, incredible animation, heartwarming moments, and pop culture references throughout. This makes it the greatest film ever made.