“I’m a night-stalking, crime-fighting vigilante and a heavy metal rapping machine. I don’t feel anything emotionally, except for rage.” – Batman.

Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” (2008) may have given us both a stunning performance by Christian Bale and an early glimpse of Cillian Murphy’s iconic blue-eyed stare. “The Batman” (2022) may have featured a bulked-up Edward Cullen and girl crush Zoe Kravitz. But “The LEGO Batman Movie” (2017) truly gave us the best version of a comic book fan’s favorite man-child. The nerds didn’t need another high-tension action film where Batman brutalizes the bad guy and then the credits roll. We needed a Batman, in all his emo glory, doing the soul-searching you wish you were brave enough to do. The LEGO Corporation made both bank and the perfect Batman film.

Here’s why: I’ve been around the block long enough to watch the Batman franchise go through iteration after iteration — each plot more serious and painful than the last. At some point, seeing these films starts to feel a little tedious. However, when “LEGO Batman” dropped, it was innovative. This film has all the trappings of a classic Batman movie, including engaging fights, villainous monologues, romantic subplots and moral dilemmas. Yet this story is framed through a comedic lens. Although there have been plenty of superhero parodies before, this one was high-budget, had a stacked cast and a killer script. (And in the words of Lego Batman himself — the film even has “edgy, scary music that would make a parent or studio executive nervous.”)

This movie began by telling the audience that it was never serious. Its blatant humor quelled the budding criticism from OG Batman loyalists and indie film goers who loathed to see the corporations stick a blatant hand into Hollywood (as if they hadn’t already). Then, between witty one-liners and iconic action sequences, “LEGO Batman” delivered a heart-felt message about the importance of family and self-discovery.

The movie presents Batman as an insecure, comedic narcissist who suppresses his loneliness via crime-fighting and obtaining praise from the populace. When he begins to lose public favor and crime dwindles, Batman has nowhere to turn for gratification. Stupid decisions lead him to fight a multiverse of villains, including the Joker, the shark from “Jaws” (1975), the Eye of Sauron and Lord Voldemort. Batman obviously can’t win this fight on his own.

With the allyship of Alfred, his new sidekick (Robin) and crush(?) Barbara Gordon, Batman takes back Gotham City and learns the importance of friendship.

Although this film still suffers from blatant product placement, its core message is so well communicated that I’ll swallow my art snob pride.

People may think they must fight their battles alone. But this movie tells us that even if you can pump iron at 4p.m., write your own theme song and are too rich to pay your taxes — you might still need other people in your life.