On Feb. 10, Warner Bros. released “The LEGO Batman Movie.” It beat out its two top competitors, Universal Studios’ romantic drama “Fifty Shades Darker” and Lionsgate’s action-thriller “John Wick: Chapter 2,” both of which are sequels in their franchises.

Directed by Chris McKay, “The LEGO Batman Movie” was meant to be a spin-off of 2014’s “The LEGO Movie,” directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, which has grossed $469.2 million total since its release. “LEGO Batman” had a budget of $80 million, which is $20 million more than the original film.

“LEGO Batman” is based in the same imaginary universe as “The LEGO Movie.” Will Arnett returns as the voice of Batman, joined by Michael Cera as Robin and Rosario Dawson as Batgirl. Other supporting roles include Zach Galifianakis, Jenny Slate, Conan O’Brien, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.

“It was the only good movie out at the time,” sophomore Max Alfes said. “There were just a bunch of horror movies out, and I’m not really into horror movies. I liked the humor, and how it incorporated all the characters. It had all the characters from the comics. So not just Batman, but Superman and others.”

Alfes gave his theory on why “LEGO Batman” was more successful than its competitors.

“Only older people go watch ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ or ‘John Wick,’” Alfes said. “But people of all ages will go see ‘LEGO Batman.’”

However, not everyone had positive views of the film.

“I thought it was boring,” sophomore Michael Castiglione said. “At first, I thought it would be kind of like ‘The LEGO Movie,’ and I enjoyed ‘The LEGO Movie.’ Its humor was directed towards kids, but in a sense it was still funny, kinda like Spongebob, I guess. But then, ‘LEGO Batman’ was way too kiddish. It was like Spongebob post- ‘Spongebob Movie.’”

Castiglione said he believes the film was more successful because it did a better job attracting younger audiences than “Fifty Shades Darker” and “John Wick” did at attracting adult audiences.

Opening weekend, “The LEGO Batman Movie” was No. 1 in box office ratings, at $53 million. “Fifty Shades Darker,” which grossed $46.6 million, came in second. In the following weeks, “LEGO Batman” successfully maintained its place in box office ratings, up until the release of Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” on Feb. 24. “LEGO Batman” made more money than any other movie this year so far. On Rotten Tomatoes, 91 percent of its professional reviews were positive, and 88 percent of reviews by top critics were positive. It has an audience approval rating of 85 percent. It also received 7.7 out of 10 stars on IMDB. Overall, “LEGO Batman” had a quite successful debut.