“Good morning, apartment! Good morning, doorway! Good morning, wall. Good morning, ceiling. Good morning, floor! Ready to start the day!”
Everything (stops to move pieces) is (stops to move pieces) awesome (stops to move pieces)! How many shots is that, three? Oh my god that’s exhausting. Whose bright idea was it anyway that we start using stop motion as a shooting technique? When looking at the big picture it is pretty fascinating. Well, let’s keep going then, we gotta finish this review somehow. I may need some help though if anyone wants to lend a hand or two. Anyone… anyone…. Bueller… Bueller. Guess I’m in this by myself. At first glance it would be hard to picture a film about Lego’s being successful that would also have an impact on the film industry. The toys and sets themselves are beloved and wildly popular all over the world, it’s only fitting that a movie should be made. This first Lego movie kicked off a universe of sorts with solid outings from at least two of them. I hate to admit I was late on discovering the Lego movie but when I did, I knew I witnessed something special (totally not a pun but think what you want). Although I never had a Lego set of my own as a kid I still was around them my entire childhood even though I found them to be extremely tedious to put together (Probably pissed some people off with that sentence but come on they were a pain to build).
Lord Business is on a mission to find the piece of resistance when he comes across a wizard Virtruvius who prophecies of a “Special”, a master builder that can put a stop to the kragle. Emmet is just your typical everyday construction worker who follows the rules placed in society to fit in. Step one: Breathe, Step two: Do exercises, Step three: Brush your teeth, comb your hair, and take a shower ect… (you get the picture). After a hard day at the construction site, Emmet notices a strange figure on site and decides to follow her down a giant hole. Next thing Emmet knows he has a device stuck on his back and is in police custody. Good Cop interrogates him and shows Emmet that he isn’t really special at all; no one knows who he is even though he follows the instructions to fit in have everybody like you and always be happy. That same strange figure Emmet saw on the construction site, rescues him and the two escape to a different world.
Emmet (Chris Pratt) formally meets his savior Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) who takes Emmet to The Old West. On the run from Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) and his benefactor President Business (Will Farrell) it’s reveled to Emmet that he is the “Special”, the master builder that will stop Taco Tuesday and cap the Kragle for good. This is all brand new news to Emmet as he doesn’t posses the capacity to be a master builder or so he thinks. Wyldstyle and Emmet escape The Old West with the help of Virtruvius (Morgan Freeman) and Batman (Will Arnett) who happens to be in a committed relationship with Wyldstyle (She just had to make that apparent to Emmet). Our four heroes escape to Cloud Cuckoo City when a master builder town hall is being held. All master builders come to the agreement to not aid Emmet and Wyldstyle to defeat President until Bad Cop invades Cloud Cuckoo City and destroys it. Emmet, Wyldstyle, Batman, and Virtruvius escape with an astronaut named Benny (Charlie Day) and Unikitty (Alison Brie). The group gets aided even more by a helpful pirate MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) and Emmet comes up with a plan to finally put an end to President Business’s destructive plan.
In their attempt, our heroes get captured, President Business kills Virtruvius (I mean how does one kill a Lego) and Emmet sacrifices himself to save his friends. Emmet wakes up in a different world, one he’s never heard of before, a human world. Emmet is watching the events take place by a boy named Finn (Jadon Sand) but is unable to move or speak. We hear The Man Upstairs come down and discover what Finn is up to. Finn based President Business on his controlling father who has glued all of his Lego sets so they would not be destroyed or played with. Emmet returns to the Lego world, a master builder and joins Wyldstyle who rallies all the Lego people to stop Lord Business. Together, Finn and Emmet get through to Lord Business and The Man Upstairs (Finn’s father) and save the day. Wyldstyle proceeds to break up with Batman and we leave our heroes on an invasion cliffhanger.
Its funny how films about games / toys / videogames are never good 75 percent of the time and that is being enormously generous. Time after time we get these adaptations of astonishing IP from nearly all of our childhoods and the studios involved manage to disappoint us every single time, with very few exceptions. We have to ask ourselves; do we still want these adaptations? One franchise in particular, which will remain nameless has proven to be a failure with every release that has been put out. The Lego Movie actually broke that wheel of failures and shows that with the right team behind it, a film about this IP can be successful. Of course, this film is filled with talented actors lending their voices but, it’s the story, the humor and the heart that made this film a winner among so much of its predecessors’ failures. Lego, being notoriously known as a kid’s toy doesn’t alienate adults and neither does the film. Its smart in knowing that a hero doesn’t always have to be the brave, likeable character. The hero can be afraid, he or she can second guess him or herself and even be self-conscious of who he or she is. The Lego movie and its creators (haha there’s a pun) doesn’t assume its audience is all younger people.
This movie blew my mind when I realized that it’s all stop motion. The time, energy and craftsmanship that is put into a stop motion film is incredible. Add to the fact that it’s a hilariously heartwarming animated film. All the voices were spot on especially the cameo voices including Jonah Hill, Dave Franco, Billy Dee Williams, Channing Tatum, Cobie Smulders, Jason Momoa, Shaq, and Will Forte to name a few. Sometimes adding stars to an animated film doesn’t always guarantee a return on investment but, if a script is written exceptionally well that shouldn’t matter. It’s also never a bad thing to add talent to a film. The one thing The Lego Movie does well is world build meaning the film incorporates a lot of well-known sets and integrates them throughout the story, playing to the nostalgia for future films. The Lego Movie proves that Everything is Awesome! If I were to rate The Lego Movie I’d rate it a 4.7 out of 5.
So, tell me guys, have you seen The Lego Movie and if so, what do you think about it? Do you agree or disagree with me? Comment below or send me an email and let me know what you think.
The Lego Movie is written and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller is Rated PG and has an 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Lego Movie was released on February 7th, 2014 and has a runtime of 1 hour and 41 minutes. The Lego Movie can be bought online by retailers including Vudu and Itunes.
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*I do not own these photos used in this article; all rights reserved to the copyright holder*