The Lego Movie Review

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Ferrell

Directed by: Chris Miller and Phil Lord

When I first heard they were making a Lego movie back in 2012 I have to admit I was pretty confused With a failed Battleship movie that came out that year and a planned Monopoly movie in the works I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Hollywood would stoop to such a low level in the idea department. As the year went on the casting choices were slowly starting to be made, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman were attached to the project? The announcement sort of spiked my interest that two very esteemed actors would be voicing Lego characters, however as the year went on the movie faded out of my mind completely. Then came the end of 2013 and the first trailer to the movie was released, I was immediately hooked, I had to see this movie when it came out. Unfortunately when it finally did I was late to the party, it was hard to try and hold my anticipation from seeing the Lego Movie, I had only heard amazing things about it and boy, was everything I heard true.

The Lego movie is the biggest surprise so far this year, and although 2014 has only just started I will stand by my stance that the Lego Movie is one of the best movies this year. Heck I will take it a bit further; the Lego Movie is one of the best animated movies I have ever seen period! We live in a time where animated movies have become the regurgitated mess that live action movies are, there is hardly ever a strong moral message for the children who will be the main cash grab and studios can’t make up their minds on who to please with these movies, you either have a movie catering to kids or one catering to adults there isn’t a middle ground anymore. The Lego Movie however makes sure that everyone who enters the theater will have a great and very memorable time at the movies.

The Lego movie tells the story of Emmet, a seemingly normal everyday guy who becomes the “Special” a hero from a legendary prophecy. It is up to Emmet it assemble all of the Master Builders to thwart the plans of the evil Lord Business who plans on using an ancient artifact known as the Krackle to destroy the Lego multiverse. The plot sounds oddly familiar doesn’t it? That’s because you’ve seen this movie hundreds of times already, but guess what? The Lego Movie knows that and they run with it. The movie is completely aware that it is using the “Chosen One” cliché and completely flipping it on its head. The movie itself is a very clever and witty animated film, once the movie starts it does not stop, the jokes are almost never ending. Some might not hit home with others, but each of the jokes is for every demographic from kids, to teens to adults. You have jokes ranging from cultural references from as early as 2009 to jokes that even Lego fans from the 70’s and 80’s can appreciate.

The animation for the Lego Movie is a mastery hybrid of stop motion and cg. In fact the cg is so incredible in this movie you hardly notice when the little plastic Lego characters go through the transition to complete computer animated creations. The directors really took into account how to stay true to the nature of the little characters by animating them like actual Lego pieces, they move as if you were actually playing with each individual piece. Stop motion has become like traditional hand drawn animation, it’s become a dying art. I understand that stop motion does take a far longer time to animate than traditional animation. Sure computer generated films like Frozen or Shrek take a long time to animate as well but it doesn’t feel like the time or effort has been used to create the movie. When you watch the Lego movie you can tell a lot of time and effort went into creating this picture, the love and passion for the project seeps out of the screen and will infect almost every audience member.

Although the animation is fantastic and the jokes are pretty nonstop and hilarious, the one factor that made this movie amazing for me comes near the end of the entire film. If you are having second thoughts while watching the movie I implore you to stick to the very end. I won’t spoil what happens but the movie takes an unexpected turn, this simple moment makes the Lego movie far more sophisticated and a lot more intelligent than your average animated movie. I wasn’t expecting a movie about Lego to become as deep as it did near the end of the movie.  If you don’t feel like crying by the end of the movie than I simply cannot help you because you might not have had a childhood.

This review is pretty short because in light of how amazing it is there is simply nothing wrong with the movie at all. I tried my best to try and find at least one thing to criticize the movie for but the fact is there is simply nothing I can think of, the Lego Movie is basically a perfect movie. Because of this I give the Lego Movie a

9/10

Please go see this movie, it’s simply the best movie of the year so far and one of the best animated movies I’ve ever had the chance of seeing. I strongly believe that the message conveyed in this movie makes it one of the most important movies ever made when it comes to both children and parents. Rarely has there been an animated movie that is on the same league (maybe even better) than Toy Story.  I know it’s very strange to hear someone talk so highly about a movie about Lego’s. Before going to see this movie throw away any preconceptions you might have on seeing an animated movie about Legos, this movie has a ton of heart and a very strong message. If this movie isn’t up for an Oscar next year I am going to be very disappointed.