Secondly, the cast is ridiculous. Chris Pratt (Parks & Recreation), Alison Brie (Community), Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Liam Neeson (Taken), Morgan Freeman (March of the Penguins), and even Shaquille O'Neal of Shazam fame head off this ambitiously frenetic movie about the classic toy.
Thirdly, if you watch a trailer for The Lego Movie, you'll notice that the animation is stunning. Stunning. The Lego Movie is a beautiful piece of visual flare that keeps you entertained and enthralled from the first second to the very last.
Fourthly, the characters include Shaquille O'Neal, Abraham Lincoln, Batman, Cleopatra, Medusa and all sorts of characters from your fever dream of historical fiction, giving us well-appreciated cameos in silly Lego form.
But don't be fooled: The Lego Movie isn't just about Legos. It's a fast, smart, witty action-comedy that delivers on so many levels. It's almost the perfect movie, to be quite honest. ANY demographic can watch this and be entertained, from the children who love to see their toys come to life to the adults who remember playing with them when they were younger, but it's not just about the nostalgia, either. The movie deftly blends slapstick and simple humor with edgier, adult-themed comedy to totally be effective in every way imaginable. It's self-aware, parodying and satirizing the most basic of plots while still concocting its own entry into the collection of Hero's Journey storylines.
While movies like Transformers make a killing at the box office, they are stupid. Stupid stupid stupid. They pander to the most basic functionality of our brains and senses to evoke "humor" and "excitement," but to me, they're stale. Too many big-budget action movies are released and immediately forgotten about, and I'm not entirely sure why Transformers is particularly successful. Just like The Lego Movie, the Transformers franchise is a commercial tie-in, using a third-party to drive interest and potential commercialism. Transformers feels like an old man from his death slumber to play catch with the grandkids whereas The Lego Movie is the cool dad, young and in-shape, ready to not just play catch, but to hit the beach and teach everyone how to surf.
This is a movie you can enjoy with your brain off or on; it's funny in all the right ways, from the way the characters move to the throw-away gags that relentlessly attack your funny bone in every scene. What's remarkable is how restricted the filmmakers truly were in their animations; after all, these are Legos, and while the possibilities are limitless for the young Lego construction builders of today, from a filmmaking aspect, Lego people don't move the way normal people move. Their faces are painted on, their legs don't bend, their arms move in a clockwise/counter-clockwise fashion and no other way. Their hands are cups. CUPS. And if these weren't enough to handle, remember that the movie takes place in a world where everything is made of Legos, from the buildings and cars to the clouds and water, and it's hard not to be impressed with how mind-numbingly creative the animators were with all their effects.
The coolest aspect of the film, to me, is the concept of the "master builders," a legion of people who can scope out various parts of the world and immediately recognize what can be constructed with these parts. To see this play out in the movie is electrifying, particularly in the chase sequences when you, as the viewer, are entirely sure that there's no safe way out of the situation only to see a character completely reconstruct a car or helicopter. It plays into the plot AND serves as a creative use for the Lego pieces themselves.
Before you begin to discredit the movie as a giant advertisement for Lego toys, this is a full-blown movie with a stupendous budget and a ridiculous amount of time, effort and perfectionism has been put into this to create something more. It's a movie that plays your heartstrings in varied ways and you can't help but smile throughout the whole experience. Like I said, children and adults alike can enjoy this movie for the same AND different reasons; this is how you make a kids' movie.
It's hard to find any serious faults. If you have any reservations, I promise you will not be disappointed if you finally decide to let out your inner 8-year-old and take a break from being a grown-up for 2 hours. The Lego Movie is beautifully animated, masterfully crafted from every aspect and has a pitch-perfect cast of actors and characters. It reignites my nostalgia and my love of going to the movie theater. It's straight up fun, and you'd be a block-head to sit through it straight-faced.
At the end of the day, I have one thing to say about The Lego Movie:
"Everything is Awesome!"
The Good:
+ Immensely entertaining
+ Stellar cast and characters
+ Energetic and gripping
+ Fun for everyone
+ Hilarious
The Bad:
- You will get one song stuck in your head for at least a week.
10/10
SPACESHIP,
Kyle
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