The LEGO Movie (****)
Directed
by: Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Starring
(voices): Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick
Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Channing
Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders, Jason Sand
Seen:
March 14th & April
2nd 2014
****
Out of ****
The
LEGO Movie is a strong contender for my 2014 movie of the year. It’s incredibly
entertaining, truly funny, brilliantly plotted, and an excellently fun time. Phil
Lord and Christopher Miller are building quite a reputation, and I have to say
this is my favourite in their short but already impressive canon of movies
(Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, and 22 Jump Street as
directors, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 as producers). The LEGO
Movie is by far their best, as it not only presents a funny and entertaining
movie, but also one with copious amounts of heart, a great bigger theme which
you’ll have to see the movie to find out more, and a grand ‘lesson’.
The
LEGO Movie starts with the Evil Lord Business (Ferrell) defeating the wizard
Vitruvius (Freeman) when Vitruvius tries to keep him from obtaining the Kragle,
a huge threat to their world. Vitruvius warns him about a prophecy telling of
the coming of the Special, the one who will bring the Piece of Resistance, the one
thing that can stop the Kragle. Years later, we’re introduced to Emmet
Brickowski (Pratt), probably the most ordinary and almost generically invisible
guy ever. He is a construction worker and one evening after work he comes
across Wyldstyle (Banks), searching the site in hopes of chasing a dream. When
Emmet approaches her the situation erupts and in the confusion he falls down a “rabbit-hole”
and ends up in another dimension, where he sees a glowing red brick. He touches
it, and he passes out.
When
he wakes up, he is being questioned by Good Cop/Bad Cop (Neeson), with the red
block, or the Piece of Resistance, stuck to his back. He is rescued by Wyldstyle
and Vitruvius, who explain to him that they are Master Builders, and since he
has the Piece of Resistance, they believe that he is the Special. They are soon
disillusioned when they discover that Emmet shows almost zero creativity as a
builder, which is one of their prerequisites for the Special. The movie then
shifts a gear and becomes a fugitive style adventure with the small group, soon
joined by Wyldstyle’s boyfriend Batman (Arnett), trying to stay one step ahead
of Lord Business’ henchman Good Cop/Bad Cop as they meet all kinds of weird and
wonderful characters along the way. As they progress, Emmet slowly but very
entertainingly starts seeing what his part in the bigger picture needs to be.
The
LEGO Movie is crammed full of hilarious comedy and great references almost too
numerous to count, with even such small details as the always broken helmet on
old LEGO Astronauts given a nod. Great care has been taken with the movie, and
almost everyone will find something to love, from memories of playing with LEGO
in bygone eras to the various diverse lines of comedy to the stronger message
of personal significance in your own world. The movie is a great marketing
tool, as after it I’ve been thinking of buying some LEGO products for the first
time in perhaps more than 20 years. The LEGO Movie is awesome, and even that
song meant as a parody of sorts will stay with you afterwards. Everything is
awesome…
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