The story of the lego movie is simple, yet complicated. At its core it is a story about a villain trying to take over the world. Lord Business, played by Will Ferrell, collects relics of great power. Vitruvius, Morgan Freeman, is a wise old hippy who claims a prophecy of a "Special One" that will appear and stop Lord Business. The movie is about a average guy named Emmet, who is believed to be that "Special One." The story is pretty easy at first, business is bad and is oppressing the free will of the other lego people. He controls there entire life and gives them instructions to follow each day in order to be happy. He controls what is on tv and the radio, and unknowingly to them, controls pretty much their every action. But then the Master Builders come in. They can look at the world around them, and build anything out of it. They represent the kids who don't follow the instructions. The ones who just buy legos, then make their own sets out of them. Now the story is about which is the correct way. Should we buy sets and build them as intended, or make our own things out of them? It continues to take it a step further at the end, in a scene that was oddly depressing given the tone of the rest of the movie. But without spoilers I can not get any more into it. Just know that the movie does have a lot going on. And I mean that in a good way, the various layers added so much to it. And they resolved it in a way that will leave everybody happy, regardless of how they choose to use their legos.
I feel the animation is something that should be talked about. If you have seen the previews, it looks almost like they are using real legos and stop motion animation. That is not the case, but it is clearly what they were going for. The animation style was wonderful, and works very well for the movie. Seeing Emmet trying to do jumping jacks, then just moving his legs and arms in the limited fashion a lego is able to put a smile on my face. Seeing a world where the water, and even the explosions are comprised of bricks was astounding. If you play the lego video games, you know they don't use legos for the ground or the levels themselves. This movie did, everything was lego. While the site gags are enjoyable, the legos are given more movement in most scenes. But they still looked just like the toys, and whoever came up with the process to make that happen deserves a lot of credit for it.
They also include many different lego sets in the movie. From the older sets, 1980 something space guy, to the newer ones like the Ninja Turtles. You will see many people you know, and each new appearance will make you happier and happier. I love Green Lantern, I read the books, I have a silver GL ring.....GL is my favorite comic hero. In this movie, he is portrayed very differently. But it was fun, and seeing a GL voiced by Jonah Hill, harassing Superman over and over again. Shaquille O'Neal voiced himself in a great cameo. He busts out the Jock Jams song from Space Jam of all movies, in one of the better one liners the movie has to offer. The stand out role though was Will Arnett as Batman. This is not the batman you know and love, however I would argue this one is better. He writes his own song about darkness and being a orphan, and how being rich makes it better. It is a bit of dark humor that runs in the background of a scene. He only uses black and dark grey bricks when building, and he names everything the bat something or another. He is also the biggest jerk in the movie, and it is awesome. Charlie Day as Benny, the 1980's space man was another great role. The movie has such a large cast, but everybody gets their time to shine.
The movie is very fast paced, and it comes off as very hyper. The diolague is pretty good, and it has some great comedy moments. Seeing Vitruvius get Gandalf and Dumbledore mixed up for example. There are plenty of one liners, sight gags, and running jokes. Liam Neeson's Bad cop has a prolonged war against chairs that cracked me up constantly. It comes off feeling like something a child put together, then some great writers took that idea and ran with it. It was a visual treat, and any fan of lego's or comedy should enjoy it. Yes it is a movie geared towards children, but there is enough there that adults can enjoy it to. It even manages to fit a moral lesson into the equation, and not just one for children. While the ending did get into a very different tone, and slow down the movie, I felt it tied everything together nicely. It made you appreciate the rest of the film, and the fact that they were able to take that sort of risk and have it pay off. In the end I really enjoyed this movie, and it is one I will watch again. For me, that is not all that common.
And a Lego version of the Lego trailer.
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