The LEGO Movie (2014)

Some ideas just don’t sound good on paper, no matter how much you may want them to. The LEGO Movie is one of those movies – who wouldn’t want an all-LEGO movie to be awesome? Well, fortunately for us (and for Warner Bros.), everything about this movie worked better on the screen than it did on paper…everything about this movie is awesome.

This film features Emmett Brickowski (Chris Pratt), an everyday, run-of-the-mill conformist construction worker who is happy to follow the “instructions” set by President Business (Will Ferrell), who secretly masquerades as the evil Lord Business. Lord Business has acquired a super-secret-superweapon called “The Kragle,” and it has been foretold that someone “with face of yellow” will one day stop Lord Business and overcome the power of the Kragle. However, when this person ends up being Emmett – who is vastly unprepared and unqualified to save the world – he must team up with Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), and Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), master builders who will hopefully prepare Emmett for the task set before him.

(Wow…that synopsis was hard to type because of how silly it sounds!)

The humor in this film is what I like to describe as “Muppets-esque”…very tongue-in-cheek and self-aware comedy that allows the characters to be aware of who and what they are, which is LEGO objects that use LEGO instructions to build other LEGO objects, just like we do as humans. One great moment is when Batman’s Batwing goes in for a landing, at which point Batman jumps out and quickly makes the necessary conversions to turn it into the Batmobile. The silliness of the film is never overdone to the point of it being childish, but, rather, it’s “fun silly.”

The characters are all quite lovable, with Chris Pratt bringing a lot to the character of Emmett. He’s easy to relate to as well; though we may not generally be as not-special as he is, I think it’s easy to find a part of ourselves that thinks that we are not good enough or that thinks we can’t break away from what is expected of us rather than setting our own expectations and defining our own abilities. Because of this relatability, it’s really easy to feel for Emmett when he is scorned by others and belittled for not being special enough, even by the people he thought were his friends. Chris Pratt plays the character with a lot of variety in inflection, making Emmett incredibly fun as well because of how unpredictable and eclectic his personality actually is.

The other characters in the film are also fantastic, with Liam Neeson’s Good Cop/Bad Cop probably being my favorite; I would love to see behind-the-scenes footage of Neeson in the recording studio as Good Cop because of how ludicrously not like himself he sounds. A stand-out moment for his character is when he idly sings “Danny Boy” under his breath while sitting in the security room of Lord Business’ tower. Will Arnett’s Batman is also worth mentioning because of how he plays off all of the established Batman stereotypes – the low, gravelly voice as played by Christian Bale, his ability to disappear and reappear without notice, etc. – in incredibly fun ways. Shout-outs to Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle and Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius as well; the way these two characters interact with Emmett, especially Wyldstyle, and how she grows with him over the course of the film, is actually simultaneously hilarious and endearing.

The visuals of the film are super colorful and vibrant, and the stop-motion feel of the film is believable despite the fact that it was created solely with CGI. The making of the world entirely of LEGOs is impressive in its detail, with even the ocean and shower water being made of various LEGO studs that flow together. There are a couple of scenes that are live-action toward the end of the film that I won’t spoil for you if you haven’t seen it, but they bring a strong human element that makes the film hit home and become even more emotionally absorbing.

As you can tell, I have literally zero complaints about this movie. I was thoroughly entertained throughout, and the score by Mark Mothersbaugh is engaging and eclectic, bringing together a lot of styles of music that are both amusing in their variety and absorbing in their presentation. I should also mention the song “Everything is Awesome” by The Lonely Island which is used extensively in the context of the film – and is also hysterical. Check it out if you haven’t heard it already. To sum everything up, The LEGO Movie is one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen in a long time, and I can’t find a single fault with it. If you want to have good, clean fun that also teaches on teamwork, imagination, belief in yourself, and even aspects of family, this movie is for you. I can’t praise it enough.

-Chad

Rating: 5 (out of 5)
MPAA: PG – for mild action and rude humor