The Lego Movie

Like many of you, the first time I saw the trailer for The Lego Movie (2014) I thought to myself, "Are you kidding me?!" Yet another movie based on a franchise of toys aimed towards families willing to cough up the cash just to shut their kids up. Can't we for once make movies for kids that don't dull the senses? Have we truly come to the point where there are no original thoughts? Yet after seeing not just families but college kids' line up to see sold out viewings I became interested. In addition, The Lego Movie managed to muster a staggering 93% on rottentomatoes.com, an unheard of fresh score in the February film graveyard. In short; curiosity got the best of me.

Boy was I wrong about this film. I honestly couldn't have been more wrong about a film in my life. The Lego Movie is not only the must see film of the late winter season, I'm going to go ahead and call it now; it's the best family-oriented film for all ages of 2014. Okay maybe not but at the very least it's a very high bar to set.

The story busts out of the gate from the get-go; Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) a wizard and "master builder", while protecting a mystery weapon is blinded by Lord Business (Will Ferrell), obviously our caped and big booted villain. Before Vitruvius is kicked into the abyss by Business and his robotic minions, he foretells of a hero, the "special" who will put an end to his dastardly plans, whatever they might be. The next morning Emmet a seemingly ordinary Lego construction worker goes about his normal day. He comes across a woman named Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) searching for "the piece of resistance" which he unwittingly finds and becomes beholden to. Now it's up to Emmet and some newfound friends to fulfill the prophecy.

It all sounds like a scenario dreamed up by a child who's read one too many comic books. Yet within The Lego Movie's brick-blocked world, everything including the story feels incredibly new and original. Children, especially the young will enjoy the fast action, laugh-a-minute jokes, sly slapstick and goofy characters. Obvious kid favorites will include perma-smiled Unikitty (Alison Brie) and zany 80's throwback astronaut Benny (Charlie Day) whose ability to create spaceships is frustratingly overlooked. Plus there's Batman (Will Arnett)…Batman!

The older crowd however will be astounded not only with the seamless CGI effects but with the subversive element throughout the film. Yes a goofy, kiddy film of such unrestrained chirpiness can be positively incendiary, at least in this case. Throughout the film there are Orwellian elements tucked underneath crafty pop-culture references ranging from Star Wars (1977) to Harry Potter. There are mischievous pokes at what Henry David Thoreau referred to as "(leading) lives of quite desperation."

Finally there's cheeky satire aimed at the Danish toy brand itself. Much of the conflict revolves around "master builders" who build whatever they want out of the parts they find versus Lord Business who wants everything built "according to the directions." This particular theme struck the kid inside me as I was very fond of Legos. Younglings may not realize that back in the day, pre-designed Lego play sets took a back seat to the now impossible to find Lego Creative Bucket sets. To the uninitiated that particular red bucket set was an amalgam of potential foot sores but to this writer, those 200+ pieces were a gateway to an unlimited creative space.

The Lego Movie accurately and effectively recreates that creative space through accessible movie magic. It exhibits a fun hero story that may not be treading new narrative ground but nonetheless feels fresh and new. Finally the themes and occasionally biting humor makes The Lego Movie a kid's film that isn't just for kids but the child in all of us. This February do yourself a favor and treat yourself to an adventure story unlike any other. Then go home and order some Legos online! I know I am.

Kids will love it but the writing and layered humor will also please most adults. Very well done!

The stand out feature of the Lego Movie for me would be the way the Lego Universe was created. The movie paid great attention to detail making everything appear as it would made from Lego, including the water and clouds, and the surfaces people walked on all had the circles sticking upwards a Lego piece would have. Combined with all the yellow faces, and Lego part during building, I was convinced action took place in the Lego Universe.

A combination of adult and child friendly humour should entertain all, the movie has done well to ensure audiences of all ages are catered to.

The voice cast were excellent, especially Liam Neeson's split personality police officer, making the 2 personalities sound distinctive, and giving his Bad Cop the usual Liam Neeson tough guy.

The plot is about resisting an over-controlling ruler, highlighted by the name of the hero's "resistance piece". It is well thought through, well written, and revealing at the right times. Full of surprises, The Lego Movie won't let You see what's coming. Best animated film since Wreck it Ralph! Please let there be sequels.

I'd be surprised if anyone saw this coming. The Lego Movie is quite simply unlike anything seen in a long while: rip-roaringly hilarious, gorgeous to look at, imaginative beyond belief, a great parody of worn out "chose one" clichés and also rather poignant and touching.

The first thing one has to mention is the animation. Not only does it look like an amateur stop-motion film with a $500 million budget, but the amount of detail and creativity put into the visuals is just staggering. At times there's so much going on the screen it's almost overwhelming, yet if you look closely you can see that every single thing is comprised of recognizable Lego parts. The various ways the world shifts, breaks, is constructed again, falls apart and moves around is simply a joy to watch. The implementation of real-world objects into the otherwise plastic world is certain to get huge laughs out of anyone, especially the revelation about the ominous superweapon "Kragle". The result is a film that looks unlike anything we've seen before.

The script is a roller-coaster ride of hilarious gag after another. The jokes come at you so fast you can't catch them all in one viewing, and blink-and-you'll-miss-it side gags clutter the screen. No running gag wears out its welcome, no joke is overplayed or overemphasised. The characters are all funny and likable with enough personality to them to fill up multiple movies on their own. Batman especially is a riotous parody of the grim, dark versions of the Caped Crusader we've been stuck with for nearly a decade. And due to Lego having rights for nearly every IP imaginable, you won't be able to guess which mega-franchise is going to turn up next.

Despite all this high praise, there are a couple of minor issues. During its third act the tone of the film starts moving to a more serious and emotional direction, which to me didn't work as well as the rapid fire comedy of the rest of the film. The voicework is great for the most part, but amidst all the others it becomes rather apparent that Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson are live, not voice actors. It's not that their performances are bad, they just seem rather flat and lifeless in comparison to the rest of the cast.

The Lego movie is a downright masterpiece, there's no two ways about it. Incredible visuals and animation combined with a hilarious script, dazzling creativity and good characters make it one of the best and most original animated films in a long time. Some minor hindrances can do very little to drag it down, and the end result is fantastic.

To be honest – when I first heard of 'The Lego Movie' I thought it to be a ridiculous idea and automatically dismissed it as something bad. However, when I gave it a second thought, I realized I kind of liked the idea. I mean, why not create a big budget movie that takes place inside the Lego universe? At least it's somewhat original (there have been previous Lego movies, but they were all direct-to-video, and from what I realize – they are much different from this one). And in this age of spin-offs, remakes, prequels, etc. originality is more valuable than ever. Add to that the amazing cast in the movie, and I, for one, needed no more reasons to see this movie – and I ultimately enjoyed it. The movie opens with the movie's villain, Lord Business (voiced by Will Ferrell), stealing a mysterious artifact called the 'Kragle' (I hope I've written it correctly) from a wizard named Vitruvius (voiced by Morgan Freeman), in order to destroy the Universe. During their encounter, Vitruvius tells of a prophecy about a Chosen one, who will find another mystical artifact, called 'The Resistance Piece' and will put an end to Business's mettle. 8 and a half years later, Lord Business's alter ego – President Business – is ruling the whole world in a sort of totalitarian way. We then meet the movie's protagonist, Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt), who one day accidentally stumbles upon 'The Resistance Piece' and is thought to be the Chosen one by a group of Lego characters called the MasterBuilders. Despite the fact that The Lego Movie's plot summary may seem a bit complicated (and despite the fact that I hailed the movie's originality a moment ago), the movie is actually pretty predictable and formulaic. That isn't necessarily a bad thing – actually, the movie has an explanation of some sort for why it is so predictable – but the movie does get slightly tedious from time to time. The only other possible downsides to the movie besides that, are the movie's third act, which gets clingy in some parts, and some of the action scenes. I like how the animation is a combination of both stop motion and CGI, but this unusual style of animation may be hard to follow during a few action scenes – and I fear this scenes might be even harder to follow if you decide to watch the movie in 3D. Nonetheless, all this downsides to the movie are easily overshadowed by its qualities. The movie's biggest quality is definitely that it is fun. The Lego Movie is a nostalgic look back at childhood and it helps to realize that our child games were often very silly, ridiculous, over the top and funny – and in that way The Lego Movie could be better appreciated by adults than by children. Virtually almost every scene contains a silly joke or gag and I was constantly giggling throughout the whole movie. The Lego Movie easily succeeds in being a feel good, ridiculously entertaining movie that is worth your time. Moreover, another The Lego Movie's quality is that it has quite an impressive cast (Pratt, Ferrell, Banks, Day, Brie, Freeman, Hill, Neeson, Offerman, O'Neil, etc.), that portrays a bunch of very colorful and memorable characters. In short, if you are interested in watching a nostalgic throwback to your childhood or just want to watch a fun, feel-good movie, you mustn't skip The Lego Movie. Rating: 8/10