Man is it good to be back at the movies! Yes January was a dark time for moviegoers. With films like I, Frankenstein and The Legend of Hercules stinking up the multiplex, no wonder the only movie that made a profit was Frozen which first premiered in November!
When I first heard about a major, big-budget, animated motion picture about Legos, I was giddy with childlike wonderment but nervous on if it would actually be anything more than the biggest corporate sellout since G .I . Joe The Rise of Cobra. But luckily thanks to the talented writing and directing duo responsible for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movie went from something ordinary to something extraordinary.
The story revolves around a Lego construction worker named Emmet, voiced by Chris Pratt. He is the most ordinary guy you've ever met. Nothing stands out about him, he doesn't have any odd quirks. No nothing. He is about as basic as they come. But one day he meets a girl named Wyldtyle, played by Elizabeth Banks, and she mistakes him to be the special one: Someone so unique and important that he will be able to save the world from Will Ferrel as Lord Business who has a weapon called the Kragle that can destroy the world as they know it. And without giving anything away, when we learn what the Kragle really is, it's pretty hysterical.
I have a soft spot in my heart for animated movies. I of course love Disney and Pixar, I mean who doesn't? But I am also a huge fan of animated movies that aren't made by the huge, bigwig animation kingpins like Disney or Dreamworks. I love Rango and The Adventures of Tintin and
As I said before, this comes from the guys who made Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and if you have seen that movie, you will know that the animation style was incredibly fast-paced and had a quick wit that matched it flawlessly. And here it works even better. It reminded me of an Edgar Wright movie like Hot Fuzz. It was so relentlessly fast-paced and quick witted that if you got up to go to the bathroom for two minutes you would have been completely lost by the time you got back! And that can work as both an advantage and a disadvantage for the film. The pace fit the jokes and animation like a glove, but at times it was almost a bit too much. Things were being thrown at you at a million miles and hour with no stop or even any opening credits! I didn't mind in the slightest, but I know that some will.
The animation is simply astounding. Remember when you saw Jurassic Park for the first time and the visuals completely blew your mind because you couldn't tell the what was real and what was done by computers? I felt that same feeling all over again. I was having an impossible time trying to find the what was real and what wasn't because they blended so well you couldn't differentiate the two! It was also really cool seeing that everything, and I mean everything, in the movie was made out of Legos. When things blew up, the explosion was made out of Legos. When they were in the ocean, the moving waves were made of Legos. Now that is some serious MasterBuilding.
What anchors the clever writing and jokes is the voice cast. It really helps when you have a group of some of the funniest people on television and film! Chris Pratt as Emmet our main character reminded me a lot of Zachary Levi from the CW show Chuck. He's just an average guy who got thrown into a situation that he cannot handle at all. It's very entertaining and Pratt has enough lovable charisma to spare. Elizabeth Banks is his sassy parter in crime who is far better at handling the situation than Emmet is. kind of like Sarah from Chuck!
Will Arnet voices Batman and he nearly had me in tears from some of the things he said. The writers basically based Batman's personality and actions off of the whole "Because I'm Batman" mantra made famous by Christian Bale that has been turned into so many memes now. And when he's on screen, he steals the whole show. Unless Liam Neeson as Bad Cop is on screen. Then He steals the show! His character is cop with a split personality and he keeps switching back and forth from good cop to bad cop. There was a really terrific interrogation scene with him and Emmet that had my entire audience roaring with laughter.
The rest of the supporting cast features Allison Brie as a hysterically optimistic creature named Unikitty, Charlie Day as an overly enthusiastic nineteen eighties astronaut, and the cuddly-wuddly Nick Offerman as a robot pirate named MetalBeard. They do such a great job of lending their voices and great comedic timing that it didn't even feel like they were actors recording lines in a booth but rather the characters themselves.
Without spoiling anything, the third act breaks the third wall in a very big way and it worked so well. Oddly enough after seeing the trailer when it was released for the first time I thought to myself, "If they film ends up being like this, I will adore this movie. And it did. It surprised me and I love the filmmakers for doing that. Going in that direction showed me that this directing duo respects their audience's intelligence. And that is something that isn't found very often in movies anymore.
I can honestly say that The Lego Movie is better than the past three Pixar movies combined. Not only is it one of the best animated movies made in several years, it is one of the the most creative movies that I have ever seen! I can't believe that we were blessed with a beautiful gem like this in February of all months! I loved it and I am looking forward to a sequel.
Final Report: The Lego Movie has a little something for everyone. If you're a kid who still plays with Legos, you'll love seeing your favorite characters come to life on the big screen. If you're an adult, you'll appreciate all the clever pop culture references and the intelligent third act. If you're like me, a kid who grew up playing with Legos, it's like watching your imagination come to vivid life. It's the ultimate nostalgic throwback and it really does live up to the word "Awesome".
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