The LEGO Movie takes place in a living breathing LEGO world, where the maniacal Lord Business (Will Ferrell) masquerades as "President Business", and aims to keep the population complacent and docile with an almost drone-like existence centered around catchy pop-song and set manuals for LEGO building construction. The old and wise Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) tells of a prophecy of the Master Builder who will appear from among the common people and thwart Lord Business's master weapon "The Kragle". But to the shock of everyone, that person turns out to be Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt)
Emmet is as complacent and oblivious as the come in LEGO land - unremarkable in just about every single way. But when he, quite literally stumbles across object that can stop The Kragle, Emmet instantly becomes the most important man in the world, something that he is very much unaccustomed to. But despite this, Emmet would much rather have the attention of the mysterious and interestin Builder, Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks). With help from the likes of Batman and a host of other Builders that include just about everything you could imagine from your childhood, Emmet embarks on an adventure to save LEGO land - before the other Builders discover that their prophesied hero isn't what they believe he is.
Toys and board games have been the inspiration for more than a few movies, but the end result of adapting children's playthings into blockbuster movies with mass appeal has been hit (Transformers) or miss (Battleship). A movie based on LEGO building blocks at first seems like a far-fetched premise for a film - but thanks to the imaginative talent and heart of directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street ). The LEGO Movie is one of the most clever, original, and fun adaptions of a toy or game ever put on screen.
Right from the very beginning of the film, the angle of attack is perfect; LEGO land is an interesting and smart application of the LEGO toy experience, and the directors seem to really know the product well, which allows them to provide comedic insight into how an actual world of LEGO people would move, function, and reflect our own daily rat-race. The colors are bright, the production design is toroughly impressive, and the animation (an impressive combination of stop-motion and CGI) is endlessly impressive when it come to the LEGO-ness of the characters movements and the physics of their world. The film literally, in every single conceivable way, looks like a LEGO play set come to life in the screen.The only downside to the directorial choices is that when some of the film's bigger action sequences take place, the visuals can get a little difficult to follow, and the animation style is a little bit choppy and can take you out of it a little bit. When lasers are flying and six characters are all building and moving fast against an army, it looks a bit like you are watching someone's (admittedly impressive) amateur stop motion project, rather than a big budget animated feature. But that is something that comes with the territory of the concept.
The script, which was also written by Lord and Miller, and it is equally as good as the direction. The audience is offered a multi-layered story with humor, wit, and heart, which will appeal to both the children and the adults in the audience. The entire structure of the story is reminiscent of The Matrix, or just about any "unlikely hero" archetype. But the team also manage to dig deeper into the narrative. While kids are invested in the hero quest on the surface, adults will pick up on the subtle metaphors sprinkled throughout (corporate uniformity vs. creative freedom) and by the third act when things take an especially clever turn, both kids and adults can bond over the themes expressed when The LEGO Movie really opens its heart and begins to show the real soul.
The dialogue, banter, and winking ode to certain iconic characters (like Batman) make the film an enjoyable ride, but its the injection of real-world emotion and some potentially heavy (but deftly handled) dramatic ideas that elevate this film above the typically thin fare found in this genre. The directorial team is not afraid to push the boundaries a little bit, including certain scenes that in the hands of a lesser team, could have been too much for kids, but are dealt in such a way that manages to avoid frightening kids, resulting in some truly great comedy and drama.
The voice cast is also pretty incredible , and function as a great comedic ensemble in addition to breathing livelihood and personality into their respective characters. This should come as no surprise, really, since most of the cast are drawn from a pool of actors who have been standouts in cult-hit sitcoms in the last five years. Chris Pratt (Parks and Rec) and Elizabeth Banks (30 Rock) are perfect for Emmet and Wyldstyle. Pratt in particular seems poised to make his leading man break out this year, and deservedly so if his work here and how amazing Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy looks are any judgment of his talents, in addition to his great work on Parks and Rec.Will Ferrell does truly great work here as as very fun villain, but he is ultimately almost outclassed by Liam Neeson as Good Cop/Bad Cop, the bipolar henchman. But I have to admit to being slightly biased and say that Will Arnett is by far the best movie Batman of all time.
In the end, The LEGO Movie is a fun adventure with heart and originality that everyone, regardless of age, should experience on the biggest screen, with the loudest speakers, as soon as they possibly can. It is another home run effort from Lord and Miller, who, like their blocky protagonist, may seem like the most unlikely of cinematic geniuses, but whose unique imaginations may save us from generic and formulaic movies.
When it comes to The LEGO Movie, "everything is awesome", indeed.
