The LEGO Movie brought all the things that were great about playing with LEGOs, all the cool things about being a kid, and all the deep feelings many of us have of just not being good enough, back with crashing force. To see all of those LEGO creations, on the big screen and in 3D, was a spectacle that no one should miss. This was a great clean family movie and just all around enjoyable.
From Warner Bros. Animation and Village Roadshow Pictures, The LEGO Movie stars Chris Pratt (Parks & Recreation, Delivery Man), Elizabeth Banks (Community, The Hunger Games), and Will Ferrell (Anchorman, Elf) and takes us inside the world of LEGOs where things are built, and destroyed, and rebuilt on a daily basis. There is trouble in Bricktown, though, as President Business has nefarious plans for Taco Tuesday.
The great cast brought together to voice this movie was not the only thing that made The LEGO Movie awesome. The elaborate constructs were visually amazing and the fact that everything was made of LEGO bricks, even the fire and smoke, dusts, and clouds, was a real treat. The script was a solid fun family story that was more than just a commercial for LEGOs toys. There was a deep message within this movie about how each of us has the power to be something more than society tells us to be. This message is important to anyone, but especially the young people of today who are being programmed through high school that they are fit for a specific career and need to only take classes that guide them on that career path.
The basic premise of The Lego Movie is a battle between good and evil. The wizard. Vitruvius, is the keeper of an ancient evil, the Kragle. Lord Business is so tired of everyone “messing up his stuff” and wants the Kragle because it will mean the end of the world, and a way to ensure that change is stopped. But, there is a prophecy. A Special will come who will find the Piece of Resistance and once it is placed on the Kragle, the world will be saved, but it might also explode. Thus begins a great journey of adventure and self-discovery for a lowly construction worker who was never anything more than ordinary but is thrust into greatness, or at least expected to be great. There is a big difference.
I got to see this movie in 3D with my two youngest daughters and, while I know they really liked, I found myself laughing at almost every point in this movie. This movie really succeeds in melding different generations together, almost as thought they were designed to fit together like building blocks. The humor is great and fit for both kids and adults while not bristling with sexual innuendo as so many of today’s films and TV shows do when directed at kids. There are no fart jokes, not crude humor, no blood and guts. The LEGO Movie is one that I will purchase when it comes out on DVD and BluRay so that my family can watch and rewatch it. It is just that good.
The lessons of this movie have more to do with helping children, and adults for that matter, to understand that they can decide their own futures than with trying to indoctrinate children into some stereotypes. I thought it was funny how the male lead, Emmet Brickowski, is sure of himself in his normal-ness until he sees how people view him as just so not anything. The female lead, Wyldstyle, is the opposite, she is strong and assertive, until she begins to have feelings for Emmet and begins to question herself. The voice acting was great, the LEGO animation was amazing, and I was very impressed with the ending. This movie has some great action, comedy, and some solid family moments that made this an enjoyable and exciting move to watch.
