Movie Review: The Lego Movie
What We Liked
What We Didn't Like
Cast aside any doubts you might have had, because The Lego Movie is wickedly funny, smartly written, surprisingly heartfelt, and will almost certainly end up being one of the best family films of 2014. As I’m sure was the case for many people of my generation, I loved playing with Legos when I was a kid. And when the news first broke that a feature film based on Lego was in the works, I was one of the many people who shook my head in disbelief. However, my opinion started to change for the better when it was announced that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the writing/directing team behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and 21 Jump Street (2012), would be taking on the project. Now the film is here at last, and it is awesome.
In the Lego universe, an ordinary mini-figure named Emmet (voice of Chris Pratt) is mistaken as being the Special – a legendary Master Builder who can save the Lego universe. With the help of an old wizard named Vitruvius (voice of Morgan Freeman), a tough young woman named Wyldstyle (voice of Elizabeth Banks), Batman (voice of Will Arnett), Uni-Kitty (voice of Alison Brie), Benny (voice of Charlie Day), and Metal Beard (voice of Nick Offerman), Emmet will have to unlearn everything he saw in the instructions and discover the power of imagination to defeat the evil Lord Business (voice of Will Ferrell), a tyrant who is bent on destroying the Lego universe on Taco Tuesday and recreating it as he sees fit by gluing it together.
A big part of why the film works so well is the fact that the voice cast all totally commit to their roles; none of these people are phoning it in. Chris Pratt, best known as Andy on Parks and Recreation, is great as the loveable but slightly dim everyman Emmet Brickowski. Will Ferrell gleefully hams it up as the evil Lord Business, but he also gets to be genuinely kind of creepy in some scenes. Elizabeth Banks, in what I believe is her first animated feature role, is great as the cute tough girl Wyldstyle, who is both frustrated with Emmet and fond of him. Just like I thought he would be, Will Arnett is perfectly cast as Batman, who here is one of the Master Builders and Wyldstyle’s boyfriend. This is probably the most meta take we’ve ever seen on the Caped Crusader in any screen adaptation, and Arnett’s Batman is one who fully believes his own hype and can be a real jerk sometimes. Chris Pratt’s Parks and Recreation costar Nick Offerman is on hand as the cyborg pirate Metal Beard, and he gives a delightfully scenery-chewing vocal performance.
Alison Brie from Community plays the bizarre Uni-Kitty, an anime-like hybrid of unicorn and kitten whose eternally-cheerful demeanor conceals a dark secret. Charlie Day from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Horrible Bosses (2011), and Pacific Rim (2013) has the smallest role among the main cast as Benny the “1980-something space guy,” but still manages to be very funny and endearing. The great Liam Neeson does an excellent job as Bad Cop/Good Cop, a police officer with a split personality – illustrated by him having two different faces which he switches between – who is Lord Business’ main henchman and the head of the Super Secret Police. This is one of the rare times when Neeson gets to use his natural Irish accent in a Hollywood film, and it was quite refreshing to hear that. The always-reliable Morgan Freeman lends his sonorous voice to the old wizard Vitruvius, another in his long line of wise mentor characters, although he also gets some of the funniest moments in the film. There are also some great bits with the minor characters, including Channing Tatum as Superman, Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman, Will Forte as Abraham Lincoln, and others I wouldn’t dream of spoiling here.
A scene from “The Lego Movie.” Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture
© 2014 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
The most immediately striking thing about the movie is its visuals, which are amazingly creative. I love how the filmmakers fully committed to having everything in the environment be made of Lego bricks, including elements like water, fire, smoke, and explosions. And all this isn’t just window-dressing, because the fact that almost everything in a given setting can be taken apart and put together some other way drives many of the film’s action scenes, as characters use things around them to build vehicles, tools, and equipment in the middle of a battle or chase. But the visual element that consistently impressed me the most is the way the characters are animated. While the characters are obviously CGI, everything about the way they move and act – with the obvious exception of their facial features – is made to look like stop-motion animation. The best thing I can compare it to is the way the Nicelanders were animated in Wreck-It Ralph (2012). I’m sure it took a lot of time and effort to so exactly recreate the look and feel of the Lego minifigures in digital form, but I very much appreciate that work. I got to see The Lego Movie in 3D, and it’s well worth shelling out the extra money for it if you can. The 3D was used to great effect, and the extra sense of depth really adds to the “toys brought to life” feel of the visuals.
Besides looking great, the film is also very funny. The humor is smart and witty, and the movie never falls into the trap of becoming either lowbrow and crass or cynical and jaded. Much like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, there are plenty of nicely subversive jokes that will probably go over the heads of kids, but should make the adults watching crack up. The movie also has a lot of fun with names and wordplay – the medieval fantasy portion of the Lego universe being called “Middle-Zealand” is just one example. And just to give fair warning, the “Everything is Awesome” song will get stuck in your head, and you will find yourself singing/humming it for at least the next several days.
And remarkably, the film actually manages to tell a good story along the way. The early set-up about the doomsday weapon, the ancient prophecy, the lost artifact, etc. might sound bog-standard, perhaps even boring, but that’s exactly the idea. The story does a brilliant job of gently skewering the Hero’s Journey/chosen one plot that has become so overused in recent years. The filmmakers smartly don’t let the licensed characters overshadow the original ones. Batman is the only licensed character with significant screen time, and it’s still very much a supporting role. And Lord and Miller show just how fearless they can be with their storytelling in the later parts of the film, but you’ll have to see the movie for yourself to find out just what they do.
“The Lego Movie.” Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture
© 2014 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Of course, no movie is perfect, and as good as The Lego Movie is, it does have a couple of minor flaws. At one hundred minutes, it might be slightly too long for a film where such a big part of the audience will be young children. And while the message about creativity being vital is definitely a good one, there are a few moments where the movie is a bit too on-the-nose about it. But in the face of how overwhelmingly good the rest of the film is, these are just minor bumps in the road.
I like to believe that with the right approach, you can make a good movie out of almost anything – for instance, I would point out Clue (1985) to anyone who claims it’s impossible to make a good movie based on a board game. But I’m still frankly amazed by just how good The Lego Movie is. When the project was first announced, I’m sure naysayers were ready to declare it as the absolute epitome of a film made purely to sell merchandise. Instead, it’s a soaring creative work that I’m sure will be fondly remembered for years to come. Messrs Lord and Miller are on a hot streak, and I hope that it’ll keep going for a long time. If you want a great film that the whole family can enjoy, look no further than The Lego Movie. And remember, folks: everything is awesome.
Timothy Monforton
