The Lego Movie is the kind of incongruous phrase that sounds a little like a hoax, but fortunately it's not. The Lego Movie is a 3D computer animated movie based around the franchises formed of Lego construction toys. I was a huge fan of Lego as a kid, as i suspect so were most people of my generation. Lego has the kind of all round appeal that only Adele and Harry Potter can also hold claim. I find it rather saddening that young people today don't play with Lego, and i hope that this film will reignite interest in the historic danish brand, if the box office receipts are anything to go by, it already has. The film is about a construction worker named Emmett who lives in Bricksburg, and who is mistaken for the "special". The film then details Emmet and a girl he meets, called Wildestyle with whom he escapes Bricksburg, finds a god like figure called Vitruvius and Wildestyle's boyfriend; Batman. They, with a group of outlaws, hatch a plan to defeat the evil lord business and disable the kragle, a mysterious substance that Lord Business is going to use to glue all the bricks together. The film's plot is essentially a loose parody of The Matrix, with Emmet being The One, Wyldestyle being Trinity and Vitruvius being Morpheus. The film is fantastic fun, and the plot allows for many fun cameos from other Lego franchises and characters. The film starts in Bricksburg, which is essentially a generic colorful representation of corporate america, then it moves to The Old West and on to Cloud Cuckoo Land, based on cute and colorful Lego franchises. Then into the ocean, and under the sea. In addition to cameos from Middle Earth, Star Wars and DC Comics.
The movie looks fantastic, and the whole world featured looks exactly like it was made out of Lego, the sets look huge, and although the film was not made using stop motion, the film is deliberately given that feel, and everything in the film looks as if it is real and tactile. The film is so faithful to looking absolutely real that even water is made using Lego beads, laser bolts using lightsaber rods, and jet's using plastic flame pieces. Explosions are made using grey small Lego bricks and waves using blue and white Lego pieces. Dust trailing the batmobile is made of beige bricks and puffs of smoke are ice cream pieces, this separates the film from other direct to video Lego movies which are much lower budget and which generally do not look as if they are made entirely out of Lego.
The film also feels like it has something interesting to say about capitalism and about modern western life. The film depicts a world not unlike america today, where all the people look alike, they all listen to the same music, they all dress the same, they live in identical apartments and they are essentially indistinguishable, in appearance and in personality. Their lives are dominated by capitalism and business. The film is essentially about how capitalism leaves us devoid of any personality, and how we are essentially being corrupted by our ability to all buy and own the same things. The film is smart, the dialogue is witty and the plot is streamlined and unexpected. This is a film with heart, a quality sadly missing from a lot of modern animation (looking at you Dreamworks and Toonstudios) and a film that makes you think. The use of 3D is also superb, i have often proclaimed that animated films work best in 3D, and here is a prime example, the 3D was never used in an obnoxious way, but i was glad of the extra depth!
Overall i have nothing negative to say about this film, it's damn well near perfect, looks beautiful and has a great story and a good heart. A witty script and some funny gags make The Lego Movie supremely entertaining. It goes above and beyond what one would expect, and the Lego movie is far better than a two hour toy commercial has any right to be. Rating: A+
President Business:
Hi, I'm President Business, president of the Octan corporation and the
world. Let's take extra care to follow the instructions or you'll be put
to sleep, and don't forget Taco Tuesday's coming next week.
The film is about a construction worker named Emmett who lives in Bricksburg, and who is mistaken for the "special". The film then details Emmet and a girl he meets, called Wildestyle with whom he escapes Bricksburg, finds a god like figure called Vitruvius and Wildestyle's boyfriend; Batman. They, with a group of outlaws, hatch a plan to defeat the evil lord business and disable the kragle, a mysterious substance that Lord Business is going to use to glue all the bricks together. The film's plot is essentially a loose parody of The Matrix, with Emmet being The One, Wyldestyle being Trinity and Vitruvius being Morpheus. The film is fantastic fun, and the plot allows for many fun cameos from other Lego franchises and characters. The film starts in Bricksburg, which is essentially a generic colorful representation of corporate america, then it moves to The Old West and on to Cloud Cuckoo Land, based on cute and colorful Lego franchises. Then into the ocean, and under the sea. In addition to cameos from Middle Earth, Star Wars and DC Comics.
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