There are so many reasons why you should go see The Lego Movie. Seriously … so many amazing, wonderful, hilarious reasons. It’s that good. That smart. That heart-warmingly sweet. From the fantastic voice acting to the unique animation style, The Lego Movie is the perfect antidote to warm families up this snowed over season.
Admittedly, at first, I was a little unsure. When I saw the trailer, it was easy to brush off this film as just another movie marketing ploy to hypnotize young people into buying even more over-priced toys (see Hasbro’s Transformers and G.I. Joe snoozefests). But now … now I am happy to report that this genius movie marketing ploy to hypnotize young people into buying over-priced toys is chalk full of every reason I was obsessed with Legos as a child and why, as an adult, I am still secretly in love with them. (Truth be told, I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to play with these little blocks of imagination crack.)
With a constant smile on my face, I was delighted to follow the misadventures of Emmett Brickowoski (voiced my up and coming “it” guy Chris Pratt) as he and a small team of “master-builders” fight back against the evil and overpowering menace of Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and, without shame, I immediately went home and started searching Craigslist for any and every low-priced building set I could find.
Overflowing with talent, this film combines the voices of some of the most recognizable live actors and actresses working today with a seemingly never-ending ton of pop culture’s most famous characters, heroes and uh … things in Lego form. Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Bree, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill and on and on and on lend their voices adding so many levels of fun that every other scene is a lovely surprise.
By the way, to say I loved this film is completely an understatement.
Incredibly intelligent, willing to make fun of itself and amazingly meta, these building blocks of joy break completely through the fourth wall and oddly create a touching story in its third act that helps bridge the gap between the kids and adults in the audience. While the overall story seems pretty basic – yet another tale based on the concept of “the one” hero that will save the day – the Legos brand uses its variety to keep the plot line fresh, moving forward and always remaining visually stunning.
Now, usually, it is around this time that I begin to point out the few flaws so that I can keep my reviews balanced, fair and reasonable. But not today. While some of the jokes may land flat with the kiddos, I was happy to see that both by 5 and 2 year-olds were laughing and following the story without any issues. At the same time, where I feel some animated films could do with a shorter run time for kids, I observed that my two little ones were glued to their seats and very much caught in the endless loop of singing “Everything is Awesome!” on the way home.
Seriously, enough is enough. Stop reading this. Stop wasting another minute and go see this film. I’m already planning my second viewing and I know I will love every rewatched minute of it. The families been cooped up in the house these last few days of Snowmageddon 2014 and this film will cure the frozen blues.
5 out of 5 Kragles
