Using a variation on the narrative that drove Pixar’s Toy Story franchise, coupled with the added benefit of licensed characters from the world of DC Comics, Harry Potter and even Star Wars, The LEGO Movie uses a unique blend of animated plastic blocks and characters to build worlds of endless imagination with voice talent that makes for a very fun movie. I was no fan of writer/director duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller‘s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but this time around they’ve got more to work with than scene-after-scene of food falling from the sky and they’ve smartly used the creative possibilities of LEGOs as innovation for their characters and story.
We’re introduced to a world where a society of LEGO figures work by-the-book and follow instructions, building and re-building their world over and over again, and always according to the instructions as ordered by Lord Business (voiced by Will Ferrell). Within this world we meet Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt) a construction worker that lives by the rules and has never thought of doing otherwise until he finds a strange object referred to as the “Piece of Resistance” that will save the entire world from an evil tyrant, hellbent on drenching the LEGO world in Krazy Glue, locking everything in positions of perfection forever.
Emmet’s world is turned upside down when he meets Wyldstyle (voiced by Elizabeth Banks), a headstrong character representing everything Emmet is not, as she rescues him from the hands of Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) after Emmet stumbled upon the “Piece of Resistance”, a discovery that results in him being dubbed “The Special” — the one that will save them all.
On the surface, the story is rather straightforward, but it’s the way in which Lord and Miller have used the idea of making a LEGO movie to tell their story that makes it work so well. They embraced the physics of a world made of plastic, interlocking pieces to create explosions and even bubbles in the shower. More importantly, they’ve taken the idea that with the right pieces and a little imagination, anything can be created and the movie uses this idea to give us additional insight into the characters. Batman (voiced by Will Arnett) likes everything black and in dark shades of grey, Unikitty (voiced by Alison Brie) likes things with sparkles and early LEGO astronaut Benny (voiced by Charlie Day) likes old school LEGO spaceships.
Additional members of the voice cast include Morgan Freeman as the ever-so-wise Vitruvius, Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian and Lord and Miller coaxed their 21 Jump Street stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum into voicing Green Lantern and Superman, the former having a massive fanboy crush on the latter… “Anyone got any Kryptonite I can borrow?”
The animation is outstanding, all the way down to tiny scratches on Emmett’s plastic skin and while it’s early in the year, it seems safe to presume the song that runs through the entire film titled “Everything is AWESOME!!!” is a likely Oscar nominee for Best Original Song as composer Mark Mothersbaugh teamed with Tegan and Sara and The Lonely Island. Lyrics such as “I feel more awesome than an awesome possum” and “Stepped in mud got new brown shoes” are just icing on the cake as I suggest you stick around through the credits to hear the full song.
The LEGO Movie embraces fun and it must have been a blast to come up with every silly little idea and to eventually see it brought to life in the form of tiny children’s building blocks. Adults will most certainly enjoy the film, but it’s going to be children that I would assume will eat this up, which means the merchandising potential is sky high and I expect many, many sequels down the road.
