Throughout the ’90s and into the 2000s, the LEGO brand experienced a period of stagnation and identity crisis which opened the door for their first film license collaboration: the Star Wars universe. Not surprisingly, it proved to be a hit. Unfazed by the actual crappiness of the execrable prequel films, customers lapped up the brick spaceships and LEGO’s course was set. Many other licenses followed, along with new product lines, video games and TV shows. The brand has soared in the past few years and a movie seemed almost inevitable — indeed, a couple of LEGO Star Wars shorts had already seen DTV releases. While it would be an irresponsible oversimplification to cite licenses and product expansions as the only reason the brand is back on top, there’s a relevant question as to how much of LEGO’s identity is still intact amidst the rampant commercialization.
With the massive popularity that LEGO currently enjoys, there was never any question that a movie would suck gobs of cash from parents’ pockets. But in a world where even the flimsiest product licenses are turned into movies like Battleship, it’s easy to be cynical. Perhaps it’s even wise to expect something called The LEGO Movie to be a 2-hour commercial for overpriced toy bricks.
However, from the earliest trailer, The LEGO Movie has disarmingly brushed aside these expectations with pure whimsy by showing us a vividly animated world, embracing the joy of play, and smartly leveraging LEGO’s many licenses to create a crossover world that unites familiar characters in the same magical manner as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Wreck-It Ralph.
Many film fans already had a reason to lower our guard: We’ve learned not to underestimate Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the directorial duo who have already proven their ability to take seemingly dead-end concepts and turn them into successes. A cartoon about foodstuffs raining from the sky? A 21 Jump Street reboot? It’s nothing less than modern day alchemy: taking terrible ideas and spinning them into gold. Not only in the literal sense of mountains of cash, but as genuinely — and often surprisingly — invigorating entertainment.
I’m happy to report that The LEGO Movie continues this tradition.
Emmet, voiced by Chris Pratt, is an everyman construction worker, content to live life according to the instruction manual and listen to his favorite song, the extremely catchy “Everything Is Awesome”. It’s a clever play on the always-smiling nature of the classic LEGO toys while also setting up something distressing that’s brewing beneath the surface in Emmet’s happy-go-lucky world. Despite what the controlled media may say, everything is not awesome. Emmet’s urban existence is one of many realms — pirate seas, the old west, outer space, and every licensed LEGO universe — which are secretly under the control of Lord Business, a micro-managing supervillain who plans to unleash a secret weapon on the populace of all the realms.
Mistaken for an important messianic “master builder”, Emmet is drafted into a gang of heroes who are taking the fight to Lord Business (Will Ferrell in a role reminiscent of his villain Mugatu from Zoolander) and his enforcer, Bad Cop (Liam Neeson in full Irish mode). Here the film revels in its licensed properties, bringing in all kinds of characters in both cameos and larger roles including Batman and the JLA, NBA All-Stars, rival wizards Gandalf and Dumbledore, Michaelangelo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (whose blip of an appearance guaranteed this fan’s ass would be planted in a theater seat), and many others, along with new and old characters from the traditional LEGO world. A stellar roundup of Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Charlie Day, and Nick Offerman voice the primary team of protagonists, and many other recognizable thespians spot in for cameos. Most of the heroes are “builders” in varying degrees — capable of disassembling and re-assembling the objects around them (i.e., LEGO pieces) to create vehicles, weapons, and other gadgets on the spot. These scenes are not only clever in their execution, but true to LEGO’s core building motif and creative spirit.
One of the key strengths that makes The LEGO Movie work is its superb animation. There are a lot of ways this could’ve gone, but the filmmakers landed on a style that just clicks. While obviously computer animated, the style uses stop-motion like movement and a fairly photorealistic rendering of the LEGO world that reveals plastic seams, paint, textures, and slight manufacturing irregularities on close-ups. In motion, the visuals have an amazing kind of fluidity that’s unlike any previous film.
There’s some relevant criticism out there that The LEGO Movie is basically made for adults, but since I’m a childless adult it doesn’t bother me too much that I’m apparently in the target market. Besides which, I’m pretty confident that kids will love this movie to death.
Things also do take a bizarre but not wholly unexpected sharp left turn in the last act. I won’t say exactly what happens because it would be a major spoiler, but it fundamentally changes the implications of the whole story and some people will simply not like it. It didn’t bother me enough to change my overwhelmingly positive opinion of the movie, but I think that it probably would’ve been better left without.
That said, The LEGO Movie is a hilarious and joyous time at the movies. Kids and adults will love this hugely entertaining and strangely affecting film, and if it wasn’t obvious enough, well — I highly recommend it.
A/V Out
