Classic Review: The Lego Movie (2014)

Since I’ve started this site, I’ve written a lot of reviews. In case you missed some of my earlier ones, I would like to share an older review of “The Lego Movie” which originally appeared here.

In the LEGO universe, the wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) tries to protect a superweapon called the “Kragle” from the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell). Once he fails to do so, he prophesies that a person known as “the Special” will find a way to stop the Kragle. Now Emmet Brickowoski (Chris Pratt) is an ordinary LEGO figure who always followed the rules unwillingly becomes the Special, a being who is the key to saving his world. He later joins forces with a group of strangers who are on a mission to stop the now evil President Business and his plan to conquer the world. Unfortunately for Emmet, he is hopelessly and hilariously unprepared for such a task, but he’ll give it his all nonetheless.

On paper, a movie about LEGO character sounds like it wouldn’t work but it surprisingly does. The story sounds like it came from a child’s imagination but it fits within the world of the film. The animation, a combination of stop-film and CGI, used in this film can also hold its own with the imagination within the story. There is a great attention to detail throughout with all aspects of the world made from Legos. Kids will be entertained by such characters as a cat, a vintage astronaut, and Batman (I won’t explain why), just to name a few. The story is not very original for a kid’s film (hero versus villain) and I wan’t expecting to laugh as much as I did thanks to the funny script. There are a lot of jokes and other things going on in this film so you have to pay attention or you may miss one. I thought the voice cast also did a great job making each character funny and likable with a few surprising performances from actors you would not expect. For a kid’s film, it does contain many references that many adults will enjoy and remind them of their respective childhoods (as it did mine). The film’s message is important, albeit not too surprising, is embracing and celebrating creativity as one day, we may stop being creative. It also goes on to say that whoever you are, you can still be special. Everyone can be special, can try and succeed if they want to. The film does make a slight turn, tone-wise, near the end that may turn off certain people. It does feel a little different when compared to the first two-thirds of the film and does get a little preachy but I did not mind it too much. Despite this, The Lego Movie is definitely one of my top 5 animated films of all time and the best animated film of 2014. (Disclaimer: I saw Big Hero 6 in January 2015). It should have won the Oscar for best animated feature last year (please consult earlier disclaimer). With the world they created and the imagination in which the filmmakers shown, I would most definitely enjoy coming back. Since this movie made a lot of money, this seems very likely. I wish other toy-based movies would learn from this. I’m talking to you Transformers 1-4, G.I. Joe 1-2, Battleship, Ouija, and Bratz.

Now let’s get that song back in your heads.

Score: 9.5/10

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.