The Lego Movie
Directed By Phil Lord & Chris Miller
Starring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and Will Ferrell
"Everything is awesome!" is what the film's main song declares, and I'd like to share that sentiment, but currently I'm singing "Everything is…pretty good".
The Lego Movie was one of my most anticipated films of this year. The trailer showed off incredible animation and a tremendous voice cast. The story sounded so-so, but I wasn't worried. I walked into the theater, excited to see what Phil Lord and Chris Miller had come up with this time. Nearly a day has passed since I saw the film. While I can say that film does have brilliance within it, I find myself having difficulty embracing it.
Emmet Brickowski (Pratt) is a regular Lego construction worker in the world of Bricksburg. One day at work he stumbles upon the legendary Piece of Resistance (clever). He is therefore believed to be the special person prophesied to save all Lego-kind from President Business's (Ferrell) plan to freeze (or rather, glue) everyone in place. Emmet is assisted in his quest by the rogue Wildstyle (Banks), the wizard Vitruvius (Freeman), and a Lego version of Batman (Will Arnett). There's also Uni-Kitty (Alison Brie), Spaceman Benny (Charlie Day), and the pirtate-cybrog Metalbeard (Nick Offerman) plus a bunch of DC Superheroes, NBA All-Stars, and other famous Lego pieces along for the adventure. Oh and Liam Neeson is President Business's right hand man with a split personality, Good Cop/Bad Cop.
At first it seems like The Lego Movie's script is strictly following the formula of Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey", which is fine. We've seen it many times before and it's harmless. Then we enter the third act with a real twist, that shift's the entire perspective of the film.
It almost becomes a whole new film. I'm sure that with a second viewing, now knowing the twist, I will gain a new appreciation of the film and have a lot of "Ohhh" moments. I can already look back on some moments of the film and go "Okay. That makes sense now." The theme and moral of the film suddenly shine brighter and stronger, arguably better than they would if the film didn't include this twist.
However, whenever I see a film like this, I always need that second viewing, to make sure everything adds up and correctly builds up to the twist. Perhaps that's what's holding me back from really loving this film.
Lord and Miller have built (Ha!) a strong universe in this film. It's incredibly creative in a way that services both the story and the whole idea of Legos, and how we as society use them, but it also speaks to a bigger picture. As I've already said the animation is amazing. Everything looks, moves, and acts like Legos, and with good reason (Avoiding spoilers). At times though I did find it all a little distracting.
It'd be nearly impossible to comment in detail on every member of the voice cast. It's quite the roster, and every single one of them I mentioned, along with others in small, one-line parts are fantastic. Chris Pratt is a perfect Emmet. Will Ferrell is spot on but surprisingly reserved as President Business. Liam Neeson as Good Cop/Bad Cop is brilliant. Will Arnett as Batman is exactly what you'd expect him to be. The real scene stealers for me were Alison Brie as Uni-Kitty and Charlie Day as Spaceman Benny.
There is no doubt in my mind that next year, we'll see The Lego Movie nominated for many Best Animated Feature type awards, and its popularity will grow more and more as time goes on. It's a more-than-well made film with a truly profound message. It's imaginative and hilarious. Despite my own reservations, I think it's absolutely worth seeing in theaters. Maybe I gave in to all the hype, maybe I just didn't play enough with Legos as a kid to really appreciate this film, I don't know. But I can step away from myself to see the bigger picture. The Lego Movie is put together perfectly…okay, I think that's the last Lego/construction pun in me...
