The Lego Movie starts off in a regular looking (Lego) city. Emmet (Chris Pratt) wakes up and goes through his routine of greeting his neighbors to working at a construction site. Before he’s able to head home, he falls into a pit where he discovers a mystical block that marks him as the one who will save the world and disrupt President Business’ (Will Ferrell) plans. After a short interrogation from Bad/Good cop (Liam Neeson), Emmet is drafted into a resistance group by WyldStyle (Elizabeth Banks) and Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman). Along with his new friends, an unprepared Emmet joins the battle to put a stop to President Business’ evil plans.
Almost everything in the Lego Movie is generated by computers. What makes things even more entertaining is that everything within the movie is made up of Lego bricks including non solid objects like smoke and water. This overload of Legos takes some getting used to but won’t really distract from the actions on screen. To make things even better is the fact that the Lego world cleverly includes human objects and uses them as relics.
Will Arnett makes an excellent Batman
The cast of the Lego Movie includes several recognizable voices like that of Morgan Freeman and even Charlie Day. Do to the amount of licenses that Lego and Warner Bros. had it was even more entertaining to see certain DC superheroes such as Batman who is played by Will Arnett. Other A-list actors (Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill to name a couple) make very short but sweet appearances. All of these actors have good performances and compliment the story arc which is a relief. With all of this talent carefully placed in the story, one could probably enjoy trying to figure out which actors are playing what character.
The plot of the Lego Movie was something that was worrying me when I first walked into the theater. How would someone be able to make a straightforward story about blocks? The last time a studio tried to produce a film based on a game without a story, they sank at the box office. All my fears were set aside when the world of Lego was introduced. Writers Dan and Kevin Hagemon along with directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were able to not only create a good story but also an interesting array of characters to go along with it. Benny the Spaceman, Uni-Kitty, and Bad/Good cop aren’t characters that the audience is likely to forget. To this moment I am still amazed at how well crafted the story was and even the fact that the writers were able to add a few nice surprises.
The Lego Movie was a film that was written and intended to be for children but as I sat in the theater I noticed that everyone from kids to adults was engrossed in the story. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who were also responsible for 21 Jumpstreet) were able to craft a movie that anyone would be able to enjoy. Sure there’s bits of child humor but it also contains to several other films that only adults and teens would be able to get. One good example is of the various Terminator 2 references as well as some nods to Monty Python. There’s other references and acknowledgements to movies but I’d rather keep it a surprise for those of you who haven’t seen it. The Lego Movie may be a marketing scheme but I found myself enjoying every single minute of it.
TL;DR: There’s hardly anything negative to point out. A must see for all ages (would be surprised if it wasn’t nominated for best animated movie of ’15).
Rockit Raccoon: 9.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
IMDB: 8.6/10
Metascore: 8.2/10
Rock-It Raccoon 