It was surprisingly really good! At least as good as it can be while still keeping younger audiences in mind. When I saw the trailer for this movie I thought it looked kinda shitty, but then the reviews started coming out. So I saw it more out of an obligation than anything but I'm glad that I saw it because it was very enjoyable.
I did not expect to be barraged with such dystopian social commentary right off the bat, but it's those clever little statements about society that allows people other than children to enjoy the movie. And not only that, but it made so much sense how they orchestrated those statements about individualism, bringing back nostalgic images of Lego instruction manuals that the character carries around with him. Now I'm not the biggest fan of Lego as a franchise. I mean, to me the video games just seem like a really easy way to save money on animation, but the animation in this film was fan-fucking-tastic.
Objects and characters would mostly have a lower frame rate to imitate stop-motion style, and because all of it actually was computer-animated, they had a lot more freedom as to what they were able to do, particularly with the facts in camera placements and most noticeably during the action scenes. But not only did it just imitate stop motion as a style; a clever decision was made to keep certain depths out of focus at any given time, and by doing so it instantly reminds you of those old Lego camera sets. The movie didn't really leave too much room for emotional investment, but I don't really think that I tried to. It pretty much knew exactly what it was and it tried hard to avoid falling into clichés that you would normally expect, and the writing made it clear that they were aware of these clichés that they were intentionally avoiding.
It's funny, entertaining and it feels somewhat unique. And yes, I'm aware that it is basically just one giant ad for a toy company, but this movie is the best Lego commercial I have ever seen
Synopsis: Emmet is just an average guy. He lives his life by the same routine every day, and always follows the instructions. One day, a weird mishap leads to him being declared The Special: the one person who can stop the evil President Business' dastardly plan of unleashing the Kragle on the entire world. The only problem is: There doesn't appear to be anything special about Emmet. Will he be able to save all his fellow citizens regardless?
The Good: This movie is a wonder to behold. The animation really brings inanimate Lego bricks to life, and the humor and pop culture references are spot-on. It also brings home an excellent moral: that everyone is special and valuable, no matter who they are. All in all, a wonderful flick.
The Bad: Nothing, really.
Conclusion: Me and Lego blocks have an interesting history. My mom got me some Lego sets as a kid, but, I had trouble manipulating the small pieces due to coordination issues. I had a good friend at church who loved those building blocks so much, he dressed up as a Lego for Halloween. Toward the end of my high school days, I had fun playing Lego Star Wars on my Nintendo GameCube; since then, I've had a blast with Lego's TV series, ranging from their comedic take on Lucas' space opera to Ninjago. I've been meaning to watch this flick for a while, but just recently got around to it; it was just as good as I expected and then some. If you haven't seen this yet...what are you waiting for? Go rent or stream it, now!
Score: 5/5
Review by tailofleavesVIP BlockedParent2014-02-08T04:37:40Z
I've been waiting to see this movie for a while now, and I got to say that it didn't disappoint. I thought that Phil and Chris did an amazing job with the script. Their last two movies, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street turned out to be surprisingly great movies and this movie does not ruin their perfect track record. There were plenty of funny and clever lines. I guess a lot of the humor could be what people may call "dumb" humor, but I think this movie does dumb humor in a smart way if that makes any sense. Plus, this type of humor fits in well with an animated children's movie. Though, despite being a "kids movie" this movie can definitely appeal to everyone. Story wise, I thought the pacing was great. I can't really think of a dull moment in this film. Without giving away any spoilers, this movie also had a really touching moment towards the end that, in my opinion, brought this goofy kids movie to a whole new level. Think something along the lines of How to Train Your Dragon or Wreck-it-Ralph. This movie definitely ranks up there with those two as some of my favorite animated movies. Visually, I thought the movie looked amazing. The sets were all detailed, colorful and looked even better in motion. Their use of a blend of stop motion and CGI animation gave this movie a very distinct and visually appealing look. This is the way a Lego movie should look. TL;DR "everything is awesooooooome!" :)