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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Lego Movie Review

So it's been frustrating me for the past few days that my website, www.chaosinabox.com, is down.  That's where I upload my movie reviews, using the time-honoured, hand-coded HTML that I've been practicing since 1998.  But then I remember that that's why I started this blog in the first place.  This is how I maintain my online presence when my website is acting up.  So then, so I can get this out of my system, time for my review of....


The Lego Movie

Directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord

Starring the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman. 

Backstory:  It seem that ever since I picked up the hobby of action figure collecting and reading up on the toy world that I've been reading some kind of news and rumours about a Lego movie or TV series.  And while there have been a few straight-to-DVD offerings and a couple of cartoons, nothing really caught my eye.  I mean, I had Lego when I was a kid, but I don't have overwhelming nostalgia for it like I do for Transformers or Masters of the Universe.  Lego was mostly my brother's thing, as he could build these magnificent jets and helicopters, and I could only build bigger blocks.  So when The Lego Movie finally came along, I was willing to skip it, but then, much like Frozen, as I saw the overwhelmingly positive reviews start stacking up, I figured I should give it a shot.  Is it really as awesome as the world is saying?  

Plot:  Set in a magnificent Legotropolis, we meet a humble Lego construction worker named Emmet.  Emmet's only goal in life is to fit in.  He follows the instructions to the letter, gleefully going along with society, hoping to fit in and win some friends.  The only problem is, he fits in too well, making a wholly unremarkable person that no one notices.  But then, late one night on the job site, he gets a mysterious piece stuck to his back.  This soon draws him into a secret war.  There's a rebellion afoot, consisting of the few remaining "Master Builders," who seek to throw out the instructions and build whatever they want.  They're fighting against President Business, who's about to unleash a secret weapon to end the Master Builders and destroy the world as they know it.  Turns out Emmet is "The Special," and the piece is the "Piece of Resistance" that can destroy President Business's weapon.  It's up to Emmet and his new allies:  kick-ass female warrior WyldStyle, her boyfriend Batman, the sickly sweet Princess Unikitty, the cyborg pirate Metalbeard, and the wise man Vitruvius to take down President Business and save the world!

What I Liked:  This movie is incredibly funny.  As I'm sure you can tell, it's a fairly basic "Hero's Journey" plot, but it's aware enough of it to mock it throughout.  But not in the bitter, sarcastic Shrek way.  Emmet is so likeable but so dumb, you can't help but wonder how he could be the Special.  Batman gets re-envisioned as a dark, moody Goth kid.  It's nice to see 1980s Space Lego featured so prominently, as that's what I gravitated towards when I was a kid.  The voice acting is great.  Freeman is especially funny as Vitruvius.  There is a pretty neat twist 2/3rds of the way through, which is probably the best twist you can make in a movie based on toys.  

What I Didn't Like:  Well, because it is a fairly basic "Hero's Journey," there's really not much in the way of surprises in the film.

Final Verdict:  Incredibly fun and funny movie.  I highly recommend it.

3.5 Nibs

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