The Lego Movie

Get out your Lego blocks and catchy theme song, we're reviewing The Lego Movie!

Emmet (Chris Pratt) is a normal every day Lego citizen. When he meets Wild Style (Elizabeth Banks) and stumbles onto a conspiracy to destroy the Lego world, everyone thinks that he is "the special" – the chosen one who will fulfill the prophecy and be a savior. What happens next will rock his little Lego world.

The Lego movie is fantastic. Go see it. 

Oh. Oh, you want a real review? Ugh. FINE.

I expected the movie to be good, but I didn't expect it to be this good. If you've seen the Lego Star Wars specials or played any of the Lego videogames, you know that Lego knows what it's doing. But holy crap does this have a great message for kids and adults that I don't want to spoil at all. It's an amazing story that subverts the "Hero's Journey" and goes crazier than you would think possible. It goes to Toy Story or Up levels of feels. How did they do that?

Then again, I don't want to overhype it, because while I think it's great and deserves all the praise it's gotten for being an amazing story and amazing piece of film, I wasn't wowed in the same way I was when I saw, say Pacific Rim or The Avengers. It might be that I was expecting too much or it's just been overhyped, so I'll just say that yeah, it's pretty good.

Anyways, the animation! The animation DEFINITELY cannot be overhyped. Everything is made of Legos. EVERYTHING. It is amazing how well done the animation is. It is 3D made to look like stop-motion. They took extra care to make the Legos lived-in and played with. Most Lego animations have mini-figs moving in that computer-generated way where they can squash, stretch and bend their elbows. But in this movie, mini-figs are confined to moving exactly how they can in the real world. Which somehow makes the fighting all the more interesting and fun to watch. It's a manic flurry of tiny toys with Lego smoke billowing and tiny Lego pew-pew lasers flying through the air!  

It's an incredibly funny movie for all ages. Kids will get a kick out of this as well as adults who grew up with Legos themselves. The cast does an amazing job with their roles. I could watch Lego Liam Neeson beat up on chairs all day! Speaking of which, the cast is PERFECT. Chris Pratt is as lovable and adorable as he is on Parks and Recreation. I can't wait for him to blow up as a big star this and next year. Liam Neeson is hilarious as good/bad cop, and Will Arnett is amazing as Batman. Possibly the perfect Batman? Will Ferrel and Morgan Freeman have a ton of fun in their roles, as everyone does in the film. Not a grump among them. There are so many other cameos that I can't spoil because they are so much fun to discover.

You'll get Everything is Awesome stuck in your head for days. 

Oh also, I don't think the 3D does anything. 2D is fine.

So yeah, I mean, why WOULDN'T you go see the Lego movie? Do you hate fun or something? What are you, some sort of megablocks lover? Get outta here! We don't take too kindly to your kind around here! 

THE GOOD: Great animation, great story, great cast, fun, funny, good soundtrack.

THE BAD: ?????? So you DO hate fun huh??

THE VERDICT: $$$$$ I mean, why haven't you seen it already? Geez

MOVIES LIKE IT: Kung Fu Panda, Toy Story, Frozen, A Town Called Panic

ONE-SCENE METAPHOR: EVERYTHING IS AWESOME EVERYTHING IS COOL