The
LEGO Movie: ****/*****, or 7/10
Movies
based on pre-existing toys are often the stuff of anxiety for those
that grew up playing with them, especially when it concerns brands
that have been around for decades and thus have proven to be
multigenerational. Will the alliance between movie studios and toy
manufacturers, always driven by mutual profit first and foremost,
yield a final viewing experience that not only serves to push kids
into nagging their parents to go get them some but also to remind the
older spectators as to why they themselves enjoyed the toys so much
they feel their kids should continue playing with them, too? So far,
few toy based films have succeeded on both fronts, as most of them
are pretty dreadful: compare films the likes of Transformers and
Battleship for example. Fortunately, The LEGO Movie
doesn't fall into that same category of failure at all, as it
enhances the feeling of joy and excitement experienced by everyone
that ever built something from scratch out of the colourful little
bricks. That said, from an ideological perspective, the motives
behind the film's plot cannot helped but be questioned by mature
audiences when the film is over.
Of
course, a movie about toys can't feature the toys themselves being
played with for two hours, it needs a narrative structure to suck
audiences in. The LEGO Movie introduces the character of Emmet
(voiced by Chris Pratt), about as generic a LEGO minifigure as they
come: typical old fashioned yellow head, not much physical
accessories, wearing the same smile almost all day every day. He's
got reasons to be smiling, as he believes himself to live in the
perfect utopia, courtesy of President Business (Will Ferrell) who
provides everyone with instructions to live their full life by,
ranging from morning exercises, breakfast, buying overpriced coffee
(37 dollars, awesome!) and carrying an eternal sunny disposition. The
catchy national anthem 'Everything is awesome' not withstanding, it
goes without saying this existence is one big lie and no good will
come of its continuation.
Emmet
is soon drawn into a wholly different life style altogether when he
accidentally touches an unusual item that soon sticks to his back,
meets a beautiful girl who looks nothing like all the other
minifigures he has known and is promptly declared an enemy of the
state, necessitating him and the girl named Wyldstyle (Elizabeth
Banks) to go on the run. Basically a little plastic version of The
Matrix, Emmet soon learns there's another realm beyond that which
he always took for granted, as many dimensions, each with a theme of
its own – including Western and 'Middle Zealand' – peacefully
coexist alongside each other. Unless President Business destroys them
all by gluing everything together permanently, according to his own
rigid instructions. Fortunately, Emmet may be the 'Special', a
minifigure with extraordinary master builder skills, who is the only
one able to stop the shady schemes at hand. And so he teams up with the
blind wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), a pirate composed of various
random parts called Metal Beard (Nick Offerman) and of course, Batman
(Will Arnett), who is kind of a dick, to save the LEGO worlds from
blind, obedient universal conformity, to let creative freedom ring.
Directed
by the duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who have proven themselves
to be experts in whimsical animation, The LEGO Movie proves a
feast for the eyes as we behold just what you can do with the little
bricks. Or at least, what you think you can do. Make no mistake, this
film is not stop motion animated with little LEGO figures, it's all
computer animation designed to look like the stiff toys are moving
about. Deception is key here, but we are deceived pretty well by the
fabulous look, as we witness smoke made of LEGO, explosions made of
LEGO and even oceans made of LEGO. It's an awe-inspiring sight for
everyone who has ever tried to make LEGO look the least bit realistic
and ended up being several tens of thousands of bricks too short to
get anywhere on that front. Any sense of jealousy on what the
computer can create with LEGO is smothered in the film's great sense
of humour, building jokes as easily as putting bricks on top of each
other. Aside from the traditional number of safe but smart
popcultural references, the best gags spring from our plastic heroes
witty selfreflection as to being just that. Miller's and Lord's
infective comedic talent, joined by the voice cast's audible delight,
ensures everyone in the audience is quickly wearing a smile all too
similar to those featured on the classic minifigures' faces.
That
said, it isn't all fun and games, this is business too. The LEGO
Movie takes its message of 'everyone should build whatever the
heck they like' very seriously, clearly preferring random creativity
over slavishly building stuff based on what the printed paper says it
ought to look like. Which leads to a rather serious showdown as the
actual status quo of the LEGO realms is revealed and a cheerful kid
confronts his ruthless father, begging him to just let him run with
his imagination. Being played by Ferrell too, clearly the
unimaginative adult mind is in the same league as the childish
destructive view of business as presented by the film's bad guy.
Rather hypocritical, as the LEGO company is itself a major toy
corporation that hasn't gotten to where it is now by giving kids
their product to play with, but selling it to them instead for hard
cash. Sure, kids can build whatever they want, but it's the business
of the product and the parents that pay for it that provides that
option for them. There's something eerily uneven between the movie's
message and the actual state of affairs, as this movie certainly
isn't about spreading the gospel of global creativity, but to make
everyone involved in its production money (and then only those
willing to cooperate: notice the lack of Marvel superhero figures
opposed to those of DC, while both brands are available as buildable
sets in every toy store). Of course, kids won't realize this and most
parents will be too busy enjoying the movie to care, until their
offspring start whining for more LEGO to play with and they have to
pay the bills. And at that point it's hard to deny The LEGO Movie
is something other than an insidiously effective 100 minute
advertisement for the great LEGO product.
But
while watching the movie, everything is indeed awesome, as our
inspiration is fueled by the grandiosely detailed design of the
various LEGO worlds and the sheer fun for young and old that inhabits
them. And then the credits roll, and that itch to get some bricks to
start building yourself is heartily felt...
