Today's Triple News: Jurassic. Spider. Busters.

More news just keeps piling up:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154577/omar_sy_in_jurassic_world

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154563/lego_regisseurs_in_race_voor_ghostbusters_3

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/154530/laatste_trailer_amazing_spider-man_2_online

Another Spider-trailer. Whoop-dee-doo. Let's hope it's indeed the final trailer, since I'm sick and tired of posting more of this movie's overly extensive marketing campaign. Still a month to go, so the online hype-building ought to die down now, in favour of building tangible hype in people's everyday lives offline; TV-spots when the commercial breaks hit, posters in bus stands and other places you can't escape from the wallcrawler's renewed cinematic presence, etc.. But online we should be safe from Spider-Man now for a few years. Good thing too, since between all the trailers, posters and other publicity I posted, I feel like I've seen the whole movie already. So for me, that's that over with. At last.

Unlike Jurassic World, production of which is finally getting into gear. Casting continues, and soon shooting finally begins for real, after only twelve years of anticipation from big Jurassic fans like myself. This time Omar Sy, from Intouchables fame, has joined the cast, says he and director Colin Trevorrow on Twitter in two languages. Sy is a fine comedian, that's for sure. Whether he is equally adept at playing different kinds of roles remains to be seen. As he's playing Bishop in X-Men: Days of Future Past, not a character known for his cheerful, lighthearted disposition, I think he's capable of more than just generating laughs. I have no clue what type of character he will play, I just hope it's not some kind of one-note comic relief role. I doubt it though, they could have just picked an American for that. I gotta say, this film's cast is getting increasingly international. So far we have actors from three continents and four countries, so I guess Jurassic World is an appropriate title in multiple respects. Still no word on dinosaurs though, I guess they're still on the drawing boards/work shop benches. And the plot is still wrapped in mystery too. So despite following every bit of news surrounding this project so far (I have to, I write for a movie website after all), there's still plenty of unexposed material to look forward to. But if I keep sticking this close to the movie, I will hugely spoil things for my eventual viewing pleasure. So I had better take a step back and let my fellow news editors post Jurassic World in the future. If I can keep myself from beating them to it.

Another popular franchise that hasn't seen any real action in ages - and far longer than Jurassic Park too - would be Ghostbusters. The third movie has been in development hell for years, but Sony finally seems decisive to get the project going. First order of business: finding someone to take charge. The original director, Ivan Reitman, just backed out because his dearly beloved friend Harold Ramis died. Regrettable but understandable, and a respectful decision for sure. Ramis would also have aided in writing the screenplay for the third installment, so his death is bad news on more than one level for this project. Nevertheless, the studio is persistant in making that 2015 release date. So who 'you gonna call' to save this wacky comedy adventure? Why, people who specialize in wacky comedy adventures of course! Especially the sort of folks that has already made a few for the studio in recent years to great financial results, and is currently top news for pulling off another such film. Chris Miller and Phil Lord are a predictable but trustworthy choice. This type of oddball underdog humour is right up their alley: compare The LEGO Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street. All enjoyable in their own regard, though not likely to become franchise films as popular and enduring as Ghostbusters. Can't hurt for their career to add such a name to their directing credits. I for one am not particularly waiting for another Ghostbusters flick, especially one so late in the game. Heck, I didn't even think the first two movies were that good to warrant their longevity in terms of popularity (well, sorry!). Nevertheless, I like Miller & Lord, I like their quirky style and I think they may just be Sony's best bet to get this film going properly. But I would prefer them to assemble The LEGO Movie 2 first. While the fans can put together that upcoming Ghostbusters LEGO set:

Today's Review: The LEGO Movie

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...