The Lego Movie is a hilarious, heartfelt and mind-blowing ride that has more to say about art than your essay from your freshman year of college ever did. Read our spoiler-free review below!
I hate kids’ movies. They’re not the same as they used to be when I was a kid. Back then I could just sit in the theater, watch Stuart Little shred a skateboard, ignore the lessons about love and family, and proceed to being an annoying little piece of crap for a couple more decades. Now though? Every kids’ movie seems dedicated to cutting through the thick layer of emotional blubber my adolescence grew around my feels, touching in ways that films actually nominated for Oscars never could. I thought it might have reached a plateau. Frozen? I teared up a little. Toy Story 3? How could I not shred a tear or two?
The Lego Movie?
I’m not even exaggerating a little when I think we have a new classic, y’all.
Granted, and I feel like I should get this out of the way, I was a huge Lego fan as a kid, so naturally I have a lot of nostalgic memories of playing Lego Island 2: The Brickster’s Revenge, making a total mess out of some of the sets and diligently following the instructions in the Bionicle canisters (don’t even get me started on Bionicle, unless we have time for another article). So naturally I was down with The Lego Movie from the start and, as a Lego fan, I found that it delivered. Sure, it didn’t have Pepper from Lego Island, or an extended appearance by any Bionicle (eagle-eyed fans of the original Toa should keep an eye out, though), but that would’ve missed the point entirely. Lego was never about the specific products it made, but the experience kids would have creating, destroying and rebuilding the sets all over again, which is why it’s such a genius move on Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s part to make The Lego Movie about exactly just that.
Lord and Miller have worked together extensively (notably on 21 Jump Street, Brooklyn Nine Nine, and most importantly the incredibly underrated Clone High, which receives more shout-outs than you’d expect). It’s been obvious for a long time that they’re a funny duo (again, Clone High) but the sheer amount of innovation in storytelling here is startling. You might not expect that from the first hour or so of the film, as it’s initially your typical action film: Typical Joe turns out to be Chosen One, Action Girl protects him while an Old Mentor teaches him what to do; Liam Neeson has two faces and tracks the trio down while they try and find help to defeat the Evil Overlord, whose name is Lord Business, has two jets of fire coming out of his hat and wears stilts lazily made out of stacking a bunch of bricks under a character’s feet (just like you used to make). It’s pretty simple. Like, staggeringly simple — but there are hints throughout the film to another layer of the story that I simply cannot spoil for you. Seriously, don’t look up anything else about this movie. You’re going to want to experience the last third of the movie fresh.
So without spoiling anything at all, The Lego Movie runs hard. It has more to say about being an artist, the struggle to find original thoughts, being intimidated by your idols’ success with their own creativity and the compromise between the right and left brain. If you are an art student, or any type of burgeoning or struggling artist, this might be critical viewing. There’s another side of what makes The Lego Movie compelling that I really can’t discuss without spoiling anything and it’s probably even more gripping than the art theme I discussed earlier. But without going into too much detail, if you’re a parent, just take your kid to see this. This, by now mythical, third act I keep mentioning is honestly genre-breaking and a call to the rest of other kids’ movies to step up their game.
That’s not to say The Lego Movie is some black and white French existentialist nightmare that’ll leave audiences reeling. I mean, it might, but it’s neither French nor Nebraska. It’s actually incredibly pretty, with a CGI style that makes each character seem like a photorealistic Lego mini fig come to life. There’s a distinct sheen in main character Emmet’s hair, the hustle and bustle of Bricksburg genuinely feels alive, and it all comes across as a very enhanced stop-motion. Some might say the decision to make The Lego Movie CGI rather than stop-motion is cowardly but believe me when I say it’s a deliberate choice on behalf of the story and just a lot smoother.
Continued belowNow, 800 words in, you might be asking your monitor, “Multiversity Comics, why are you covering a non-comic movie?” Well we’ve covered Doctor Who before, so whatever. Though to be fair to you, the maniac talking to his computer alone, we need an anchor. A definite reason for us covering The Lego Movie.
Did you guys know Charlie Day was in this?! I didn’t! I sat during the credits (which didn’t have a post-credits scene so heads up on that) and lost my mind when his name came up alongside Benny the Spaceman. Why? Not because It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia is a favorite here at the Multiversity offices but because he was so good I barely noticed it was him, or any of some of the big guests. This type of movie attracts itself to celebrity cameos and, to be fair, there are a few (Jonah Hill as Green Lantern’s the most immediately notable and actually pretty funny). Instead of the usual shlock fest of celebrities coming in just to say “Hey I was in this movie” (he coughed in the direction of Anchorman 2), The Lego Movie really brings out the best of its insanely star-studded cast. Alison Brie, Charlie Day and Nick Offerman crush their roles, Liam Neeson shows a side of himself that I don’t think has ever appeared recorded anywhere, and the insanely catchy theme song “Everything is Awesome” is by Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island.
Tegan and Sara. That Tegan and Sara. Made a song for The Lego Movie. This is the future and it’s incredible.
The most obvious draw for comic-readers would have to be Will Arnett’s Batman (whose theme song is basically The New 52 explained in a little over a minute), who serves as a hilarious foil to Chris Pratt’s Emmet: a great role that highlights Pratt’s strength and is yet another brick in the road that will lead to him taking over Hollywood. Elizabeth Banks saves Wyldstyle, a character who could’ve easily fallen into the Action Girl archetype and Morgan Freeman knocks it out of the damn park in what is apparently his first animated role. Seriously, Freeman’s Vitruvius steals the damn show in practically every scene he’s in. Will Ferrell’s Lord Business is about exactly the type of character you’d expect Will Ferrell to play in a cartoon, but that doesn’t really take away any of the charm, and his role actually becomes a lot more interesting as the film proceeds.
Each and every single one of these actors, it must be said, are funny. In fact, looking back on what I’ve written, I feel I may have actually understated the humor in this film. It’s a nonstop barrage of visual easter eggs, jokes, and biting social satire that’ll leave your at least chuckling for the entire film. So if you came to this review to find out if The Lego Movie was funny then here I can confirm to you, patient reader, that yes it’s hilarious.
I could talk a lot more about how it’s one of the most clever comedies I’ve seen in a while but that’s what everyone seems to be talking about, so please, know this: The Lego Movie is so much more than a stupid funny popcorn fest to drop your kids off at. It’s smart, it has a ton of things to say, and it tells them in ways I didn’t know kids’ movies could. The Lego Movie’s not just a typical action film parody told through the lens of Lego bricks; it’s a story about art, the relationship between stagnation and entropy, and Batman’s sick music side projects. It’s the perfect kids’ movie and an even better parent/child movie.
Final Verdict: 9.1 – Go see it! Even if you don’t like Lego, there’s enough content in its message and enough charm that you’ll probably enjoy it anyway.
