The Lego Movie
On most accounts, “The Lego Movie” should not be good. It is
a movie-length commercial for Legos that appears to be created purely out of
advertising and branding purposes. But “The Lego Movie” is much more than what
it might cynically appear to be. Leave it to filmmakers Phil Lord of Chris
Miller, they of cult TV fame with “Clone High” and other projects, to bring wit
and brains to pieces of plastic.
Looking at the surface, “The Lego Movie” is about an average
construction worker, Emmett, who stumbles onto a resistance movement of Master
Builders who rebel against the stifling instructions that President Business
places over his city. Everything goes according to plan, no piece is ever out
of line, and people are expected to perform their work duties to the T.
Emmett is eventually told that his destiny holds the key to
the Master Builder’s victory, and here is where the movie goes off into wholly
unexpected territory. Throughout their two previous movies, “Cloudy with a
Chance of Meatballs” and “21 Jump Street” (two other greats that upended low
expectations), Lord and Miller displayed an aptitude for poking fun at cliché
and convention, and here that blossoms into full-on deconstruction.
“The Lego Movie” is essentially a big middle finger to
stories that lean on predictable hero’s journey beats and destinies as a crutch
in place of genuine storytelling. It’s in these turns where the movie reveals
itself to be less a commercial for Lego (although it certainly is on some
level) than one for the inspiration of creativity. Look at it this way: if
children leave this movie and feel compelled to build a Star Wars figure out of
the instructions rather than blend those pieces into a spontaneous model composed
from 20 other Lego sets, they got the wrong message.
The movie is in and of itself that spontaneous model, where
Superman can freely mingle with space men, Shakespeare, Lincoln, pirates,
Gandalf, etc. (the cameos are bountiful.) While most of these are small parts
beholden to the movie’s breakneck pace, others like Batman get the spotlight,
and Will Arnett’s hilariously tongue-in-cheek voice work creates one of the
most endearing onscreen versions of the character yet, believe it or not.
While others like Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan
Freeman and Will Ferrall bring laughs too, the success of this movie’s sense of
humor lies in Lord and Miller’s ability to incorporate multiple background
jokes for every big gag. Much of this resides in the striking animation, a mix
of computer animation and stop motion, with an impressive level of detail that
must have been a nightmare to plan out.
Comparisons to “Toy Story” may seem over-zealous but are
entirely appropriate. As said earlier, the amount of thought and heart packed
into a film about plastic playthings is surprising. Although given how Phil
Lord and Chris Miller have created a career out of this approach, it shouldn’t
be. It is too late to early to reboot “Battleship” yet?
3.5/4
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