The Lego Movie
Rated PG (I honestly don't know why. There isn't anything that happens that all of us haven't done or said.)
Directed by: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Written by: Dan Hageman and Christopher Hageman (story), Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (story), Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (screenplay)
***1/2 out of ****
I suck at Lego. Just plain suck.
Sure, give me the instructions, and I can build the thing. But, coming up with something original? Well, I can come up with a pretty good box, which might have a door and a window. So, a house?
I guess that would make me both Emmet (Chris Pratt) and Lord Business (Will Ferrell), the hero and villain of "The Lego Movie". Which means that I'm complicated. Or not. The movie isn't subtle.
It is, however, gleefully stupid, gloriously silly, and clever without being smug about it.
Emmet is a Construction Worker in Blocksburg. The town is populated by Office Workers, Police, Firefighters, Doctors and a Surfer Dude. Just a typical, normal Lego town. One day, he accidentally discovered the Piece of Resistance, a legendary object that can, according to prophesy, stop the Kragle, a weapon capable of freezing the world.
Emmet meets WildStyle (Elizabeth Banks), a lady figure, Vitruvious (Morgan Freeman), a hippie wizard, Benny the '80s Astronaut (Charlie Day), Unikitty (my girlfriend Alison Brie), a kitty that is also a unicorn, Metal Beard (Nick Offerman), a cyborg pirate thing, and Batman (Will Arnett). Yes. This is an awesome team.
These people are up against Lord Business and his chief henchman Bad Cop/Good Cop (Liam Neeson), and the plan to freeze the multiverse.
The plot is there, moreso than in "Pacific Rim", but, really, the story isn't the point. The movie is about the magic of being a kid. The magic that you are only capable of before your prefrontal lobe develops fully. The magic that makes "Toy Story" and "Adventure Time" work. It's about worlds with rules and an internal logic, but at the same time, of course Luke Skywalker can show up in the G.I. Joe Mobile Command Center. Yeah, he can't drive, and he doesn't have a kung-fu grip, but, really, the Force against COBRA? The only thing that could beat that would be, what? Skeletor and Serpentor just teamed up? Well, that's fine. Optimus Prime just showed up and, no, dammit, you can't use a NERF dart gun! You're gonna break it! I HATE YOU! I'M TELLING YOUR MOM!
I can't say enough good things about this movie. The voice work is top-notch, the silliness is just delightful, and the cameos. Oh, man, the cameos. I'm sure I annoyed the entire theatre with my laughing. I smiled the entire time.
The movie draws on so many influences. Lego, obviously. But, also the Pikmin video game series, a huge range of pop culture (the end of "The Return of The Jedi", "Terminator 2", "Akira")... It's just delightful. I want to buy all the Lego sets.
Which brings me here. Only Fox News could be so completely comfortable with cognitive dissonance to say that a feature length commercial for a brand of toys could be "anti-business".
