Blockheads

Rating: 4/10 (21 November 2014)

This film is not recommended.
Loud, hyperactive, and occasionally amusing, The LEGO Movie was surprisingly highly lauded by many critics and became a huge hit. Written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the film tackles grandiose ideas of fascism, conformity, and corporate greed for the pre-school set, but the humor is mainly aimed for their parents with so many pop references and nostalgic touches.
With nice voice-over work by Chris Pratt, Will Farrell, and especially Will Arnett as the gravel- voiced Batman, The LEGO Movie has some satirical things to say, that is, whenever it calms down to say them. There is so many frenzied chase scenes and shoot-um-up sequences that they overpower the slim story.
We are dropped into Lego World where our hero, Emmet, a dim-witted but contented construction worker type runs into an evil dictator named President Business who wants to control this world. He unites the other Lego figures to fight with him against this tyrant.
The crude animation is a disappointment. One sees far more clever results on cable television's Cartoon Network or Matt Groeing's far superior Futurama or The Simpsons programs. While the computer generated / live action film stays within the confines of the Lego block design, this option also limits the creative spark. Movement is clunky and awkward like the short, stocky, and generally unappealing Lego figures themselves. The film seems rather schizophrenic, like one of its characters, a two faced Good Cop / Bad Cop figure. It wants to condemn big business and consumerism while willfully selling its product to anyone in the neighborhood.
The film resembles the noisy Transformers franchise, both in its overall look, sound design, and hectic movements, with its main goal being its tie-ins and product endorsements. In fact, The LEGO Movie appears to be one long commercial of Legos, by Legos, and for Legos, with a new shipment of characters arriving at the nearest toy store and a new sequel already in progress. GRADE: C
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