Made me want to purchase a lego and I did!

Rating: 8/10 (28 April 2014)

Hollywood has a protracted history of taking adored treasures of yesteryears and adapting them into feature films. Suffice to say, results have varied. Instances include the much-maligned Transformers series and the G.I. Joe movies amongst various others.
The Lego Movie is the latest attempt to bring a beloved relic to the screen. Its immediate success lies in not succumbing to the dangerous precedent of being blatant product placement. Featuring an original story, The Lego Movie is surprisingly heartfelt and authentic, as opposed to an exercise in brand expansion (looking at you, Transformers).
The latest offering from Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directors of the imaginative albeit poorly titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and the wildly rambunctious 21 Jump Street, follows the journey of Emmet (Chris Pratt), a construction worker who faces the unenviable task of saving the lego citizens from the evil ploy of the autocratic President Business (Will Ferrell). It becomes crystal clear that the directing duo has a great handle on comedy, as all the pieces fall into place (apologies for the pun).
An essential element of any animated feature is undoubtedly the voice work. Herein lies the movies' triumph. An impressive list of actors with expertise in the genre has lent their voices to the project. Among the standout performers are Will Arnett as the uber-awesome Batman and Liam Neeson as a schizophrenic police chief. The latter is not usually associated with comedy but delivers a pleasant performance nonetheless. Chris Pratt also excels as a reluctant hero thrust into the limelight.
Furthermore, another profound facet of The Lego Movie is the creativity and artistry employed by the makers, who have given meticulous attention to detail. Each frame is composed solely of lego bricks. In fact, the team of graphic designers painstakingly built this world using more than fifteen million lego bricks, before using CGI to achieve the finished product. The image quality is also genuinely enhanced by the use of 3D, which is not just a marketing gimmick.
Yet another quality of the animated feature is that it appeals to a wide ranging audience. Since it involves several amusing gags, is laden with pop culture references and even stimulates nostalgia for lego users, particularly the old ones, it is likely to garner appreciation from adults as well.
In the age of sequels, spin-offs and remakes galore, The Lego Movie is a welcome antidote. It does not act solely as an elaborate toy commercial nor does it render 3D technology futile. Instead, it exudes charm and wit usually associated with Pixar.
Much like its catchy theme song, The Lego Movie is awesome. It proceeds like a child's imagination running wild and serves as a throwback for adults who may have dabbled with their own lego sets back in the day.