The Building Blocks of Animation Greatness

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2014)

"The Lego Movie", directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is a 3D animated film that exists in a world created out of Lego. This Danish company, 65 years old, is an iconic favourite and perennial feature of the children's toy market. This might be a reason for cynicism, fears of a 100 minute advertisement perhaps well founded. However, instead, it is a clever, sly subversive comedy that keeps the innate charm of the toy, while having fun at mocking business and a consumerist society of uniformity. The animation style is slightly clunky, replicating with striking fidelity the limited articulation of the original figures and the almost stop-motion quality aesthetic of the world created. The computer generated imagery is extraordinary in mirroring the plastic blocks' texture and helping make the Lego city a wonder of imagined production design.
This would all be without point though, if it were not for a very witty and humorous script, written by the directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. They gleefully send-up the corporate world and the Lego brand's film tie-in ranges such as Star Wars and D.C. superheroes. They're ably abetted by a talented vocal cast, featuring Chris Pratt, Will Ferrel, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and a whole host of guest voices, from Jonah Hill to Billy Dee Williams. The jokes range from popular culture to very specific references to past Lego ranges, slapstick to in-jokes, satire to one-liners, in a melange designed to appeal to all ages. Lord and Miller know well that the finest children's movies are ones that attract adults as well, and here they achieve their goal with aplomb.
Still, the film never quite avoids a sentimental, good-intentioned moral which so many films of this genre are saddled with. Its plot twist, influenced by "The Matrix" (1999), whilst initially surprising and amusing does eventually lose some of its ingenuity. Some of the action scenes go on far too long, excessive demonstrations of versatility that are never as fun as just the pure moments of comedy. The script eventually has to resolve the conflicts it sets up, leading to a slightly weaker second half overall.
Yet this is never enough to sour "The Lego Movie", which, on the contrary, is mainly a delight, always funny and far cleverer than any movie based on a children's toy has any right to be.