Unbridled Fun Interlaced with Dollops of Subtle Metaphors

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2014)

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)
Rating: 4/5 stars
As a rule, movies about toys need to be approached with extreme caution; some of them have been bad enough to count as health hazards. This one is the exception. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who made "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", have delivered another essay in controlled madness, bombarding you with far more candy-colored detail than you can process—though, by some miracle, not too much to stomach. In short, pop culture eats itself. Everything you see, until the closing scenes, is Lego: people, landscapes, and products. Even fiery bolts of laser beam are orange plastic rods. You could try to resist or lament this marketing frenzy, but the movie is way, way ahead of you, landing joke after joke about the shiny pretensions of the Lego world.
The story follows Emmet (Chris Pratt) an ordinary, rules- following, perfectly average Lego miniature figure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously under-prepared. A construction worker by profession, Emmett is blissfully ignorant and content - like most of the Lego world - with the corporate and authoritative powers that monitor and dictate every aspect of his life and who have convinced him that this is his idyllic lifestyle. One day he stumbles on a magic brick that will reveal some higher truth, though the film takes ruthless comic pains to knock down the pomposity, derivation, and heavy-handedness that usually plagues such fantastical narratives.
Without question, the film will unabashedly entertain you from start to finish. Kids all over will love it, but like all really smart animated films, it promises a great time as well for the adults. Along with delving into deep nostalgia territory and bringing back the world of Lego building blocks in all their glory, adults will also instantly recognize the wickedly funny and well-aimed sassy darts shot at corporate branding. If you care to scratch the surface a bit, "The Lego Movie" also reveals copious amounts of metaphors - coated in hilariously humorous moments and dialogues - which take potshots at how corporate bigwigs are all but controlling every aspect of our monotonous existence and how we wittingly succumb to the manipulation of these powers when all we need to do is remain steadfast and resolve to live our lives on our own terms. The movie's irresistible theme song, "Everything is Awesome", is a delightful dig and corporate branding, capitalist manipulation, and draconian bureaucracy, which in all likelihood will go down as one of the greatest cinematic metaphors of all time. Satirical subversion in family entertainment is an unexpected treat, especially in a movie that also functions as a triumph of product placement.
The movie is designed with so much energy it sometimes spins out of control. But the fun is nonstop. The visuals are spectacular, the 3D technology is artfully used and the story is jam-packed with so many funny lines, it's hard to catch all the jokes that are delivered in rapid-fire succession — constantly tweaking many popular culture icons. Major credit for this sublime achievement goes to Directors and co- writers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the dynamic duo who earlier brought us "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" — another terrific animated romp. As mentioned earlier, "The Lego Movie" is a visual spectacle and the most amazing thing is how everything looks as though it's constructed out of Legos. That goes for raging fire and even the wild waves of a turbulent sea rolling under a pirate ship under full sail. The enormous team of animators and designers who first built this make-believe world out of more than 15 million Legos, before translating it all into a gorgeous, computer-generated adventure also merit the same amount of lavish praise in successfully assembling this instantaneous animated classic. If there's one minor contention with the film, it would probably boil down to it being a bit too fast-paced at times. Slowing down the tempo in certain scenes (a la Hayao Miyazaki) would have elevated it several notches higher; plausibly even give it a perfect 5 rating.
Top-notch voice talent is key to any successful animated film, and "The Lego Movie" does not disappoint. Chris Pratt is perfectly enthusiastic and naive as the reluctant hero Emmet; Elizabeth Banks throws out edgy wit voicing the action heroine Wyldstyle; Will Arnett is great as the growling, self-obsessed Batman, and Will Ferrell is on target as President Business, the order-obsessed leader of this world of Lego. On top of all that, add in the characteristic dulcet pitch of Morgan Freeman as the aged sage, Vitruvius, and and the sonorous tone of Liam Neeson as the president's hilarious Bad Cop/Good Cop sidekick, and you've got quite the crew of great acting voices.
"The Lego Movie" is a terrific, fun-packed, well-crafted, thoughtful, and outstanding piece of animated cinematic magic. Just like its theme song goes, this film is truly "awesome".