Clever and Insightful!

Rating: 9/10 (19 July 2014)

You can watch this film and enjoy the CGI effects that make it look like stop-action work with actual Lego blocks or claymation work. Even the water looks like it is constructed from Legos.
Or you can also enjoy the many pop culture references. Many of them are related to films. So "The Lego Movie" is easy to enjoy for anyone who enjoys movies. It also uses many film conventions (slo-mo action, romantic film scenarios, etc.). There are also references, visual and thematic, to such films/books as "The Matrix", "Transformers", and even "Zaradoz" and "Atlas Shrugged".
But from the first, this film shows itself to be so much more. It is not merely a satire of pop culture icons. It is a very pointed satire of political and social customs and conventions. Watching those little block-people in their block-world transcends the images themselves and in a graphic way the film presents glimpses into cultural truths that most of us can identify with. How much of my life is about following directions? How much of our culture is designed to make me feel good about the slot it wants to plug me into? How easily does the human brain allow its owner to fool himself, by distractions, into a false sense of individuality?
You can enjoy the film on any of these levels. It is extremely well done. Some of the character voices fit their characters so well they are nearly iconic.
This is animation, but it is not Disney. It has so much to say that children will not discern. And the action is nonstop so you may find yourself asking how 100 minutes could pass so quickly. Clever, clever, clever. If you liked "Wreck-It Ralph", you should like "The Lego Movie".