The Lego Movie: Building Better Movies One Block at a Time

I’ll cut right to the chase: I loved The Lego Movie. It’s wonderful in every sense of the word. We’re only two months into 2014 and already we have a front runner for one of the best pictures of the year. I’d even go so far as to say that if I were to compile a list of my top ten animated features of the past ten years, The Lego Movie has a very strong chance of ranking near the top. It’s charming, intelligent, inventive, consistently hilarious and, to top it all off, it’s got a great deal of heart. In other words, it’s everything I’d ever want from a movie going experience and I couldn’t be happier it found its way to the big screen.

Its main story follows a construction worker named Emmet who lives in a totally rigid society. (And not just because everything is made of building blocks) Everyone follows pre-established rules and guidelines which dictate exactly how they should be living their lives. No one dares stray from them because, well, why would you? One fateful day, Emmet stumbles upon a magic block called the Piece of Resistance, which fuses itself to his body. It turns out this device is the only thing that can stop the dastardly ruler President Business from destroying all Lego life as we know it and it’s up to Emmet and a small band of heroes to save the day!

From start to finish, The Lego Movie seems like the kind of unhinged fever dream that only a ten-year-old could dream up. If this sounds like a backhanded comment, it’s certainly not intended as such; this is what happens when brilliant imaginations are unleashed, freed from any restraints or insecurities that might hinder them. And the imaginations of writers Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller truly are brilliant in every possible sense of the word. They have crafted a remarkable screenplay that captures the essence of what makes these little building blocks so very special. Their script is refreshingly intelligent too. It’s packed with great humor, great characters and even a thoughtful social commentary. Sometimes they get a bit carried away in their fast-paced zaniness, but for the most part it all works splendidly.

The animation here is quite a sight to behold. It appears to be a seamless combination of computer generated techniques and stop-motion animation, which makes for a unique aesthetic that’s quite unlike anything I’ve seen before. It makes for some rather exciting action sequences that blow away practically everything I saw in any action movie released last year.

The voice casting is sheer perfection as well with the likes of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Charlie Day and Will Ferrell, amongst others, filling in the ranks. It’s quite a knockout ensemble and each actor instills their characters with immense amounts of charm. Additionally, whoever decided to cast Will Arnett as Batman should be given a large medal and a solid handshake/pat on the back; I’d pay good money to see Arnett take on the Bat-Mantle any day of the week.

CONSENSUS: The Lego Movie is a colorful, imaginative roller coaster ride of non-stop fun and excitement. It hits all the perfect beats of family-friendly entertainment while offering more layers than your standard kiddie-fare. (And even some standard adult-fare, for that matter) Its zany antics are occasionally exhausting but its immense levels of charm keep the picture soaring. We may still have plenty of movies to go this year, but I sincerely doubt many of them will reach this level of excellence.
 
FINAL RATING: 4.5/5