The Lego Movie Revisit: Brick by Brick, This Movie is Still Awesome!!!
Copyright © Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Lego Group
Title: The Lego Movie
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Release Date: February 7, 2014
Happy Taco Tuesday everyone! One fun fact is that Pharrell Williams' upcoming biopic, Piece by Piece, is fully animated through Legos for a more unique approach. While it is still in progress, let's go back to some of the other movies using this toy as a concept. Time to start with the movie that was known for its own movie revolution, The Lego Movie! Released in February 2014, it became both a critical and commercial success as it grossed $468.1 million worldwide. Besides the box office success, it took both the critics and audiences by storm with stunning animation, as it captured the toy's essence through Lego stop-motion. In addition, they also praised humor, messages, music, and voice acting. Furthermore, the movie received awards and accolades combined, most notably how "Everything is Awesome" gave the movie an Academy Award nomination for the Best Original Song. Being built of incredible animation, deep messages, and mostly flawless humor, The Lego Movie is indeed awesome!
Summary
Emmet (Chris Pratt), an ordinary minifigure with extreme obedience, was accidentally chosen as the Special who will save the Lego world. When he meets other wacky Lego figures, they team up to stop Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from conquering the world. Being a construction worker of Bricksburg, he feels unprepared for such a task like this. However, he agrees nonetheless to bring peace to ensure everyone is safe and...awesome!
Reasons
The core bricks of The Lego Movie are the incredible animation, deep messages, and the overall flawless humor! To get the baseplate out of the room, the animation captures the essence of the titular toy. There are the individual bricks, imperfections, and proper movements of the Lego figures, to make the toyline come to life. Not only does it capture the essence. Animal Logic, the animation company for the movie, did a creative use of CGI by using a stop-motion movement. While everything was done through CGI, they made sure the animation had a nostalgic feel, using slight jumps and jitters for how everyone can move. Next, the messages are surprisingly strong and affective, especially for long-time Lego fans. For the most part, it celebrates the importance of creativity because everyone can create something new or wacky. To make things better, the core message was a perfect choice for a Lego-focused movie. Some other deep messages from the film are believing in yourself and not blindly following the rules. These messages both resonate with all ages and make a perfect animated dystopian movie. Before moving on to the secondary, the movie uses witty jokes that mostly play on Lego in general instead of childish gags or one-liners. This is another way the movie can appeal to the whole family because it chooses a different path other than toilet humor or anything that would be relentlessly inappropriate.
As it stacks, The Lego Movie's secondary bricks are the fun story, music, and characters. Again, the story has well-done brainstorming using a hero's journey in the context of the toy. It starts with a simple premise and then, it goes deeper and deeper until the message is revealed, which was an easy way to write a story that is well thought-out. There are also some unexpected twists and turns for the adventure to be even more fun. Moving on, the music may not have any cheesy pop songs but the score is amazingly composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. In addition, there is "Everything is Awesome", the most iconic part of the movie, because of its infectious melody and clever lyrics that fit in the part of playing with Lego. To top it off, the movie has a bunch of memorable characters, from ordinary builders like Emmet to tough-as-nails ladies like Wyldstyle. Even Lord Business is a threatening and entertaining villain. Filled with many A-list actors like Chris Pratt and Will Arnett, the voice acting matched the roles they were voicing.
Although it is mostly a flawless and meaningful movie, The Lego Movie has some bricks that fall out. While the story subverts expectations, it has the cliched "chosen one" trope as Emmet was picked out to save the world. Also, the ultimate triumph of good over evil is becoming a formulaic plot point. The exciting tone may be a perfect choice for the movie but it tends to be rapid-fire at some times. This may cause some younger kids to get overwhelmed when watching the movie. Despite the humor mostly consisting of witty jokes, many of the pop-culture references feel shoved in and nonsensical. Additionally, they do not feel necessary, especially the Harry Potter references because of J.K. Rowling’s actions.
Conclusion
In contempt of a few quibbles, The Lego Movie does live up to its theme song as it is indeed awesome! The animation is the big spotlight because of how it captures the toy's essence in a stop-motion style. Putting the animation aside, the messages can connect with anyone of all ages and the humor, minus the majority of the pop culture references, is written well for the whole family to laugh at. Building much more, the story starts off simple but gets deeper as the story goes on, even though it can be formulaic in terms of its overall structure. Finally, the characters are memorable and fun, especially Emmet, even if is an ordinary construction builder. It is not a masterpiece but the movie is a great pick for the whole family. Grab your Lego set, put this movie, and get some inspiration for your next Lego build!
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