Created by Phil Lord and Chris Miller of Clone High/Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs fame, this adaptation of the beloved toy line proved to be more than just a lazy toy tie in, as it's one of the more creative and imaginitive movie in the last few years. And the Audience has thought so too with it making over 450 million at the box office and holding a strong 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Our hero is Emmett, an average lego Brick construction worker, who lives in a world that follows the instructions. When he sees a mysterious woman named Wyldstyle, he ends up accidentally getting himself stuck to the piece of resistance, which is the only thing that can stop the evil Lord/President Business, who plans to use something known as the Kragle to stick every lego person in place. With everyone believing that Emmett is "The Special" It's up to him, and a rag tag group of master builders, including Wyldstyle's boyfriend Batman, to put a stop to the Kragle, and save the day.
What I like about the Lego movie is its look. It's CGI, but the design of the world and the characters feels like it's almost stop motion with how everything looks like a near realistic Lego world. And when the action picks up, it's some of the most amazing animation brought on screen with how fast and fluid it is. It's action that definitely keeps your eyes glued to the screen. On a voice acting side, this film has one hell of a cast. Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Alison Brie. They all do an amazing job, and it never feels like they ever phone it in.
Without spoiling too much of the big twist in the climax of the film, I will say it's probably the strongest part of the movie, when you discover this Lego world isn't exactly what it appears to be. While you could say this twist comes out of nowhere, I think it really doesn't when you consider how this world feels like it could come from the imagination of a child, so when we get to the big swerve, it doesn't feel like it's out of place.
If I were to gripe about anything, I would say the comedy at times is a tad hit and miss. When there are good jokes, they are amazing (Case in point and time you see Superman and Green Lantern together), but a lot just feel very bland. The movie thankfully doesn't suffer from gross out humor and the pop culture references within are far more timeless than what you'd see from an early Dreamworks movie. But I'd be lying if I said this movie doesn't take a little while to truly pick up.
But with that said though, I thought the Lego Movie was okay. It didn't wow me like it has most people, but I do appreciate the visual effort, the story, and everything that went into it. And if you haven't checked it out yet, what's stopping you? Give it a watch and then try to get that darn "Everything is Awesome" song out of your head.