Well I don’t usually watch
feature length commercials, well unless you count Marvel’s super hero movies,
or Star Wars or… never mind. But
hey, I grew up with Legos. Used to have a ton of the castle and spaceship ones.
More recently, I’ve enjoyed the Lego videogames featuring the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings franchises. So when I saw ads for this film I was
intrigued. But would this be a fun movie, or something more along the lines of
Nintendo’s The Wizard?
Summary:
Lord Business (Will Ferrell)
is an evil little toy! He wants to control all the Lego worlds with his new
super weapon called The Kragle! Against him are the Master Builders, heroic
heroes with the imagination and ability to build anything from Legos. They are
lead by Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) who does his best to stop Lord Business but
is defeated. Before his fall, he delivers a prophecy about The Special, a
chosen mini-figure who will find The Piece of Resistance and thwart the Kragle.
“All of this is true, because it rhymes”.
Turns out The Special may be
ordinary construction worker Emmet (Chris Pratt), who is as dull and
unimaginative as you can get. But he ends up finding the Piece of Resistance,
and joins forces with Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) a Master Builder who is cute
and cocky. They travel the Lego worlds getting help from various sources like:
Benny the Spaceman, Abraham Lincoln, Unikitty, and Metalbeard the Pirate. Oh
and Batman (Will Arnett), because you can’t have a superhero movie without Batman.
Will Emmet turn out to be a hero too, or is being plain and ordinary the only
thing he’s good at? Keep your ears open for vocal work by Liam Neeson, Cobie
Smulders, Anthony Daniels and Jonah Hill.
Good Points:
- Amazing animation brings the Lego worlds to life
- Hilarious script filled with one liners and clever word play
- An energetic and entertaining score by Mark Mothersbaugh
Bad Points:
- The song Everything is Awesome is an earworm from hell!
- So silly and random it may drive some viewers crazy
- Yeah it is pretty much a feature length commercial for Legos
Overall:
A ridiculously fun movie
with some amazing and creative animation. The Lego worlds spring to life and do
some jaw dropping things. The energy of the editing, vocal performances and
musical score keeps everything moving briskly, maybe a little too briskly. Yes
you are watching a commercial, but it is a really funny and entertaining
commercial. You may walk away singing Everything
is Awesome whether you like it or not.
Scores
(out of 5)
Visuals: 5
Sound: 4
Acting: 4
Script: 4
Music: 4
Direction: 4
Entertainment: 5
Total: 4
Curious about a full review,
sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.
I like that Freeman's character is has the name of a Roman architect/engineer. My Lego creations were never that...well...animated.
ReplyDeleteYeah there is a lot of fun word play in the movie. Some of it is pretty saucy for a movie aimed at kids.
DeleteWe had Legos as a toy growing up, but it had not ballooned into the large market it is now. But I remember playing with them making houses. I'd wondered about this movie. Some have said they enjoyed it, some say it's a bit too long, and a couple have said they didn't care for it, which is typical these days. :) I think I'd have more fun with the Lego games, but actually never got into them or bought a gaming system, though I think I'd have fun with one, just never taken the plunge. (Do you have a preference for a gaming system?) Anyway, I'm always up for giving a fun film a chance.
ReplyDeleteWell I grew up with Nintendo, so I always have a place in my heart for the old NES of the 80s. But I'm pretty much a Playstation man now. I picked PS1 back in the late 90s and "Final Fantasy VII" with it. I was blown away and haven't looked back since.
DeleteI'm not a huge gamer, I'm pretty picky with what I end up buying. I love RPGs, but not the one-line ones. I also enjoy games that require stealth and sneaking around to accomplish goals, so "Assassin's Creed" and all it's sequels are one of my favorites.
The Lego games are a lot of fun. They also make for great 2 player games, so my wife and I really get a kick out of that part of it. They are cooperative in nature, so you usually have to have one person building things while the other fights bad guys or moves a lever or something. The "Star Wars", "Lord of the Rings" and even the video game based off "The Lego Movie" are all a lot of fun.
Sounds like fun. I think if I were to get into gaming, I'd enjoy the RPG best too. I had a friend at work that like fantasy stuff like Morrowind and so forth, and it sounded like something I could get into. The only gaming I've done was some of the early versions of PC Tomb Raider. Those were a lot of fun. I never completed any of the games (I had the first three games for it, but only work on an earlier operating system), but they were a great time waster. :)
ReplyDelete