Monday, May 27, 2019

The Lego Movie (2014) - Funny, heart-warming and way better than it would sound


When the announcement of a movie based on the Lego toy-line was made, I think most of us rolled our eyes. Toy based cartoons have had a bad reputation since the 1980s, where they were everywhere. In the eighties, every toy had it's own cartoon, He-man, Thundercats, My Little Pony, even the Rubik's Cube. I don't think anyone was expecting anything good out of a toy-based property, but then again, in the 2010s we got Generation 4 of My Little Pony, and Lego is a toy-line that encourages creativity. I remember being younger and watching a bunch of random Lego animations online. The Lego Movie had a chance of being good, and in the end, it turned out great.

When Emmet, an ordinary construction worker with a habit of following the rules, gets a mysterious relic stuck to his back, he finds himself being hunted by the evil Lord Business. However, a small group of other Lego people that call themselves "Master Builders" plan to stop him with the relic stuck to Emmet's back, but as Emmet is not a master builder, or even that creative, the builders are not sure he can help them. Plot wise, the movie is smooth as silk, every scene moves well into the other, by the end of the movie, there is no confusion about the ending, even when the movie pulls an interesting reveal, how we get to that reveal is a smooth transition rather than a slam right to reality. It's a smooth plot and works perfectly, no complaints.

Character wise, each character is delightful. Emmet is the every man, and many people can sympathize with his need to feel recognized. The small group of master builders that accompany him are also charming characters, Wyldstyle is the other character that goes through an arc, and it is done well. Vitruvious is pretty great, Batman is hilarious enough to have gotten his own Lego Movie, Lord Business is a hilarious villain, Princess Unikitty is adorable, and even the spaceship obsessed Benny was amusing. None of the characters were dull and each one was a joy to watch. I always wanted to see the next scene my favourites were in, and I also have to say that the voice performances were pretty good. This movie has entertaining characters that are never dull to watch.

The animation is really good too, I can barely tell if this was all CG animation or not, and character animation is quite fluid. As for the art-style, this movie is a visual delight, with all kinds of different settings and their own colour pallets. None of the pallets ever becomes unpleasant to look at, even places that would like the Western themed place or Cloud Cuckoo Land, which is wild and chaotic, they are still pleasing to the eyes and look great.On the other side of the technicals, the audio quality was really strong, sound effects fit with the images and the background music is good at its job. On the technical levels, this movie is solid.

The humor of this movie is solid. I was howling with laughter at the satirical opening, Bad Cop's split personality, and a couple other scenes I do not wish to spoil. Some jokes were not always hitters, but I think the ratio from hit to miss in the humour is in the film's favour. On the other hand, the emotional scenes are done really well, and the message of the movie is given really well. One of my biggest opinions about the recent sequel was that the movie was just a massive joke, with it not taking itself seriously and having a lot of meta humour. I've been told that this movie also doesn't take itself to seriously, but I think it takes itself seriously enough to give this message in the manner it does.

I don't think it is any stretch to say that The Lego Movie was one of the most surprisingly good movies we got in the 2010s. With it's collection of charming characters, myriad of good laughs, plenty of visually pleasing scenes, this is a movie that is sure to please children and adults alike. I don't think it is any wonder this movie got spin-offs and a sequel. It's a funny, well-written, heart-warming movie that is way better than I think most people thought it would be.

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