The hardest thing any reviewer, critic, or film fan has to
do is talk critically about something they love, something that has a very
special meaning for them. I have this problem with two things: Star Wars and LEGO (having spent most of
my childhood combining the two). So when I sat down in an almost empty screen
to see The LEGO Movie, a 3D animation
from the makers of Cloudy with a Chance
of Meatballs, based on the indescribably popular children’s’ toy, I had a
terrible moment where I worried that one of two things might happen:
1. I might become overly critical and miss the point of
the film
2. I might be too enamoured with my own experience of the
original toy to properly review the film
I needn’t have worried. The
LEGO Movie is this decades’ Toy Story.
It just works on every level, managing to draw in children, teenagers and
adults alike. The animation is absolutely beautiful, the CGI replicating
perfectly the look and texture of LEGO, not just clean, freshly made bricks but
minutely detailed pieces that range from a character’s body carrying a smudged
fingerprint, a snapped chin piece on astronaut Benny’s helmet (something which some
of my own space mini-figures experienced numerous times), and even the small
imprinted logo on every single tile. And everything, I mean everything, buildings, laser bolts, the
sun, you name it, is actually made of LEGO. The world isn’t stylised to look
cleaner or smoother, it just has that classic aesthetic that everyone
recognises, whether you’re forty years old or four.
The story of the film concerns Emmet (Chris Pratt), an
ordinary construction worker who blissfully goes about his instruction-oriented
life, until the mysterious Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) reveals to him a
prophecy, believing him to be ‘The Special’, a master-builder who can save the
various LEGO universes (Knights Kingdom, Old West, 1980’s Space etc.) from the
evil plans of Lord Business (given a spectacularly over-the-top persona by Will
Ferrel) who plans to glue the world together to form one perfect display piece. The cast of voice actors give it their absolute all, from Liam Neeson's alternatively grimacing/grinning Bad Cop/Good Cop, to Morgan Freeman's wise and eccentric Vitruvius (whose final scene in the movie is stomach-achingly funny).
The gags, LEGO-related or not, come thick and fast, a great
deal of them revolving around the inclusion of Batman, including jokes that
reference his standing in popular culture, his past interpretations and even
the Nolan trilogy. The plot rollicks along at an incredible pace, meaning that
each new character and location have to make themselves just as memorable as
the last before the story whisks Emmet away to discover more, and believe me, you
won’t forget any of them (one particular set of cameo appearances causing me to
gasp and cheer, along with everyone else in the screening).
But it wouldn’t be enough to just comment on the gorgeous
visuals, the talented voice cast and the humour that comes at you at a hundred
miles an hour, it would be wrong to finish this review without mentioning the
most important aspect. I’m treading very carefully to avoid potential plot
spoilers, but there comes a moment where Emmet comes face to face with
something that flies in the face of the thing that LEGO – and childhood – is all
about: imagination. The turmoil faced by someone so convinced that things need
to be ordered and pristine when they discover a whole new world of creativity
and imagination is particularly poignant, to the point where the adult members
of the audience (myself included) pretended that ‘Oh, I’ve just got something
in my eye’.
The LEGO Movie is
an unbridled, inoffensive, joyous and sometimes startling story that will
capture the imagination and bring laughter to anyone, regardless if they have a
love of the toy or not. I can’t imagine anyone with a beating heart could not
be utterly charmed by it.
Oh, and the theme song will be in your head forever.
5 Stars
