Review of The Lego Movie (2014) by Samuel C — 17 Mar 2015

Top Movies of 2014 - #2.

Without a doubt, the animated movie for the year was the Lego movie. From just an animation perspective, the movie is beautiful. All the scenery and characters are made out of Lego, which is a dream come true for younger (and present day) Dmitri. Plot-wise, it's a simple plot about taking down an evil empire, done in the world of Legos, with the theme of freedom of expression and imagination being prevalent. There's lots of humour, action and even moments of tragic loss and genuine character interaction, which brought a lot of personality to these animated Lego toys. If the movie had simply ended with taking down President Business I would've left the cinema satisfied. But then the third act happened, and this is what really stuck with me.

In the finale, everything we know of the last hour and a half was flipped upside down. What was an animated movie about Legos in a Lego world suddenly became actual toy Legos in the real world. The plot we saw going on before was being played with by a little kid flying around a Lego spaceship. But what did it mean? Then we see the father come down into the basement a voice very similar to President Business and it suddenly clicks. What was originally a fun romp in the world of Legos, was a story in the imagination of a kid. It was his response to his dad's unreasonable request to stop playing with the Lego's in the basement. It was his response to his father breaking up his creations and keeping the Legos in the original design, the instructions President Business said to follow is what the father told him to follow. What truly solidified this movie's spot on the list, is when the father sees the President Business figure, heard how President Business' goal was to stifle the creativity in the world and he realizes it was the person his son saw him as. He asks his son what Emmet, the main character, would say to President Business now, and words out of the son's mouth were what came out of Emmet's mouth, where he told him that he doesn't need to be the bad guy. This prompts the father to improve his relationship with his son, and not to stifle his creativity by following the instructions. The movie went from a fun romp to an unforgettable cinematic experience, and one of the year's best movies. As Tegan and Sara said in their theme song for the movie, which describes this movie perfectly "Everything is Awesome!".

Original Review -.

The Lego Movie is a movie about the Lego world, therefore everything is in Legos. This includes the characters, environments and effects, all of which are done beautifully as if they were constructed from actual pieces of Lego (such a shame that it was CGI though). As a kid (and a man-child) who grew up with Lego, watching the all-Lego world was like a childhood dream come true, so needless to say I was in love with all the visual aspects of the movie.

Then there's the plot itself. From the beginning, the plot is really simple, reminiscent of those cartoons that you used to watch, up until the finale at least. The movie is really fun and really hilarious, you'll probably have a constant stream of laughter throughout.

Then comes the finale, those last 20 or so minutes really catch you off guard, and will probably blow your mind. Its memorable, inspiring and just outright epic, but I can't even write about it, its something you gotta see for yourself.

So in all, the Lego Movie, is a visual treat, with a funny and memorable plot, all the makings of a fantastic animated movie.