The Lego Movie

In the Lego universe, megalomaniacal Lord Business (Will Ferrell) seizes a weapon called the Kragle from the wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) and blinds him, but not before Vitruvius prophesizes that “the Special” will find a Piece of Resistance that will thwart Business’ plans. Eight years later, the Piece is accidently discovered by – and fused to – Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt), an ordinary city-dwelling construction worker who is swept up by Vitruvius’ disciple Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) in a plot to fulfill the prophecy and prevent now-President Business from freezing the world. To the consternation of all involved, Emmet proves to be a thoroughly unimaginative, mediocre conformist. However, Vitruvius never gives up hope that Emmet can become something more.

Directed and written by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (the team behind Clone High and the 21 Jump Street reboot), The Lego Movie defies categorization. Though merchandise-driven, it satirizes the homogeneity of corporate America. While a kid-friendly animated feature, it contains humor and cultural allusions designed to appeal to adult viewers. Part comedy, part adventure, and part message movie, its disparate pieces (pun intended) produce plenty of inconsistencies, but it entertains more often than not.

The building blocks of The Lego Movie’s appeal are its clever script, top-notch voice cast, and skillful animation. At first, the story evokes another dip into the clichéd “chosen one” well, but it isn’t long before it becomes apparent that the plot is ultimately a subversion of that trope. Emmet isn’t just a loveable loser: his inadequacy is an outright liability. Ironically, his blandness is his lone saving grace for much of the film as it keeps him under the radar. In a further deconstruction, the heroes, a presumptive ragtag bunch of misfits (including a cyborg-pirate of sorts and Batman!), are a deeply dysfunctional lot. While the conclusion that the film reaches is ultimately rather pat – any of us can be special if we tap into our potential – the plot takes enough interesting turns before dropping that anvil on us. Along the way, Legophiles, comic book fans, and other pop culture connoisseurs will revel in the number of in-jokes, stealth puns, and other shout-outs. Everything from Austin Powers (sharks with laser beams!) to Clash of the Titans (“Release the _______!”) gets some play here.

The cast includes a mixture of current TV stars (Pratt, Nick Offerman as the aforementioned cyborg pirate, and Allison Brie as an overly chipper unicorn-cat) and screen veterans (Freeman, Ferrell, Banks, and Liam Neeson as a morally conflicted corrupt police officer), all of whom do good work here. Among the smaller roles, big names make for amusing cameos. The Green Lantern shows up as an overly eager fanboy to a reluctant Superman, and they are played by 21 Jump Street partners Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. Meanwhile, Cobie Smulders, fresh off of playing Marvel character Maria Hill, pops up as Wonder Woman, a live-action role she was previously considered for.

Purists may bemoan The Lego Movie’s lack of traditional animation, but the computer graphics mimic stop-motion somewhat convincingly. There is a certain amount of comforting fidelity in the way the Lego characters look and move, blockily, across the screen.

Undoubtedly, The Lego Movie’s biggest misstep – and it’s a significant one – is when it enters full-bore message mode toward the end. While this is necessary to an extent (it accompanies a major reveal and it gives the proceedings some thematic substance), the execution is saccharine, momentum-draining, and nearly kills the audience’s interest. That the movie is able to recover from this (and from a particularly grating theme song) is a testament to its overall capacity to entertain.

Toy-to-film adaptations should engender a certain amount of eye-rolling, but this irreverent, knowing take on the Lego phenomenon (as well as the state of entertainment in general these days) shows that they can be fun as well.

8/10