MOVIE REVIEW: THE LEGO MOVIE

“This movie is all about make money make money make money for LEGO.”

That’s what Matt told me right before we stepped into the movie theatre to watch The LEGO Movie on opening night. I didn’t believe him for a second; I had high hopes for this movie. Grew up with LEGOs, I’ll grow old with LEGOs. To think, no matter how high I could have raised my expectations, this masterpiece STILL would have blown them all down.

Down to its core, The LEGO Movie is a giant 2-hour love letter to LEGO fans of ALL AGES. No matter where you were during the company’s early days or what sets you played with, there was an easter egg or a playful jab in there for ya. Octan, the fictional gas station company from the LEGO System era received loads of homage; the Castle sets were included quite frequently in their own genre cleverly dubbed as “Middle Zealand.” Even BIONICLE got in a second of air time for a joke that included several other toy themes which couldn’t be addressed more in the film. Furthermore, the aesthetics of the picture were so realistic that you’d think it was all stop-motion and not CGI! 

However, the best part of this brick flick was also the most important part: the comedy. Oh God, the comedy. It was some of the best-written material I’ve seen in a while, and every line had been well timed or placed within each scene. The entire team and I agreed that this movie was more akin to a PG-rated Robot Chicken. This may sound demeaning or exaggerated to some readers, but we truly mean this in a good way. A great deal of it was either situational humor or completely unexpected gags that weren’t cheap either. Our most favorable jokes include the scene where Vitruvius could not tell both Dumbledore and Gandalf apart from one another, which of course was due to his comic scenile nature, but let’s face it- how many of us have accidentally mixed the two up during a conversation?? (Sarcastic fanboys, you stay quiet) Among other things were Batman’s song which he had written for Wildstyle, Benny’s spaceship obsession (“SPACESHIP!!”), and just how many damn times Vitruvius’ blindness got the better of him.

Last but not least, was the overarching message and true meaning behind The LEGO Movie’s story. Matt once again called bullcrap on this and poked fun, but this message truly spoke to me. I won’t spoil it for you here, you’ll have to go check out this blockbuster for yourself! But, it truly sets apart this film from the typical branded money makers and gives the story substance. At its heart, this message truly embodies the dog days of our childhoods when we believed we could take on this world and do damn near anything we wanted. It reminds us what the true purpose of this magical little plastic toy is, and why such an ingenius invention has survived for so long. Fathers and sons especially, get ready to eat your hearts out for this one, ‘cause it’s a tearjerker.

Magnificent. Nostalgic. Creative. Clever. Beyond imagination. Sure, just because we grew up with the bricks we may seem a little biased in our love for this movie. But we mean it. This is a feature worth seeing multiple times. Ever since the days I played Lego Island on my Windows ’98-operated PC, I’ve dreamed of seeing a film as satisfying as this. Probably the most intelligent plot point of all was Emmett himself. The main character for this piece could’ve been anything; what they picked was an old-fashioned, average ol’ LEGO figure from the System era. A dull, blank face without even the pupil shine they added in the early 2000’s. A construction worker. He was the hero. And as cheesy as it sounds, it proves that the hero of such a story could be anyone- both you and me. 

With this, I’ve spoken all I can about The LEGO Movie without spoiling more plot. I guess all that’s left to say is, det bedste er ikki for godt. Keep that in mind, and stay true, Master Builders.

MY SCORE: 10/10

SORE DEWA, MATA ASHITA

-Andrew (Head of A7)