I was first made aware of this film in one of the few positive memories I held on to from sixth form; the teacher and the class just shooting the shit when we should have been doing work, fast forward a few years, it's out, it's getting really good reviews, and I'm in a cinema with my friends watching it in 3D. Fast forward another few years and there's another one coming out, so I'm getting in the mood by re watching the first Lego movie, let's go.
The film opens with a quick introduction to the villain, as well as to one of the film's master builders, and sets up that this film is exactly what it says in the title; a Lego movie. It shouldn't be surprising that The Lego Movie is made out of Lego, but it is, and it's a fascinating aesthetic, as the Lego people go about their lives in their Lego worlds, which are all shiny and clean, and built from bricks and plates. Something else that's striking and unexpected is how smart this film is, dealing with some serious and very mature themes, while also being a film made out of Lego. While it's easy to see the Lego city as just a normal city, filled with skyscrapers and pedestrians, it's equally easy to see a creepy commentary on social conformity, and the dangers of big government and monopoly of big corporations. It's not something the film dwells on, as it has more smart places to go, but it's interesting to see that a kids film about a toy can be so deep with its themes. Another theme of the film is embodied in its main hero, Emmet, who is a very un unique personality at first, like the rest of his fellow Legos, he conforms to the society around him, and is devoid of any originality or creativity, it's this flatness that allows for his character growth and for the film explore the themes it explores, as he realises what he's truly capable of, and that there's more to the world than annoying songs and expensive coffee. What opens his eyes to this bigger world is a master builder named Wyldstyle; while Emmet is a boring construction worker, she's capable of much more; able to fight off Business' robots, and, as a master builder, build weapons and vehicles from her surroundings, a very clever use of the Lego building system in the film. She's also Batman's girlfriend, Batman in this film is one of its best characters, purely for how narcissistic he is, and how side splittingly funny a super narcissistic Batman is. It's not really an issue that none of the characters have any serious depth, because of how funny they are; every character in the film is a comedy gold mine, and the jokes are fast in this film, really fast, and consist of not just slapstick, but some brilliant visual humour, cleverly used pop culture references, and a script that's fast, and brimming with sarcasm and humour. It's at times difficult to keep up with the comedy in this film, and it's great. Vitruvius fits the bill that most characters in this film fit, being little more than what he appears to be, a blind old wizard, while Benny is a lunatic spaceman and Metalbeard is a pirate and scourge of the high seas. The only characters with any significant depth are Emmet and Business, with Emmet learning the power he's capable of, and what makes him special, and Business being an uncompromising perfectionist, who fails to see the reality of the world around him, and would rather strangle creativity and keep everything the way he likes it. This is another one of The Lego Movie's deeper themes, and is the thing that relates Emmet and Business, not just to each other, but to the audience. The film holds nothing back in terms of absurdity either, it's a silly, silly film, filled with appearances of famous characters and Lego licenses like Superman and Star Wars, and weaves a world where all of these ridiculous elements are allowed to coexist, and in a very weird way, it makes sense, especially when the ending happens and all is revealed.
Yes, this film goes places in its final act, I know I'm not the first person to say it, but in its final act, it becomes comparable to Pixar's best efforts in terms of how it burrows into your brain and heart, in a twist that makes sense, and grounds the whacky events of the film is a very adult and very human context, and while I personally don't think this reveal was handled as well as it could have been, the intent is clear, and it's very effective, though I can't spoil it, obviously. When the film comes to its conclusion, the arks of Emmet and Business are concluded, which is what matters as this serves as the film's main emotional point, like I said earlier, none of the other characters are all that interesting, and they're very much on the flat side, which isn't a negative, as it leaves room for Emmet and Business, and means less time filling in backstory and more time cracking jokes. The Lego Movie is an animated film, as one would expect, and usually, animation that looks plastic and fake is a very bad thing for an animated film, this film however has an excuse, and it's used very well. it's weirdly perfectly imperfect in its animation; again, everything looks plastic, it's all clean, the Lego figures move imperfectly, and even elemental effects like explosions and water are done entirely in Lego, these are very deliberate, and they work to add a huge amount of character to the film. What doesn't however is the soundtrack; apart from the horrifically annoying Everything is Awesome, which is still more tolerable than Let it Go, the film's soundtrack does very little to make an impact on the film. In a way I admire the brilliance of Everything is Awesome, even if I hate it, much like I hate overpriced stuff and crappy Television, and all the big government and social conformity waffle I brought up at the beginning. All in All The Lego Movie is a strange thing; at first, I didn't know what to expect from it, but I ended up finding this to be a very enjoyable film. I was surprised by how seriously the film handled it's more emotional themes, while sticking to its guns of fast, witty comedy, and how it explored deeper ideas that it really didn't need to, and did it in a way that really works. All the while the film has exciting animation and a gorgeous aesthetic that's very Lego, and is a brilliantly funny film about ninety percent of the time. While I don't love The Lego Movie as much as other people do, I still enjoy it when I watch it, and there are elements to it that I still think are really smart and that I do love, The Lego Movie is definitely worth watching.
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