Movie Review: "The Lego Movie" Is Wild, Crazy, and Loads of Fun.

The Lego Movie

Directors: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman.
Rated PG for mild action and rude humor.

Legos were a big part of my childhood. I could sit, build, and play for hours. Naturally, when I heard that one of my favorite toys would serve as the inspiration for a feature length film I was thrilled. But then the thought came to me, "what if it sucks?" This is a project that could have easily turned into a thoughtless piece of garbage with the sole purpose of selling a product. Luckily, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (the duo behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street) cared enough to give The Lego Movie witty humor, satire, and a story that actually has a moral.


I almost don't want to go into a whole lot of the plot, because much of it simply won't make too much sense. All you really need to know is that the Lego world is threatened by an evil power-hungry man called President Business (Will Ferrell), and according to a prophecy, there is only one who can save all the Legos, and his name is Emmett (Chris Pratt). Emmett's journey will team him up with various allies, including Batman (Will Arnett), and take him throughout many Lego worlds.

The voice cast in this film is just outstanding. There is a funny relationship set up between Superman and Green Lantern, voiced by Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, respectively. Liam Neeson gets to play both a good cop and a bad cop rolled up into one character, Charlie Day is fantastic as the always-ready-to-build-a-spaceship 80s Spaceman, Will Arnett hams up the arrogant, yet likable, attitude of Batman, and Chris Pratt brings his usual innocent charm to the central character of Emmett.

The animation is pretty spectacular considering that everything in the film is made of Legos. It may take a minute to get acclimated to this different kind of world, but once you do it is a lot of fun. My only real complaint is that sometimes there is so much happening on the screen that it's difficult to make any sense of the chaos, especially since the Lego characters are considerably smaller than your average animated character. But the story is a lot of fun, and there is a surprisingly touching message in the climax of the movie. The Lego Movie is an exciting and hilarious movie that will please both children and adults.

RATING: A-