It’s nearly impossible not to find something to laugh at during “The Lego Movie.” Jokes are constantly being made, whether it’s how annoying Green Lantern is or the meaning behind Taco Tuesday.
“The Lego Movie” is easily the wittiest children’s movie that I’ve seen in a while. Despite being rated PG, I wonder if children can even appreciate how brilliant the movie is. It’s a very effective satire of the typical save the world storyline but with a heartfelt message at the end.
The movie begins with the legend of the Kragle, an ultimate weapon the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) steals from Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) that can only be found by the most special person in the world. Then, eight and a half years later the movie is back to the present day where Emmet (Chris Pratt), Lego’s most average citizen, is preparing for another day. He wakes up and follows his instruction manual for the day, buying a $37 cup of coffee, listening to the latest hit “Everything is Awesome,” watching an episode of “Where Are My Pants?” and going to work as a construction worker.
As audience members try to get the phrase “everything is awesome” out of their heads, a mysterious woman appears, attracts the attention of Emmet and digs through the rubble of the construction site looking for the Lego piece that can stop the Kragle. Emmet goes after her and falls through a mysterious hole that takes him to the missing piece. He is swept up immediately into a government conspiracy and rescued by Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), the girl from before, who believes he is the Special.
From there, Emmet goes to meet the other master builders, people who can use their imagination to create things out of Legos and try to rescue the world. The animation in the movie is fantastic, and some of Lego’s famous building sets get shown off as different dimensions of the Lego world the characters live in.
The movie drags a little bit in the middle as more plot exposition occurs, but after a few more scenes, the pace returns back to Olympic speed skating levels.
This is when the hero of the movie begins to come through. Emmet struggles to emotionally deal with not being the Special as he realizes that many of the people he sees everyday know nothing about him.
The ending is when the movie really shines, as it plays off of common movie tropes and allows a lot of the voice actors to really stand out. There is also a surprise twist that completely changed how I thought about the movie.
It’s a surprisingly meta movie, with a trailer that intrigues but leaves out some of the best parts. This is definitely a movie to round up a group of friends to go see. B+
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