Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Starring: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson,
Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, and Morgan Freeman
Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, and Morgan Freeman
Release Date: February 7, 2014
Rating: PG
The Verdict: Noisy, clichéd, and surprisingly unfunny, The Lego Movie wastes its colorful animation and distinguished voice cast on a plot devoid of meaning and originality.
2.5 out of 10.0
"Everything is awesome!" Hardly. I can think of ten things off the top of my head that are decidedly not awesome, The Lego Movie being one of them. Why? I'm glad you asked.
Speaking of the actions of our lovable minifigures, let's talk about the plot of The Lego Movie. We follow along with Emmett (Chris Pratt) as he attempts to fulfill his destiny and become "the special," and save the Piece of Resistance, thereby restoring order and uniting the lego worlds. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? Every step Neo, oh excuse me, Emmett makes is utterly predictable. The plot is painfully cliched and rips off ideas from every blockbuster of the last twenty years. The characters might be a whole lot smaller, but we've really seen everything that occurs in The Lego Movie many times before.
The plot may be laughably familiar, but Warner Bros. nevertheless manages to slip an agenda or two of their own into the film, beginning with the villain's name: Lord Business. (Will Ferrell) You don't get much more overt than that. When did it become "bad" to make money and provide for yourself and those you care about? When did success in the marketplace become "evil?" Why is the character who provides jobs for thousands the bad guy? The obvious anti-capitalist message the film promotes is just another of the film's many flaws.Which really is a shame, because The Lego Movie had so much going for it. The colorful animation is dazzling and and downright wondrous at times. The film boasts a distinguished voice cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and Elizabeth Banks. And then there's just the delight of seeing all the toys you played with as a kid come to life together on the big screen. The Lego Movie could have been awesome indeed. Unfortunately, the only thought the rather meaningless storyline leaves us with is "that was hardly awesome."
I enjoyed your perspective on this film! Though I tend to think there's more layers to the film than you portray. For example: even though capitalism and the factory worker model appear to be villainized in the film and creativity upheld as superior in the master builders, the film later demonstrates that it's not as clear cut as that. The master builders are awful at working together and don't know how to follow instructions, demonstrating that it's good to be creative but it's also good to be able to follow orders.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the humor, yeah it was lame, but I took it as satire so I found the humor to be in its lameness (like the so utterly stupid "where's my pants?" show). And the satire made even more sense to me once it was revealed that the entire plot is taking place in the mind of a young boy who would naturally jumble up and mix together the elements he's seen on tv.
Anyway, I wouldn't call the film amazing, but I did find in it a couple topics worth thinking on and discussing.