Friday, February 7, 2014

The Lego Movie Movie Review

Chris Pratt stars as Emmet in The Lego Movie

Everything is Awesome! 

It's not everyday that you run across a movie with Batman, C3PO, Han Solo, Wonder Woman and the 2002 NBA All-Stars; yet that's exactly what you'll find in Warner Bros. Pictures' The Lego Movie, a cute-as-a-button adventure-comedy with Lego characters, that thankfully requires "no instructions" to enjoy.

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: "The LEGO Movie" is the first-ever, full-length theatrical LEGO (R) adventure. The original 3D computer animated story follows Emmet (Chris Pratt) an ordinary, rules- following, perfectly average LEGO mini figure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.

What’s Best: Think Team America: World Police, minus the profanity, sex and overall vulgarity. Emmet and his building buddies are a blast, and director-writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street) infuse a clever, fast-paced story that appeals to kids and grown-ups alike.

There's also no shortage of awesome characters. Batman (Will Arnett, how perfect) takes credit for everything... especially if he didn't do it. This Dark Knight is a lot sneakier than we're used to, and also clothes-conscious, 'I only work in black and sometimes very, very dark grey.' Then there's Bad Cop/Good Cop (Liam Neeson) who's hysterical as a Mr. Peanut-lookalike, who likes to kick things when he's angry.

Of course, the real star of the show remains Emmet, who's absolutely adorable as an upbeat nobody who falls in love with badass hottie Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) at the "flip of her hair," on his way to Master Builder/savior status. Pratt seems born to play the part, seamlessly transferring his own boundless energy into a tiny Lego figure.

What’s Not: There's a chance that you (a) don't have kids (b) don't have a sense of humor or (c) never played with Legos. If any of those three apply, odds are you may not like The Lego Movie.

Best Line: Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) pushes Emmet into all kinds of trouble, including unplanned pep talks, "The Special (Emmet) will now give an eloquent speech. Go on, you got this." Trust me, Emmet doesn't. But nothing comes close to some friendly advice from Metalbeard (Nick Offerman) 'Never put your butt on a pirate's face,' right after some bad guys photocopy their own backsides old-school style.

Overall: I'm a sucker for Family Guy, and The Lego Movie runs along at a similar clip... tossing sophomoric humor at its audience in the hopes that something sticks; and boy, does it. The humor leans smart: Look no further than clever names assigned to everyday items by Will Ferrell's Lord Business. KRAGLE turns out to be Super Glue (a Lego's nightmare, let's face it) and his sword? 'The sword of exact zeros,' AKA an X-Acto blade. Toss in Taco Tuesday and $37 coffee, and it's no wonder that everyone's singing, "Everything is awesome!" Careful, it's a hard song to get out of your head.

GradeB