The Lego Movie 2014
I remember hearing good reviews about this movie when it came out, but it still took me a while to watch it after recording it from a free HBO weekend. The movie is computer animated but intentionally mimics a stop action movie where almost everything is made of lego, even the water (though fire is pieces of plastic film). The characters are made of lego as well, but they do get animated facial expressions at least.
The plot starts out with a kind of Matrix setup where an everyday guy finds himself a hero through no fault of his own, called “The Special.” However, much to the disappointment of his co-conspirators and glee of the evil leader, he isn’t very special at all, looking like everyone else, liking the same things, and having very few original ideas. In fact, when the police run his facial metrics, the results are useless because they match everyone in the database. And little jokes like that are what makes this movie much better than expected. It is maybe a little like a clean version of South Park, especially with the very simple style of animation (for the most part, some scenes, like one in an ocean, are pretty amazing). There is still a serviceable plot at work as the heroes, including a very funny lego Batman, try to stop President Business (whose company before he became president, makes, among other things, voting machines . . . ? . . . !) from ending the world. And then there is a great twist towards the end that changes everything.
Anyway, this was a better movie than I was expecting, with sharper and funnier jokes scattered around to keep it interesting, along with a message about what it really means to be special when you look like everyone else. There isn’t a huge amount of depth to the characters and the plot is a little too simplistic, so it falls just short of an A, but gets a solid B+.
Written: 01 Oct 2015
Owned on: Digital