REVIEW: THE LEGO MOVIE
Before I go any further, the BAFTAs were today, and I'd like to congratulate 12 Years a Slave on its wins for Best Actor and Best Film, surprise winner Barkhad Abdi winning for Best Supporting Actor for Captain Phillips, and Gravity on its impressive six wins, including Best Director! I'm enjoying the McConaissance as much as anyone, but this is a step in the right direction for Chiwetel Ejiofor to take home Oscar gold in two weeks!
Now that I've got my awards season geeking out of the way, I must tell you something I'm sure you're already aware of: The Lego Movie is astonishing. It mixes breathtaking visuals of what appear to be stop-motion Legos shifting, transforming and swiftly moving before your eyes, which made me wonder how they did it all. That is its first accomplishment: the art of mystery. Like Gravity, you felt high above in the clouds in outer space, peering down at Earth below like an enormous blue-green marble. Here you're sucked in to a world only conceivable by the enduring strength of imagination. I could study each frame of this movie for years and still find new surprises lurking in the corners of the screen.
Let's all take a gulp of honesty here: Pixar's been slacking. Cars 2 was a disaster, Brave was your average princess movie, with a sassy ginger and a family of bears, and only last year with Monsters U did they see a bit of a comeback. But certainly not a true return to form. Lego Movie is Pixar in its golden years, marrying wit, visual panache and scary good voice acting from the A-list likes of Morgan Freeman, Elizabeth Banks and Will Ferrell. Parks and Recreation stars Nick Offerman and Chris Pratt voice Metal Beard the pirate and Emmet, the latter being our hero of the film. Pratt brings an enviable amount of energy to his performance, but Freeman steals all of his scenes as the past-his-prime wizard Vitruvius, cleverly spoofing wizards like Dumbledore and Gandalf, who in fact have cameo appearances.
Pop culture references abound in The Lego Movie, but it somehow doesn't come across as obnoxious. A typical animated comedy, nay, a typical comedy nowadays is more or less the structure of "joke, joke, joke."
This film laughs at that; it starts off full throttle with the now legendary "Everything is Awesome!" song which surely must be a contender for Best Original Song for next year's Oscars! The formula here is more "jokejokejokejokejoke," spitting out rapid fire humor that left me laughing, and when I wasn't I had a dumb, goofy smile plastered on me.
I won't go into plot that much, as this is more of a movie you have to be surprised by and experience it with little prior knowledge. Just know that what I'm about to do, by giving the first movie I've seen in 2014, (one about Legos nonetheless) a perfect score, might be the craziest thing I've done on this blog, but it's a choice I'm willing to stand by! I can't think of a single thing in this film that I'd change. Every opportunity presented to it was seized, and it is a fine example of innovative film-making paired with a great message to kids about individualism. AND IT'S A LEGO MOVIE!
Rating: 4/4 Legos
Now that I've got my awards season geeking out of the way, I must tell you something I'm sure you're already aware of: The Lego Movie is astonishing. It mixes breathtaking visuals of what appear to be stop-motion Legos shifting, transforming and swiftly moving before your eyes, which made me wonder how they did it all. That is its first accomplishment: the art of mystery. Like Gravity, you felt high above in the clouds in outer space, peering down at Earth below like an enormous blue-green marble. Here you're sucked in to a world only conceivable by the enduring strength of imagination. I could study each frame of this movie for years and still find new surprises lurking in the corners of the screen.
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| Morgan Freeman's equally as cool as a Lego |
Pop culture references abound in The Lego Movie, but it somehow doesn't come across as obnoxious. A typical animated comedy, nay, a typical comedy nowadays is more or less the structure of "joke, joke, joke."
This film laughs at that; it starts off full throttle with the now legendary "Everything is Awesome!" song which surely must be a contender for Best Original Song for next year's Oscars! The formula here is more "jokejokejokejokejoke," spitting out rapid fire humor that left me laughing, and when I wasn't I had a dumb, goofy smile plastered on me.
I won't go into plot that much, as this is more of a movie you have to be surprised by and experience it with little prior knowledge. Just know that what I'm about to do, by giving the first movie I've seen in 2014, (one about Legos nonetheless) a perfect score, might be the craziest thing I've done on this blog, but it's a choice I'm willing to stand by! I can't think of a single thing in this film that I'd change. Every opportunity presented to it was seized, and it is a fine example of innovative film-making paired with a great message to kids about individualism. AND IT'S A LEGO MOVIE!
Rating: 4/4 Legos
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