Madi McEver, Campus Carrier Entertainment Editor
Quite possibly the most entertaining film I have seen this year, “The LEGOMovie” surprised me with its wit and humor. It was a far cry from the cheesy kids’ movie that I originally envisioned it to be, and maintained appeal for all ages.
The story follows an unlikely hero, a LEGO minifigure named Emmet Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt), as he is inadvertently drafted onto a team to save the LEGO universe. The premise is that the universe is under oppression from the evil tyrant, Lord Business (Will Ferrell) who wants to destroy everything and everyone with his super-weapon called the “Kragle.”
With the help of his new friends Wildstyle (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), the blind mystic Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) and a motley crew of others, Emmet has to find his inner master builder in order to devise a plan to save the universe from Lord Business and his team of robot minions. Of course, they face all sorts of adversity and have comical adventures and interactions along the way. The witty banter between characters is seemingly endless, yet never gets old. It kept the audience laughing for the entire hour and 40 minutes of LEGO action.
Overall, the story is very inventive, and kept me guessing until the very end. The cheeky and satirical commentary on conformity and consumerism was spot-on, even if the movie itself could be viewed as one really long commercial for LEGO.
Perhaps the most impressive feature of this movie is that is was using CG with real LEGOs (3,863,484 unique bricks, according to Warner Bros. Pictures), but managed to achieve the stop-motion animation style. It really drew me into the story and made me feel like I was actually in this tiny LEGO community. The different environments in the movie are extremely elaborate; no detail was neglected. Even the LEGO tidal waves and flames were perfectly executed.
What really won me over though was the plethora of references to and characters from others series such as “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings.” These interjections occur at just the right time, and are always a pleasant surprise. After all, is there anything better than a LEGO Chewbacca? I think not.
If you are able to see this film in theaters, I would definitely recommend it. For a movie with so much detail, the big screen is undoubtedly better.