There has always been a love from people for a certain well-known brand of little Danish plastic bricks.
Lego has grown into a well-loved toy brand, and even among adults still has a certain wistful feeling looking back. Its still an entertainment Goliath with many different toy ranges and licensing deals with famous film franchises, spawned many computer games and .
Even so, the idea of a movie based on Lego does seem faintly ridiculous at face value. While kids may have spent many hours playing with the items and assembling the more-recent and more-ambitious Lego kits (personally I enjoyed the Bionicle toys when I was young), it seems faintly odd that these little plastic bricks could be the premise for a movie.
The hope of the film's success had been pinned down to a surprisingly impressive cast roster, which includes a number of bankable film stars playing supporting roles, and that kiddie-nostalgia feel.
There is certainly plenty of intrigue to the way it runs, plus plenty of films it liberally runs similar. Opening the film is a scene similar to the opening of Avengers Assemble where evil guy Lord Business (Will Ferrell) steals a fabled weapon called the Kragle but is warned of a prophecy to stop him by the wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman).
But it then leads into something almost from a pop montage, all set to a bubblegum pop track called Everything Is Awesome. The song is so sweet and sugary its enough to feel like an overdose of pick n mix.
The montage introduces us to principal character Emmett (Chris Pratt), who is an ordinary construction worker in the capital city of the Lego World. His pleasures even include living life by the instruction manual, drinking overpriced coffees, watching derivative slapstick and loving pop songs on loop - almost a satirical version of contemporary society.
Things begin to turn when he is the last one to leave his construction site job and runs into Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), who is a "Master Builder". Emmett tries to meet her but falls through a hole in the world, suffers hallucinations and eventually winds up discovering a fabled artifact called The Piece of Resistance, which bonds itself to him.
He is subject to heavy questioning by split personality Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), who spoils the fact that Lord Business is about to use the Kragle - a tube of glue - to destroy the Lego World as they know it. But Wyldstyle is able to help him escape first the prison, then rows upon rows of cops, and then the city itself - moving to a distinct and different realm.
In this new world based on the Old West, Wyldstyle and Vitruvius explain the world has been divided into separate realms by the evil Lord Business, who is planning to use the Kragle to permanently preserve the world in perfect shape.
Emmett attempts to convince them of special powers, but he is heroically weak. This is before Bad Cop - now just Bad Cop, after his Good Cop persona was erased - to him. But just as all seems doomed and their about to be eaten by Crocodile Cops, they are saved by Wyldstyle's boyfriend, who just happens to be Batman (Will Arnett).
The central axis of characters has certainly created a good story arc out of it, with a number of good gags, and a well-formulated (if formulaic) storyline.
Filmed from a mish-mash of the actual bricks and CGI, the cinematography of this film is vastly superior to a number of recent animated movies. Its a very good looking film, and there are plenty of good jokes peppered throughout the movie.
But there are a number of frustrating touches is the way it wastes some of its sight gags. There was impressive scope for references to the Star Wars characters, which appeared midway through. It also underplays the relationship between Superman (Channing Tatum) and Green Lantern (Jonah Hill), which is consistently amusing on its rare forays, while Wonder Woman (Cobie Smulders), Gandalf (Todd Hansen) and Dumbledore are among characters underused.
This wealth of characters appears in a lurid neon land where the Master Builders reside, and where Emmet is expected to have the plan to help defeat Lord Business in his evil plan. But Emmet deflates the builders, before its revealed a tracking device fitted to him led the police to their hideout, with the cops promptly destroying it.
The plot fizzes and rushes in a lurid neon hue, but it almost suits the film's aesthetic to do so, and the central "stop the bad guy" plot does not feel rushed, even if more time could be spent setting up the final assault.
Its there where things get interesting, and where we really reach the interesting moments just as all hope has truly seemed lost. Possibly the best sequences of the film come as a little kid called Finn (Jadon Sand) and The Man Upstairs (Ferrell) appear in a live-action sequence that almost recalls the scenes from Toy Story, and adds a new text.
These sequences are the best-paced and best portions of this film.
This is a very odd piece of film. The plot, for what it is, moves very nicely and there are plenty of amusing gags and interesting points raised. Yet at the same time, it waited too long to deploy its most moving and what could've been its most amusing part, while wasting a number of impressive actors and potentially great setpieces.
Its still a good movie. Its just not the movie it could've been.
3.5/5
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