“Don’t forget Taco Tuesday’s coming next week”
Going into Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street) The LEGO Movie I was like, “OMG: this is a movie about LEGOS, and I am pretty much six years old.” But that was just initially, after about three minutes (best intro ever!) of watching I was convinced this was probably going to be one of my surprise favorites. Not to mention the cast voicing these characters (they had me at “Channing Tatum”) is incredible (Chris Pratt, Liam Neeson, MORGAN FREEMAN!, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, etc. etc.). So if you’re asking yourself: “Can The LEGO Movie actually good?”, then the answer is YES. YES IT IS AMAZING, and you should definitely go see it (EVERYTHING IS AWESOMEEE!).
The story begins with your Average Joe “nobody” Emmet (Chris Pratt), a drone who finds a special LEGO piece (the “Piece of Resistance”) that has some crazy revolutionaries thinking he is the “chosen one” to save the world from their evil fascist ruler President Business (aka Lord Business, voiced by Will Ferrell) from unleashing the Kragle on Taco Tuesday, a weapon that freezes LEGO citizens in their place. When he meets the lovely rebellious Wyldsyle (Elizabeth Banks) who assumes Emmet is a “master builder” (which he is totally not), they begin to travel the various LEGO realms (my personal favorite: Cuckoo Land!) through a series of secret tunnels since President Business has cut off access between them, Wyldstyle convinced Emmet is their only hope.
And oh do they have the coolest allies on their side! After a quick rendezvous in Cuckoo Land (no rules! No leader! HAPPY, HAPPY ALL THE TIME!!!), a serious force has been created and a crew of fun characters each have their own moment to shine in making sure the Taco Tuesday Doomsday never comes to be.
With a mix of stop-motion animation (apparently 3,863,484 pieces were used!) and computer effects, The Lego Movie is more than just an exaggerated pop culture reference; it’s more than just some silly cartoon (which: not denying that the movie was either of those things), but more so it’s a story about encouraging imagination; the morale, if anything, is for the young (AND let’s face it, the old, too) to keep being creative. And like the legendary LEGOs we know and love, let your mind be the building blocks to create the world in front of you.
(photos via The LEGO Movie)
