The Lego Movie was released at a time where the new craze was to release movies based on toys. Transformers kicked off the fad back in 2007, and we soon saw the release of films like G.I. Joe, Battleship, and Ouija, with a fair amount of other projects announced as being in the works. Most of these films were seen as cash-ins and received mixed critical reception. When The Lego Movie was in production, it was seen as just another movie in the long list of cash-ins. That perception changed when people actually saw the film, and it went on to do exceedingly well in the box office and receive critical acclaim, being hailed as one of the best animated movies of the year.
The film is an exceptionally ambitious endeavor, though a lot of elements feel overly simplistic at a glance. It takes place in a town called Bricksburg and follows a very ordinary construction worker named Emmett Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt) who loves greeting everyone in town, going to the same coffee shop he frequents each morning, and singing a popular song known as “Everything is Awesome.” However, his ordinary life becomes extraordinary as he finds himself the subject of a prophecy and referred to as The Special, and joins forces with a group of people known as Master Builders, and fighting against an evil emperor known as Lord Business (voiced by Will Ferrell).
The film’s premise and setting doesn’t sound like a ton of effort was placed into names, places, and plot points, while a majority of the dialogue consists of words that never go beyond three syllables. It feels like the sort of dialogue that was written by an eight year-old, which - without spoiling the film’s famous twist - you find out is done with good reason. But before you do catch on as to what that reason was, it doesn’t even truly matter, as the film uses its simplistic dialogue to its advantage.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the two writers and directors of the film, are known for their rapid fire jokes, as previously exemplified in their other films Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street. Most of their dialogue, down to the throwaway lines, have some little hidden quip or one-liner thrown in there. And in The Lego Movie, they take their quick-paced style of jokes to a whole new level.
Almost none of the dialogue goes to waste, with just about everything consisting of a joke. Even when something sounds like it’s either too simplistic or almost nonsensical, the film makes sure to address it. There will sometimes be exchanges where a character makes a statement, and the film will take a moment where someone else will almost stop what they’re doing to deconstruct the statement and try to make sense of it, or at the very least question it. Even the first two lines of dialogue follow this format, setting the tone for the entire movie, with a wizard played by Morgan Freeman, sensing an impending attack by Ferrell’s Lord Business, tells one of his associates to “cover his butt,” only to immediately be questioned by the other character, who clearly almost couldn’t believe what he was just told to do.
While the film does take moments to question other characters’ logic, at the same time, it makes the smart decision to never linger on anything. The script is extremely tight, and bounces around from scene to scene rather quickly. Even when a character is faced with a tough decision, they’re only seen in thought for under five seconds before making their choice and moving on. The film takes material that fits in a more serious, two-and-a-half hour movie, and crams it nice and neat into a brisk 100 minutes. And somehow it still feels like it’s even shorter, going by in the blink of an eye, wanting the audience wanting more.
There’s a cheery optimism and huge sense of conviction, too, that drives a lot of this film. Part of what makes a good comedy work so well at times is not so much just making characters the center of constant abuse, but rather having them face unachievable obstacles and never losing their passion to move forward. And the film brilliantly makes use of that notion through Emmett, who constantly gets ridiculed, mocked, and inconvenienced, while being told he’s ordinary. Yet, he almost never loses his glowing smile. And the same goes for many of the film’s supporting cast, even down to some of the bit parts, such as Green Lantern (voiced by Jonah Hill) who can’t take a hint when it’s clear that Superman (Channing Tatum) doesn’t want him around, yet still follows him almost everywhere he goes.
And because of this drive, there makes for a heartwarming message at the center of it all. Despite the film being almost a joke-a-minute, it still manages to expertly address issues such as acceptance, friendship, and the importance of family. While it does contain a plot point that almost completely changes the direction of the movie, it never once takes the foot off the pedal, or attempt to shift gears. It manages to get its point across while still maintaining consistency, making it easily accessible for both children and adults.
A lot of the film’s messages and humor hits so well thanks to its top-notch voice acting. Pratt plays it the most straight-faced of the cast, but still maintaining a hugely likable charm about him, which helps set up a lot of the film’s jokes. Elizabeth Banks also proves to be quite likable, doing many of the aforementioned “dialogue deconstruction,” questioning other characters’ phrasing and choices. The show-stealer - as evidenced by the fact he would get a spin-off movie - was without a doubt Will Arnett as Batman, who turns the legendary superhero into a self-centered egomaniac that loves to deliver brooding, gritty dialogue, serving as a much needed parody of the superhero at a time where his popularity was bigger than ever, thanks to the Dark Knight trilogy.
There are many other solid parodies of character types too, including Liam Neeson as a police officer with two faces, one being that of a good cop and the other being of a bad cop, as well as Morgan Freeman parodying the sagely wizard stereotype embodied by the likes of Albus Dumbledore and Gandalf, only to mainly speak in riddles and lingo. The film is a blending of many different types of films into one, addressing character types such as cuddly anthropomorphic animals, edgy pirates, and 1980’s astronauts (in the vein of The Right Stuff), and manages to get in some great references and parodies of many Warner Bros. properties along the way.
While dialogue and parody drive a lot of this film’s success, the visuals also play a huge role in what makes it work so well. One wouldn’t think a movie centered around Legos would have anything that really stands out, but this film has plenty of tricks up its sleeve. While it’s all computer-generated, it stylistically replicates stop-motion animation, evoking a feel of actual Brickfilms (older films that were actually stop-motion and used Legos). The film has plenty of great visual gags that expertly made use of the surrounding environments, finding ways of bringing to life elements such as characters almost drowning or getting frozen, while still making sure everything appeared in brick form, which makes for some pretty solid laughs. Despite the simple set-up, the backgrounds contained a surprising amount of detail, especially thanks to its eye-popping bright color schemes.
The only thing wrong when it comes to The Lego Movie doesn’t even have to do with the movie itself, but the fact that it was snubbed for a Best Animated Film award at the Oscars. If one thinks of this decade’s best animated films, this is definitely up there. It’s wickedly funny and manages to take a fairly generic setup and turn it into something much more wildly imaginative. Its jokes are rapid fire and the visuals are exceptional, all the while supported by a wonderfully talented cast who are all used to their best capacity here. And at the center of it all, the film maintains a big heart, being something equally accessible to children as it is for adults who will appreciate its quick wit. Just like the song, everything is awesome in The Lego Movie.
Comments