Talk about adaptable! LEGO is like the McDonalds of the toy industry; it knows how to stay in business.
Over 80+ years, LEGO has evolved from wooden toys, to plastic bricks, adding movie/sport-themed lines, creating theme parks, and now…making movies!
I sucked at LEGO as a child (no Master Builder gene in this body!), and it hurt like a mother b*tch when I unexpectedly trod on a rogue piece hiding in the carpet… But this didn’t stop me whiling away the hours surrounded by the plastic bricks.
I have made it clear that I am to inherit the family bucket of LEGO upon my mother’s demise. So yeah… let’s just say I was pretty darn excited at the prospect of a LEGO film.
THE LEGO MOVIE follows Emmet, an ordinary construction worker LEGO figure, who stumbles across the fabled ‘Piece of Resistance’. His find sees him mistaken as The Master Builder: A visionary destined to lead his fellow figures in revolt against the evil conformist President Business.
While the story sounds simple enough, the flick is incredibly clever.
Despite it’s ultimate presentation as a kid’s movie, multi-layered messages about conformity, propaganda and brainwashing Media offer a welcome complexity for adult viewers. It’s also oozing with insanely cool LEGO references and nods to recent pop culture.
Most notable, however, is it’s witty, fast-paced (and often totally random) humour. Forget slapstick – THE LEGO MOVIE treats kids with a little intelligence.
Visually THE LEGO MOVIE kicks butt. While the entire animated part is CGI, everything is designed to look like LEGO. A stop motion effect ensures the characters move as the real plastic figures do – even smoke and fire appear to be made from LEGO blocks. It’s pretty sweet (and an excellent marketing ploy; I was tempted to abandon the cinema to whip out my LEGO set.)
The voice cast is full of big names who perform their plastic counterparts to perfection.
Sadly, the 3D is a little underwhelming, but this can be forgiven.
It’s also just a tad on the long side for younger kiddies, with many parents no doubt set to endure dreaded mid-film ‘toilet runs’. The climax is also not quite as conventionally action-packed as most films, with the battle punctuated by more sentimental scenes (not that this bothered me).
All in all, THE LEGO MOVIE is one funny, random cinematic exploit poised to amuse Aussie audiences of all ages upon it’s release April 3rd.
Forget THE LEGO MOVIE, this is simply THE MOVIE you need to see this school holidays. In terms of kid flicks, this one is something special: I rate it 8 stars.
