Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell
Emmett (Pratt) is a construction worker in a land made entirely of Lego. Happy about literally everything, Emmett's good-natured but not very forward-thinking and no-one is more surprised when he is discovered to be the fabled Master Builder except for a tough-talking action heroine named Wyldstyle (Banks). With Wyldstyle a mystical figure known as Vitruvius (Freeman) and a few other companions, Emmett must be the hero and save the Lego people from the megalomaniacal Lord (and President) Business (Ferrell).
There's no doubt about the fact that The Lego Movie is at least in part a marketing exercise for Lego. Those plastic toy bricks from Denmark are the be all and end all of this picture but something else can't be denied about The Lego Movie. To put it simply, The Lego Movie is an amazing film that combines stunningly inventive animation and some of the greatest verbal and visual gags that you'll probably see all year.
Given that this is about a range of toys, the film has played up towards the kids market but it's clear that the filmmakers had more than just a slight inclination in appealing to adults. Given that Lego have tied themselves into numerous other franchises, the pop-culture gags come thick, fast and usually brilliantly (the brief take on Star Wars being a personal highlight alongside Will Arnett as a buffoonish Batman) andnthe humour seems on-spot considering that the in the film-makers' backgrounds are Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (2009) and the (admittedly, more adult) TV show Robot Chicken. Meanwhile, the animation (done mostly by computers in lieu of actual Lego) is a sight to behold, from dissipating clouds of smoke to a tumultuous seascape whilst the 3D, to its credit, brings an interesting dimension, once or twice in the film.
The performances are gleefully over-the-top in many places but Chris Pratt provides just the right level of gleeful optimism to make it work over the occasionally rather predictable plot (except for an initially baffling twist in setting towards the end). Mum and dad may get a little more out of the film's wisecracks than the kids will, but The Lego Movie is still a sure-fire crowd-pleaser for any age.
Next time, we take another look at a childhood favourite as Ty Burrell and Max Charles are father and son, dog and boy and going through time in Mr. Peabody And Sherman.
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