I know I'm a week behind on this film, but I have been really busy and haven't had a chance to write up my review but here is my review of The Lego Movie (for the four of you left in America who haven't seen it).
Let me start by just saying that I loved this movie. I haven't had this much fun at the movies since the first time I saw Inception back in Summer 2010, and that includes seeing Avengers, Hunger Games, American Hustle and so forth. I have a hard time believing there will be 10 movies that can come out this year I will love more than this film. Taking just animated movies into account, I believe this is the best animated film since the first Toy Story movie. It is so full of heart, the story is just amazing, and it is hilarious from start to finish.
Part of what makes this movie great is that unlike things like The Smurfs, this is not a kid movie. This is a kid friendly movie that has mass appeal to all ages, like most Pixar and Dreamworks movies. I think the best comparison I can make is to Shrek, which had so much adult humor that wasn't so obvious to make it an adult film, but had great adult appeal. This is exactly the same way. The Lego Movie is directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller which is the brain trust behind both Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street (the movie not the TV show). Here we get the best of both worlds. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a great kid's movie with some adult appeal, but not quite getting there, and 21 Jump Street is adult comedy at it's finest and easily is one of the 5 funniest movies I have ever seen (on par with movies like Airplane, Office Space, and The Hangover). Here we get a lot of the adult aimed jokes that made 21 Jump Street so funny (without the profanity) mixed with the heart and fun that makes Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs great as well. What comes from it is pure magic.
Just like in live action films, a great cast can make or break a film, and this movie has an amazingly talented set of actors voicing the characters. And unlike some films where the people voicing characters are "voice actors" rather than screen actors, almost everyone in this film (including some of the great cameos - which I won't give away) is a highly accomplished screen actor. The main character Emmett is voiced by Chris Pratt (Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation) and is just perfect for this role. He adds so much energy and heart to this role that a lesser actor may not have been able to portray. My favorite voice cast of this entire film though is Will Arnett (Gob from Arrested Development) as Batman. He was just amazing. He took the character of Batman (and part of this is the writing but it would have died in the hands of someone lesser) and did a great parody on it while still being respectful to the character as a whole. There are other great voice roles from Elizabeth Banks (Effie from The Hunger Games Saga), Liam Neeson, Will Ferrel and Morgan Freeman amongst others. Also keep a look out for some of the funnier cameos as well. Some of which you will recognize and some of which you may miss, but they are hilarious.
I have to stretch pretty far to find anything in this film I didn't like, but if I had to mention something I think the pacing was almost too fast. This movie was almost frantic, and while it worked and was amazing, I think Lord and Miller could have given us time to just sit back and take in the full greatness of this movie. That's a weak complaint and I honestly don't care much about it, but it was there as a possible issue for some people. Overall their direction was amazing. They created beautiful shots and their attention to detail was superb. I could not say enough about this film. They announced that the sequel was green lit within the first day of release so I am eagerly anticipating it. If you haven't seen this movie, go with your next available moment. If you have already seen it, go again with your next available moment. You will not regret it. I give this movie an A+
