The LEGO Movie- my review!

by Milo Krimstein

As a kid, making strop-motion movies with LEGO bricks was my second favorite thing to do, behind only building LEGO. The movies were often short, nonsensical, and poorly animated, but the process of making the film with my friend was where the real fun always was. You can view our YouTube page here. When I heard that the LEGO movie was being made, I knew I would see it as soon as I could.

So, the other day I saw The LEGO Movie, and I'm pleased to say that it exceeded my initial expectations and lived up to the high praise I had heard from everybody who had seen it before me.

Lincoln, Superman and
Lady Liberty

Watching the trailers before the movie started, I really realized that kids movies have become incredibly The LEGO Movie really breaks the mold, using wit, outstanding animation, strong voice actors and an overall theme of, well... being creative.
generic, as animation style and plots are almost identical nowadays.

Although it wasn't made using stop-motion animation (it would be too difficult to pull off, seeing as LEGOs are so small) the movements were very true to plastic mini figs, and just about the entire film is made entirely out of lego. (I mean EVERYTHING... the water, the backgrounds, the sky, everything is realistically depicted as being made from individual bricks.)

Making a movie based on a toy has been done before, and it is understandably a shaky subject matter for feature films to revolve around. LEGO is unique because unlike GI Joe or Transformers, LEGO products aren't entirely focused on story lines, but rather construction, creativity, and craft as much as (or more than) characters. Of course, LEGO has licensed products all over the place, so there are plentiful characters from the history of the LEGO universe, which is a lot of fun.* The way the movie was made to respect the uniqueness of LEGO, and it does so in many creative and efficient ways.

It's clearly very hard to produce a movie that appeals to both kids and adults, but if I had to choose one thing that kids and adults both adore, it would clearly be LEGO. Right from the beginning, the movie is packed full of busy LEGO environments and quick dialogue. It was a bit difficult to digest exactly what was happening at the beginning, but I quickly got adjusted to the fast, almost sugar-rush pace of the film. Just like the LEGO characters (and Emmet's head in one particular scene), my head was spinning. Not a single second is wasted by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, as visual gags and energetically animated LEGO characters clutter the screen. While a part of me was a little bit uncomfortable with the rapid pace of The LEGO Movie, towards the end (I won't spoil anything) it becomes clear that the movie just wouldn't work without the constant stream of action, silliness and colorful characters and settings. After all, it is a kid's movie.

As a LEGO fan, I loved this movie because of how much homage it pays to LEGO's history and culture. I loved how the LEGO construction workers used builder's slang as they constructed skyscrapers brick-by-brick in an opening scene. "I need a one by four brick! Four by six grey plate needed over here!" These are things you could hear actual LEGO builders saying, so I thought it was pretty awesome.

I wonder if we will ever see a Minecraft movie? I figure that is a "toy" that has a similar potential as the LEGO movie.

This movie is not only a must-see for anybody (regardless of age) who considers them a LEGO fan, but for anybody who would like to see how the inventive minds of Chris Miller and Phil Lord have essentially pushed the genre of kids movies forwards.

Overall, I would give the LEGO Movie two "lego-claws" up... because lego men don't have thumbs.

*I noticed in the LEGO Movie that there are DC characters but not Marvel characters. This is obviously due to a licensing things, but seeing as they've already reached a deal on the sequel, I would hope to see Spidey and Wolverine in the next LEGO flick.