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    The Lego Movie

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
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    Consider my mind blown because I have just seen “The Lego Movie” and it is truly spectacular. Not only is it beautifully animated, but the storyline is clever, the writing sharp, the jokes non-stop and the sheer imagination involved is enough to leave you speechless. On top of that, it even sneaks in some emotional moments too. It’s not just for fans of stop-motion (I think the film was made by stop-motion anyway, I hear it’s a mix of that and CGI) or fans of Lego bricks; it’s hard to imagine anyone not enjoying the movie. What strikes you immediately about the movie is the way that it looks. As I said, everything is made of Lego bricks, but it isn’t as simple as just blue tiles on the floor to show water or little translucent flames to represent fire. When we see a pirate ship sailing on the water, the blue bricks that compose the sea are stacked together to create waves and move like a real ocean would. When things explode, grey pieces of different shades are stacked together to create smoke clouds, while tiny red, orange and yellow pieces create the flames. Stop motion films always dazzle the audience with the sheer amount of craft employed to make them and this is no exception. I’d say this takes it a step further though. In some ways it feels as different from your standard stop-motion animation as traditional cell-painted animation because it isn’t as simple as just having models move around, it’s about being able to see the little yellow people moving around and seeing the environments they inhabit being built out of thousands of pieces. The characters being based on existing toys are limited in movement (no torso rotation for example) so it gives the actions even more of a distinct look. If you see this movie in 3-D, it goes a step further with countless bricks thrown at the screen during the dazzling sequences of action, where thousands of villains (led by Liam Neeson as “Bad Cop”) are shooting at our heroes and debris flies everywhere. On the basis of the visuals alone, this would be a film to rush out and see, but there’s so much more here; this is an incredibly thrilling, imaginative and funny story. The laughs are non-stop with this film and the jokes come a wide variety. We’ve got slapstick, clever puns and wordplay, pop-culture references, inside jokes for Lego builders, a nice amount of recurring jokes that build throughout the film as well as jokes centered on the animation or the idea of a Lego movie itself (for example, Emmet putting on his shirt by raising a decorated Lego figure torso high in the air and the next frame having his previous body being swapped out for the new one) They all come in so quick that when it gets going with the humor, there’s not a single moment where you feel left out if you’re not familiar with the Lego franchise or the pop culture references because if you don’t get the main joke, there’s another one in the background ready to make you laugh. I caught myself laughing so hard at the recurring jokes about the boyfriend of our love interest/secondary main character Wyldstyle’s (voiced by Elizabeth Banks), Emmet’s lame inventions, the tyrannical ruler and the world the Lego people are set in that I know I missed out on a lot. The jokes come in so fast by the time you’re done laughing at one, another has already been fired off and a third is being loaded in the chamber. Not all of them work, but the momentum of the jokes is great enough that you’ll laugh anyway and by the time you realize it wasn’t that funny, a genuinely good one is right around the corner. There is no way you will be able to catch it all on the first viewing, so this movie is perfect for watching multiple times. On top of all the strengths I’ve listed, what we’ve got here is a really creative story. When it begins, you think to yourself “here we go again! ” We’ve got a nobody that finds the ultimate weapon to combat evil because the prophecy has foretold it. Trouble is he’s totally under qualified. You think you know where it’s going to go from there. He’s mistaken for the hero the world needs and he is trained to become a master, but deep down, he doesn’t believe in himself and there is going to be that moment towards the end where everyone realizes he isn’t the fabled “chosen one” and everyone feels betrayed or he will walk away because he “never asked to be a hero”. Here, they take that idea and dispense with all of the typical trappings of “the nobody becomes a hero” storyline because the main character wants to be a hero, even if the other “master builders” around him have no faith in his abilities. It’s all so colourful, funny and action packed that but I’m happy to say that the movie isn’t all just silliness and stuff blowing up. Towards the end of the movie, there are some really genuine moments of heart that resolves the plot very well. I really wanted to write down why it works, but it’s such a pleasant surprise that I really don’t want to risk spoiling even the tiniest bit of it. I almost forgot to mention that “The Lego Movie” has a really cool soundtrack with a memorable song. I am certain that “Everything is awesome” is going to be stuck in your head after the credits. It’s not just that the movie is a pleasant surprise; it’s that it expands your imagination while you are watching it. Seeing the frenetic, action-packed sequences where Emmet and his friends are trying to get away from the hordes of villains, it made me eager to see more. Not just more of this Lego movie, but more of this imaginative type of animation altogether. In a world where traditionally cell-shaded animation is now a rarity and everything else is live action with CGI, this movie makes you think that it would be awesome to see something really inventive, something we haven’t seen ever before like an entirely stop-motion, feature-length horror film for adults, or an epic fantasy action film where instead of having live actors fighting each other against a green screen, we could have miniatures of human heroes and of mythical creatures animated side-by-side using techniques similar to the ones used in this movie in order to really make it stand out in the crowd of blockbusters we get every year. The film reigns as an exercise in style above all else, but in pretty much every aspect is suceeds. I’m going to risk coming off as a giant fool but what the heck, it’s only March, I’ve got plenty of time to come up with a list of excuses if I’m wrong: this film is already a shoe-in for best animated picture and is going to end up on a lot of people’s “best of the year list”. This film is destined to become a favorite, not only among children but among a lot of adults who will absolutely be charmed by the humor, the story, the action and the characters. What else do you need to hear? Go out and see it now! (3-D Theatrical version on the big screen, March 18, 2014)

    10
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    adamwatchesmovies@  19.3.2014 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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