Truly awesome

There are many reasons to love Lego. It’s timeless, it’s simple and most importantly, it is fun. It’s a toy phenomenon and there aren’t many people out there who have not heard of them.

But, a movie based solely on Lego seems, well … ridiculous. It was hard enough trying to convince friends to make a trip down to the cinema so I didn’t have to sit through it on my own, but the thought of having to be surrounded with young and loud kids was not appealing either.

A little more than an hour-and-a-half later, I walked out of the hall with the catchphrase ‘everything is awesome’ embedded into my memory, and let me tell you … everything truly was! I was wrong … this movie was awesome!

If you grew up with Legos or even have children who play with Lego, this is the perfect movie. It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me and I loved every minute of it. It was hilarious, entertaining and has a whole lot of heart. It’s clear that the filmmakers here love Lego just as much as most of their viewers. This is definitely one of the most fun and clever toy adaptations to the big screen.

The movie serves two audiences, whether you’re five or 50. The visuals will appeal to the kids who will be looking for the action and adventure, but the older audience will appreciate the wit and parody with references to The Matrix, The Dark Knight Rises and The Terminator to name a few. Not to mention, adults will probably understand the underlying message of business standardisation versus creative freedom.

The Lego Movie starts with The Wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) trying to protect a superweapon named the Kragle, from the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell).

When he fails, he warns Lord Business of a prophecy where a Master Builder skilled in the art of Lego construction, called the ‘Special’, will find the Piece of Resistance that is capable of stopping the Kragle.

Eight years later and now the story shifts to an ordinary guy, Emmet (Chris Pratt), an eager-to-please construction worker.

He’s a happy guy and wakes up to his normal routine where his job asks him to break down Lego buildings that are too weird looking for the generic Lego city. Once he tears them down, he must rebuild them according to the proper instructions.

When Emmet falls into a hole on the construction site, he stumbles upon the mysterious Piece of Resistance.

He touches it and experiences visions and passes out only to wake up elsewhere with the Piece of Resistance attached to his back. He is in the custody of Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), Lord Business’ lieutenant. He learns of the plan Lord Business has to destroy the world, but not long after tough-as-nails, punk rebel, Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) rescues him and takes him to the blind wizard, Vitruvius.

Vitruvius explains that he is one of the Master Builders. As a result, he falls in league with the Wyldstyle, Vitruvius and the funny but egotistical Batman (Will Arnett) on a quest to save the world. He believes he must do this before his fellow Master Builders discover that he isn’t who they think he is.

The humour in this movie is spot on. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller know more about Lego than most people do and use it to their advantage. They tackle the difficulties with it, the advantages and the overall expectation of what a Lego world would look like. The colours used are bright and the stop-motion animation allowed the audience to experience the rigid movements of Lego.

The cast of voices for the movie is impressive, with an ensemble of great comedians.

Pratt and Banks are the perfect duo. They both lend their quirky personalities to their characters and show they can do more than just use slapstick humour and physicality to bring in the laughs. Pratt definitely stepped up as the leading man in this film, as he’s usually known for his roles with supporting characters.

Ferrell loves to play the villain. It’s not surprising either, as one of his most memorable roles is probably his Megamind persona. He does it well, especially with Neeson on his side as the Good Cop/Bad Cop role.

I’ve always been a fan of Arnett and he does a fantastic job as Batman with his deep and low voice, as does Alison Brie as Unikitty. Both bring in their unique comedy with their distinctive voices.

There are also a number of cameos from Charlie Day as Benny the astronaut, Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman, Channing Tatum as Superman and Jonah Hill as Green Lantern. It’s these cameos that bring in the memorable moments in the film.

Overall, The Lego movie is a great film no matter your age. Don’t judge it before giving it a go. It’s probably the funniest film in years. When it comes to the Lego franchise … everything is truly awesome.

* Showing in Cineco, Seef II, Saar Cineplex