The Lego Movie

We are barely into the new movie season and "The Lego Movie" has come out of nowhere to become one of the most imaginative, witty, surreal and utterly enjoyable movie experience I've had in some time. It's rare for a movie to completely surprise me but "The Lego Movie" does this without even stopping to catch its breath. It's both great for the kids with its bright colors and fantastic animation as well as adults with its witty, irreverent, semi politically/socially charged storyline and inside jokes throughout.

The basic story that "Lego" tells is of the main character Emmet Brickowski's unflappable desire to be exactly the same as everyone else in his metropolitan Lego world that he lives in. This Lego world is ruled by "President Business" voiced by Will Ferrel and he has laid out instructions that all the inhabitants live their lives by. Everything from how to exercise in the morning and what TV shows to watch is covered in this manual, think of it like "1984" for tykes. Emmet happens to stubble upon a missing "piece" of Lego lore that proclaims him "the special" and the savior that can overthrow President Business and return the Lego world to prosperity and most importantly individuality. The themes about individuality is really what should resonate with the kids in the audience, the adults will recognize the comparisons to today's world of the NSA and other hot topic political issues that comes off so crisp and funny that it wont matter what side of the aisle you personally sit on. In his quest to truly become "the special" Emmet befriends other master builders such as  Wyldstyle, voiced by Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect), a 1960's spaceman named Benny voice by Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), a Lego prophet voiced by the voices of all voices Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption), a unicorn/kitten mix aptly named Unikitty voiced by Alison Brie (Mad Men) and the stealer of the show Batman in all his dark grizzled glory voiced by Will Arnett (Arrested Development). Other recognizable characters such as Superman, Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare also appear in Lego mini figure form.

This film is a mix of computer generated animation such as what you see in Pixar movies and stop motion effects as what is seen in movies like "Coraline" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". The execution is so slick and concise that Lego's look like actual Legos which is much more impressive than how it reads. multiple scenes feature massive set designs including metropolitan cities, large scale car chases with explosions and scenes underwater and in the cloud. All used with Legos. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have a great eye for animation having used it for "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" as well as incorporated it in their live action venture "21 Jump Street". Their visual eye is definitely one to watch as "The Lego Movie" hovers on game changing territory.

The standard "kids movie" has taken a different form as of late. Gone are the days of studios releasing fodder just so mom and dad can get the kids out of the house for a bit. It's still early in the year but I'd be hard pressed to predict that any actual adult comedy released this year will make me laugh as loud and consistently over "The Lego Movie"-especially in the first 40 minutes. Fan's of the actual Lego toys themselves will also have moments to cheer for during the movie as well as fanboys and girls of a certain movie franchise that takes place in a galaxy far far away...

The best way to sum up "The Lego Movie" is that "Everything is Awesome", the adult in me enjoyed it as much as the 10 year old in me would, if not more. Its hard pressed to find a movie that the whole family can go see, mark "The Lego Movie" as the exception to the rule.