The Lego Movie Review

When I first saw posters of this movie, I thought it was going to be a failure for some reason. I thought it'd be the next The Smurfs or Garfield or something, where the things we loved as children become disasters as movies.
Then I saw the reviews, and I was shocked. 96% on Rotten Tomatoes?! 8.5 on IMDB?! That's almost Dark Knight/Inception territory. Guess I had to watch this movie...I was pretty excited to see what the hype was all about and if this movie in fact deserved such high praise. So I watched it and...

For those of you who think this movie was horrible, I completely disagree with you.

From the beginning of the  movie, I was immediately captivated by the (as critics like to say) stunning visuals. From the animations of the flowing waters of the Lego ocean to the characters' frantic construction of spaceships and motorcycles, I was just truly amazed at how awesome the animation was. I wondered how in the world did the artists put this movie together? I was immersed in another dimension and felt like I was part of the Lego world. In my opinion, this is probably one of the greatest artistic films strictly in terms of animation I have seen.

How did they animate this stuff?

Sure there are some blemishes about this movie. The story could have been better and it seemed as if the emphasis was more on the art and humor of the film.
But keep in mind that the target audience of this movie is children. It doesn't necessarily have to cater to an adult audience. And I'd say that this is a pretty darn good kids movie. But the various jokes throughout the movie garnered laughter even from adult viewers so...

I'm trying as hard as I can NOT to be biased by the RT and IMDB scores. Yes, I agree that 96% is a bit too high for this movie. But to say this is an awful movie is inaccurate. The Hangover Part III and After Earth are bad movies. And I don't think this movie belongs in that lower echelon at all.

What also makes this movie awesome is the various voice actors of this film. If you told me Morgan Freeman AND Liam Neeson were voice actors for any film, I'd watch it in a heartbeat. Those two can read me bedtime stories every night. I found it funny to hear their charismatic, iconic voices saying cheesy/humorous lines, especially Liam Neeson when he takes the role of Good Cop/Bad Cop. But pile on top of that the voices of famous stars including: Will Ferrell, Charlie Day, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Key from Key & Peele, Shaq, etc. A truly star-studded cast. Though I wish Batman was voiced by Christian Bale and Gandalf was voiced by Ian McKellen...
Oh yeah, you will see the ending is pretty cool too and will change the way you see the movie and the power of imagination.

I wish I had his voice

But perhaps one striking aspect of this film was the character Emmet. He's a protagonist that has none of the qualities of a typical superhero. Throughout the film, people constantly give him crap for being useless and not being good at anything and not being special. They criticize him by saying he shouldn't have been the chosen one. Even Emmet has his moments of discouragement and feels like a burden to his team. To me, Emmet's character appealed to me because I could identify with him so much. I mean, we all could. I've often felt inadequate and discouraged when I do things and find that other people are significantly better at those things than I am. Like sports or music or whatever. I ask myself sometimes whether I am good or talented at anything. I found myself envying the skills of other people. And it certainly doesn't help that being the height that I am. Sorry I'm sounding pessimistic all of a sudden.

For me, I think the lesson to learn from this movie is no matter how average you feel, God created you in a unique way. You are not an accident. People might be better than you at certain things but they have weaknesses as well. Nobody's perfect. God doesn't want us to envy other people. He doesn't want us to feel useless and inadequate. He wants all of us to be like Emmet who stays positive and uses his strengths to help others. Despite all the criticisms, (hope this doesn't spoil) Emmet rises up as the hero of this movie. Rather than focusing on what he can't do, Emmet focuses on what he can do in order to help his friends. And he does it with a constant, goofy smile on his face.

So rather than being in a "woe-is-me" mentality, I need to be thankful for being created this way in God's image. Feeling insignificant will only discourage me from the things God wants me to do. And through Him, weaknesses can become strengths. Actually, it doesn't matter whether or not we are good at anything. The only thing that matters is what we can do to glorify God.

This is some pretty deep and heavy stuff to take from a kids movie. Sorry about that.

Anyways, if you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend you watch it. This is a movie that is meant for the big screen and NOT to be watched on a computer. And I usually don't like watching movies in 3D because it makes my head hurt. But this movie is an exception. The 3D actually makes it a better viewing experience. So don't pass up this opportunity. Spend the extra money and go watch this movie in 3D before it's too late. If you played with Legos as a kid, you will be in for a real trip down memory lane. 

SCORE: 8.8 / 10