The Lego Movie

Everything is awesome, and “The Lego Movie” has quickly revolutionized animated film.

In 1934, Lego was a bunch of wooden toys taking their company name from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning “play well.”

The new movie sticks to that original motto.

The whole endeavor is a fine example of playing. It’s creative, fine-tuned, self-aware and funny as hell.

Focusing on Emmet (Chris Pratt), a normal construction Lego minifigure who is happy in his Big Brother-dominated world, the movie starts off fresh and amusing as we get to explore Emmet’s daily habits of not fitting in. But it goes further and only gets better.

After falling into a pit and being deemed the most extraordinary man in the Lego universe, Emmet is snatched up by Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett) and Virtuvius (Morgan Freeman) to join the rest of the master-builders and save the world from President Business’ (Will Ferrell) plan to glue the universe in place.

The adventure ends up being a madcap, world-hopping event that somehow seamlessly blends together storylines from pirates to Star Wars and effortlessly mashes Gandalf, Shakespeare, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Abraham Lincoln into one storyline.

How does it accomplish this?

Because it’s a “children’s” movie that devotes itself fully to a post-modern self-awareness in every aspect. It makes the unfamiliar the norm and never looks back.

Probably the best thing about “The Lego Movie” is its groundbreaking animation. The whole movie abides by the rules of the Lego universe and never strays from that established code.

Smoke, explosions, bubbles underwater and more are all created from Lego bricks.
While it’d be easy to accept a classic animated explosion here and there, the film never gives into easy temptation.

Toward the end of the movie, the script even gets justifiably sentimental and wonderfully explores family dynamics, in particular the relationship between fathers and sons. Pretty impressive for a film where Morgan Freeman voices a character who carries around a half-eaten lollipop for a walking stick.

The film reminds all of us to always play well and never settle for the mundane. A message we don’t just need children to invest in.