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Greater then it has any right to be The Lego Movie is sheer fun pretty much all the way though.
At best, you might expect a movie with good gags, references, or nostalgia.
After all, its a movie about a beloved children's toy - the toy has no plot to work from, no characters it doesn't borrow from elsewhere. So how could you expect much from a movie? Surely its just a glorified toy advert?
Surprisingly no, no its not. Or, at least, not just. Possible because of the freedoms the script writers had it has a good core story - one that celebrates the toy without being limited by it. One that somehow found a core message, and a surprising amount of content from its origins while still establishing its own universe and rules.
I put this film up with Toy Story - maybe not quite as strong as that film, but certainly in the same ballpark of layered storytelling that works on a few levels. Conceptually in fact, Toy Story, Wreck it Ralph and this all fall roughly into the same category; Animate, sentient play things living lives on their own.
The Lego Movie also doesn't relay on Camos or cheap references - yes, the marketing might push Batman or other random IPs shoved in - but for the most part the humour is timeless stuff, and the camo's arnt just throwaway gags but plot-critical elements.
Its also a very pretty movie. Mostly done in CG, with just a tad of stopmotion, but very much respecting the stop moving style. Its distinct from the Lego videogames in this regard - in the movie the minifigs move like real minifigs, and the direction is done as if it was a grand stop motion film. The lighting and texture work is beautiful too - and so much attention to detail is poored into it all. The broken helmet of the spaceman sums it up quite nicely. Anyone that had a lego spaceman knows the helmits ALWAYS broke in that exact place.
Honestly, its hard to think of much critisms. Some of the jokes might be a bit too slapstick or childish...but they come thick enough for it not to matter.
Maybe the movie takes a good...oh...5 minutes to get going.
hmz.
Nope, its really hard to find big flaws in it.
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Reviewed By
Darkflame Rateing: 97
Type: film
Genre: Action Comedy
Completed: YES
The Lego Movie created by nobody