Not Toying About, Not Winging It, Better Than The Sum Of Its Parts and Other LEGO Based Puns - The Lego Movie Review

Commercial toy movie tie-ins suck. I mean there are no two ways about that.  Battleship... Transformers... GI Joe...

I'll stop right there because you know where this review is heading, sweeping the rug from under your feet and telling you how, yep, AWESOME, it is.  Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been building a solid resume with 'Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs' and '21 Jump Street', although i'd be the first to say they that although they weren't straight up classics they were enjoyable in their own way.

Emmet, is an ordinary lego man/pawn who does everything by the book (literally).  He's the guy who is one in a countless LEGO team.  No one remembers his name, while he remembers everyone else's.  One day he..blah blah blah backstory blah.  From then onwards its backdrops aplenty, characters both hilarious (Batman, Spaceman) & hilarious (Good Cop, Bad Cop) and visual swish upon visual swoosh.

'The LEGO Movie' has a narrative sure, but smartly that's just a vehicle for the film's overall message, creativity vs rules and boundaries.  There are plentiful pop culture references and in-jokes all the very opposite of cynical.  Many Lego mini-figs also make appearances (with one half way through the movie particularly hilarious).

I'd rather not give too much away as half the pleasure is in finding things for oneself.  Looking to the background for gags which will sate the palate of adults beyond the physical comedy (which is also playful and inventive) which will keep the kids entertained.  Beyond that I'd certainly say that the film has something to say on society, politics and the place of art, a showcase for an individual's voice, as a force to be cultivated or contained.  I think that rhethoric is best to wash at the back of the mind while there is so much boundless fun on screen but it's certainly a relevant factor for those seeking it.

The ending is also a part of the picture that will perhaps divide audiences, but I think most will have been charmed and seduced within the first 30 seconds of the start and so most will go with it with an open heart, almost forgetting that this IS a toy-related movie, that WILL ensure that LEGO will be laughing to the bank in all sorts of ways.  I have concerns that the hastily announced Lego Movie 2 will suffer from an inevitable backlash as the mindset will change for that film but for now this is a magnificent surprise which I can't wait to watch over and over and over again.

For a film that seemed like it would be a passing irrelevance only a month ago thats a rare magic indeed.

Rating: 8.5/10 (B+/A-)