I really wasn't that interested in The Lego Movie a week ago. Sure, it was directed by Chris Lord and Phil Miller, the guys behind 21 Just Street and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, but I just didn't see the point.
I know the brand has been branching out for a while with video games and such, but I just figured the movie was another cash grab aimed at kids. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
But then reviews started coming in insisting that it was actually a good movie. To be honest, this wasn't terribly surprising either given the fact that Lord and Miller had twice before taken horrible ideas for movies and made them both into something surprising and funny. The reviews were really strong though, so today I said "Fuck it" and decided to give it a go for myself.
And I must say, for the first hour or so, I was really into it. The jokes were flying at a mile a minute and filled with so much detail that it seemed a second viewing would be required just to take it all in. The cast they assembled was quite fitting as well. Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrel, Will Arnett and a million other voices you'll recognize ( or ones that will surprise you once you see the credits). Arnett especially stands out as one of the best and funniest iterations of Batman in forever.
Oh man, and the animation was incredible. A mix between computer generated and stop motion, I found myself in awe of the wizardry on display.
Even with all that good will though, I still kind of felt like the flick was a little over-hyped. It was fun and clever sure, but besides the animation there wasn't anything that felt particularly mind blowing going on. Just a fun and enjoyable movie that just happened to be based on a name brand toy. Again, not that there's anything wrong with that.
But then, in the third act, the movie takes a left turn. Actually, I'm not sure I can really call it a left turn since it's hinted at throughout the picture. And even if you missed the hints, you could probably guess at least a part of what's going to happen. I suppose the real surprise is the way that directors Miller and Lord use that moment and build to a genuinely emotional celebration of imagination and creativity. Before, The Lego Movie was just straight comedy, with no hint of anything else, which was fine. Usually when a family film feels the need to force some sort of moral or point at the end it feels forced and annoying. But The Lego Movie took what good will it had earned and used it in the best way possible, to create an ending that was both true and organic to the movie that proceeded it.
So believe the hype. Lord and Miller have once again taken what seems like an impossibly stupid idea and turned it into something that's so great, it's awesome.
