To 3D Or Not To 3D: Buy The Right LEGO Movie Ticket From Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the wacky minds that brought you Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, comes The LEGO Movie, a family-friendly animated adventure that brings a wide world of LEGO's mini-figures to life. Chris Pratt gives voice to Emmet, a common construction worker who stumbles across an incredible destiny to save all of the LEGO worlds from the nefarious plot of Lord Business! Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Charlie Day and Morgan Freeman also lend their voices. Our theatrical review will weigh in on whether or not this new release is worth your time, while this column will focus solely on the film's use of 3D. Considering seven separate categories, To 3D Or Not To 3D evaluates the full scope of the 3D viewing experience. Think of it as a consumer's guide for your movie-going, complete with a viewers poll where you can weigh in on how you plan to see The LEGO Movie. 3D can go great with action, and truly sings in computer-generated productions.
Stuffed with car chases, explosions and flashy battle scenes all constructed with CGI, The LEGO Movie is a perfect venue for the use of 3D. Construction on The LEGO Movie began back in 2009, the same year that James Cameron's Avatar made 3D a game-changer. Nowadays its practically a requirement that a computer-animated movie offer a 3D version. With the years since spent carefully creating the animation, you can bet a good amount of that time went into the film's 3D, and it shows. This is that element of 3D where it appears the movie is protruding into the theater. It's 3D's flashiest attribute, and The LEGO Movie uses it as such, adding punch to gunfights where the gunfire blocks seem to pop right out of the screen! Other actions sequences also allow us to get a bit closer to Emmett and the gang as they are thrown sky high and right at us. Alternately, this is the portion of 3D that appears to extend back into the screen. The LEGO Movie has extraordinary sets, ranging from pirate ships to a sprawling LEGO city, the Wild West, and a fantasy realm known as Middle Zealand.
The 3D definitely adds a deeper sense of dimension to all of the above. However, the movie is so fast-paced that the filmmakers have chosen to keep audience eyes focused on the foreground, presumably so they don't miss a key plot points. So, while the sets reach far into the background, Lord and Miller chose to have them mostly out of focus--pulling yours to their main players and the action. It's a smart technique, but it loses this category a point. This is generally a problem with moody action movies that are draped in night and shadows. The LEGO Movie is defined by its bright colors, and its makers were smart enough to compensate so that 3D glasses wouldn't dim them. It's such a vibrantly lit movie, I forgot I had 3D glasses on. This is a test where you pull off your 3D glasses to see how much blur is on the screen. Basically, the more blur you see, the more 3D you're getting. I ran this test several times, and found a fair amount of blurring to a good amount. Like I said up top, the out of focus background means Lord and Miller didn't make the fullest use of 3D they could have.
However, it was aesthetically the right choice for the film by my count. Bad 3D can be downright harmful to your health, causing nausea, headaches or eye-strain. Happily, I experienced none of the above during The LEGO Movie. It's only arguably negative side effect is I that I can't shake the song "Everything is Awesome" from my internal jukebox. Continued On Next Page > Blended From Around The Web The Lego Movie (2014) 6 February 2014 (Singapore) 4 more credits » See full cast & crew » See more awards » 5269 news articles » A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives. The special bond that develops between plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, and prodigy Hiro Hamada, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes. The LEGO Batman Movie Bruce Wayne must not only deal with the criminals of Gotham City, but also the responsibility of raising a boy he adopted.
A rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous restaurant. A family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world. After his swamp is filled with magical creatures, Shrek agrees to rescue Princess Fiona for a villainous lord in order to get his land back. When a criminal mastermind uses a trio of orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme, he finds their love is profoundly changing him for the better. When the newly crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister, Anna, teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition. A hot-shot race-car named Lightning McQueen gets waylaid in Radiator Springs, where he finds the true meaning of friendship and family. When Woody is stolen by a toy collector, Buzz and his friends vow to rescue him, but Woody finds the idea of immortality in a museum tempting.
Ash Brannon, and 1 more credit » In order to power the city, monsters have to scare children so that they scream. However, the children are toxic to the monsters, and after a child gets through, 2 monsters realize things may not be what they think. David Silverman, and 1 more credit » Princess Fiona's parents invite her and Shrek to dinner to celebrate her marriage. If only they knew the newlyweds were both ogres. Kelly Asbury, and 1 more credit » Cast overview, first billed only: Lord Business (voice) / President Business (voice) / See full cast » The LEGO Movie is a 3D animated film which follows lead character, Emmet a completely ordinary LEGO mini-figure who is identified as the most "extraordinary person" and the key to saving the Lego universe. Emmet and his friends go on an epic journey to stop the evil tyrant, Lord Business. See All (59) » See all certifications » View content advisory » Release Date: 6 February 2014 (Singapore)
Also Known As: La gran aventura Lego Fox Studios, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia See full technical specs » The map of the LEGO world has regions labeled: BricksburgThe Old WestMiddle ZealandCape SpacePirate's CoveViking's LandingPharaoh's QuestDino IslandAtlantisVladek's Realm (Vladek was the main villain of the Knights' Kingdom II theme)Technic Mecha MineForest of Obsolete ProductsOctan HQAll are references to various LEGO toy lines. After Bad Cop captures Emmet, he shows him footage of his friends talking about him. Emmet was captured in the evening, and when he escapes it's night, but the footage Bad Cop shows is in daylight. Since Bad Cop is only interested in Emmet because he has the Piece of Resistance (which he discovered only just before capture), there's no reason for Emmet's friends to have been interviewed previously. He's coming, cover your butts. The main-on-end credits were animated in stop-motion, unlike the rest of the movie's CGI.