Can a feature-length toy commercial also work as a decent kids’ movie? The bombast of the G.I. Joe and Transformers franchises might suggest no, but after an uninspired year for animated movies, The Lego Movie is a 3-D animated film that connects, as an homage to the ingenious Danish-born construction game, along with a subversively flippant story about thinking outside the blocks. Co-director and screenwriters Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street) borrow the reverence of Pixar’s Wall-E and the rude fun of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America: World Police to create a movie that’s fast-paced and silly with enough throwaway clever in-jokes for their accompanying adults to justify a second viewing.The plot, which is a parody of a dystopian science fiction story along the lines of Tron or The Matrix, focuses on an unexceptional mini-figure construction worker, Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt).Emmet has spent his life in the skyscraper-filled city of Bricksburg, living by the instruction manual: (“Root for the local sports team.
Don’t forget to smile. Always return a compliment.”) Each night, he watches the same laugh-tracked sitcom, Where’s My Pants? Each day, he works a construction job listening to the anthem Everything Is Awesome (an actually awesome Auto-Tuned bubblegum ear worm from the Calgary sister duo Tegan and Sara, with a rap break from Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island trio.) Then, one afternoon at the end of his shift, he discovers that the future of his square-cornered world depends on him abandoning his code of conformity.After taking a tumble at his job site, Emmet discovers a red cylinder known as the “piece of resistance” is stuck to his back and he meets a ninja rebel with coloured punk stripes in her hair, Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks). She’s part of a revolutionary movement under the leadership of a blind master-building sage Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman). They’re out to save the Lego-verse from President Business (voiced by Will Ferrell), who plans to cement the mix-and-match Lego blocks into a fixed state using a binding substance called Kragle.Kragle (a tube of Krazy Glue with some letters obscured) is one of the brand-name “relics” that have fallen into the Lego world, including a Band-Aid, a Q-tip and and X-Acto knife
, a.k.a. “The Exact-Zero.” These household items are related to the Man Upstairs, whose unseen hand (at least until the movie’s end) rules this busy little plastic world.Under the supervision of animator Chris McKay (Robot Chicken) the visual style and the message are both tied to how a limited means of expression can produce a profusion of creative possibilities. Everything onscreen is constructed from bricks, gears, wheels and mini-figures, including a heaving ocean. President Business’s chief enforcer is Bad Cop/Good Cop (Liam Neeson), whose swivelling head has a smile painted on one side and a frown on the other.Over the years, numerous brands have been sublicensed by Lego to create popular mini-figures, many of whom make an appearance here. They include DC Comics’ Superman and Wyldstyle’s pompous boyfriend, Batman (Will Arnett), as well as wizards from Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, Abraham Lincoln, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and NBA star Shaquille O’Neal (who provides his own voice).
There’s an Old West set, pirate-themed scenes and a psychedelic realm of mix-and-match Lego creations called Cloud Cuckooland, where the space cadet empress, Uni-Kitty (Alison Brie), is a cross between a unicorn and kitten.No doubt, there is an uncomfortable number of logos being marketed to kids in the The Lego Movie, along with the obvious one that’s in the title, but the film as a whole is very much in the spirit of Cloud Cuckooland: It’s a place where the use of X-Acto blades and Krazy Glue breaks the rules but almost everything else goes.Spring QuinceaneraQuinceanera NailTrends UtmNew TrendsTrends For 2016Blue Matte NailsMatte Nail PolishNail PolishesIamtaylorjess MatteForwardShiny gel nails were so 2015! Just like makeup, the new trend brings matte nail polish which will intensify any color you choose. Action Girl: Wyldstyle and Princess Uni-kitty at the very end. Adaptation Explanation Extrication: Emmet talking to Lord Business in the finale and convincing him to do a Heel�Face Turn is kept in the Junior Novel and Video Game, but the context for whynote isn't.
Interestingly, the video game keeps the Plot Twist from the film, but still . Affectionate Parody: The movie frequently (though not completely) parodies summer blockbuster movies. The fact that Everything's Built with LEGO helps, as even the most spectacular explosions and overloaded action sequences end up becoming sillier as a result. Especially the scene with the real-life kid, which Emmet views as an Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever. Allegory Adventure: The movie notably toys with this trope. The entire plot of the film is presented In-Universe as a metaphor for Finn's playtime in his dad's study, which explains why the ancient "relics" of human artifacts can appear alongside LEGO bricks. However, Emmet, complete with mental voiceover, is able to consciously move himself in this world, albeit with great difficulty. It's left to the viewer's interpretation whether or not the whole movie took place in Finn's head, or if the world of LEGO is its own universe that Finn and Dad can just manipulate.
And the Adventure Continues: "We are fwom the pwanet Duplo, and we are hew to destwoy you!" Arc Words: "See everything" is used repeatedly to refer to the power of the Master Builders to see the potential in the pieces around them. Lord Business's obsession with keeping everything "how it is supposed to be." . "Now it's your turn to be the hero." Finn says that to Emmet during his vision, and Emmet says it to Wyldstyle before his Heroic Sacrifice. The power of the Special is... you're special. Artistic License � Chemistry: The mineral spirits The Man Upstairs uses to un-Kragle the Lego universe at the end would almost certainly remove the paint used to give minifigs their faces and clothing details, in the same way Lord Business uses nail polish remover to remove Bad Cop's "Good" face. We can safely assume that, being a Lego connoisseur, he was probably careful with the stuff. Ascended Meme: In the "Behind the Bricks" featurette, Vitruvius talks about how great it is that he's voiced by Morgan Freeman, noting the famous joke that "that man could read the phone book and make it sound interesting."