The idea of a Lego movie seems so simple. There’s a world where Lego characters can talk, have adventures, and that’s it. Well, 2014's The Lego Movie blew that notion away by introducing both a Lego world and a human world. Now it seems, with The Lego Batman Movie, that’s just the start of an intricate Lego Cinematic Universe. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Lego Batman Movie director Chris McKay explained that all is not as simple as it seems in the world of the film. This does dive into minor spoilers so, if you haven’t seen The Lego Batman Movie, be careful. While the first Lego Movie explicitly shows the human world, The Lego Batman Movie does not. There are winks at it, though, such as the fact there’s a giant void below Gotham City, but it’s never explicitly stated. McKay has now confirmed that this is the same world. Everyone says this, but for lack of a better phrase, there’s a LEGO cinematic universe that we’re building that has a sci-fi premise, as far as the world that the movies are taking place in for the majority of the running time, and the other world that’s out there.
I think over the course of the movies, we’re building out the relationship between those. There’s no mandate necessarily to do that, but we are very actively working to find all of the rules and develop that relationship between the real world and the LEGO world. You’ll start to see it in what we’re doing with Ninjago and what we’re doing in LEGO 2.So yes, if you hadn’t already made the assumption, The Lego Movie and Lego Batman Movie take place in the same universe with humans pulling the invisible strings. A world that will become more intricate as the next two films in this burgeoning cinematic universe, Ninjago and Lego Movie 2, get released.This also means that events in The Lego Batman Movie have a direct line to what’s next for the characters. There’s definitely a part for Batman in LEGO 2. Everyone loves Will Arnett and the Batman character. There are going to be the repercussions of what’s happened in [LEGO Batman]. If you agree that he went through some change, there’s more stuff in store for Batman in LEGO 2.I guess that means Batman’s new family will play a role?
How will Emmet and Wyldstyle deal with that? We’ve got about two years until we find out. It’s refreshing that the filmmakers behind the Lego films are working this way. Yes, this is a new cinematic universe—but no, they aren’t going to explain too much about it. We will see in due time. And knowing the meta-levels the first two Lego movies went to, who’s to say the idea of two worlds is really the end?The Lego Batman Movie is now in theaters. The Lego Ninjago Movie is out September 22 and The Lego Movie 2 is currently set for Feburary 8, 2019.Emmet, Wyldstyle and Friends Reunite in All-New StoryEmmet and his Master Builder friends return in “The LEGO® Movie™ 4D A New Adventure,” an all-new, theatrical attraction that combines dazzling, 3D computer animation with “4D,” real-world effects such as wind, water and fog. Set after the events of the blockbuster movie, the 12 ½-minute story finds the gang entangled in an Evil Secret Plot involving a mysterious theme park inspired by their adventures in “The LEGO Movie.”
Returning to voice their iconic characters are actors Elizabeth Banks (Wyldstyle), Nick Offerman (MetalBeard), Charlie Day (Benny) and Alison Brie (Unikitty). Actor, writer and comedian Patton Oswalt voices the scheming Risky Business, brother of movie villain President Business, a new character created exclusively for the attraction. “The LEGO Movie 4D A New Adventure” plays multiple times per day in the theme park’s Wells Fargo Fun Town Theater, which recently underwent a dramatic, Hollywood-style makeover, adding giant, golden Emmet statues, character handprints in cement and an interactive red carpet filled with special effects. HOME »» The Lego Batman Movie The Lego Batman Movie In the irreverent spirit of fun that made "The LEGO Movie" a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble – LEGO Batman – stars in his own big-screen adventure: "The LEGO Batman Movie." But there are big changes brewing in Gotham, and if he wants to save the city from The Joker’s hostile takeover, Batman may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up.
CAST: Will Arnett, Ralph Fiennes, Zach Galifianakis, Rosario Dawson, Michael Cera DIRECTOR: Chris McKay RUN TIME: 90 min 10:30a 12:45p 3:00p 5:15p 7:30p 9:45p 10:30a 12:45p 3:00p 5:15p 7:30p 9:45pIt’s not every day a U.S. Senate election includes conspiracy claims over an animated children’s movie and a staffer dispatched to visit an opponent dressed as "Lord Business." It felt like something we should check out. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, took hits from bloggers in May 2015 after criticizing "The Lego Movie" for pushing an anti-business message. Amid a contentious election that could swing the balance of power in the Senate, challenger Russ Feingold has repeatedly revisited Johnson’s statements, including June 3, 2016, at the state Democratic Party convention in Green Bay. Amid one of many reminders that he had visited all 72 Wisconsin counties, Feingold said this: "Something else I didn’t hear around the state is that, as Sen. Johnson said, that ‘The Lego Movie’ — he said this — that ‘The Lego Movie’ is an insidious, anti-business conspiracy.
I didn’t hear that. My grandkids don’t even think that." Did a sitting U.S. senator claim Hollywood is in cahoots with anti-business forces elsewhere to bring their insidious doctrine to the masses? "The Lego Movie" — which was released in February 2014 and brought in almost $500 million worldwide — follows the exploits of an extraordinarily average Lego construction worker named Emmet. The Washington Post described him as "an unthinking worshipper at the consumerist temples that President Business has erected to distract his citizens from Business’ evil plan to freeze them into a state of perfection." In short, President Business — later revealed to be the sinister Lord Business — is trying to glue all the Legos together to keep everything in its proper place, and Emmet and his team of master builders want to maintain freedom and creativity. We eventually learn the plot stems from the imagination of a young boy playing with Legos belonging to his businessman father, who plans to, yes, glue them together to keep everything in its proper place.
So what did Johnson say? , a small group in Cedarburg and in a since-deleted blog post on his official Senate site. In the various comments, Johnson made multiple references to leftist control of education and the media and repeatedly referred to "The Lego Movie" as anti-business, though not in those direct words. , phrased it in a May 28, 2015, post, Johnson "lamented what he called a ‘cultural attitude’ that ‘government is good and business is bad,’ giving as an example the animated ‘Lego’ movie, in which the villain is called ‘Lord Business.’ "That's done for a reason," Johnson told the site. "They're starting that propaganda, and it's insidious." Johnson noted in his blog post the same day that his comments were inspired by a Wall Street Journal column criticizing the anti-business tone of the movie. So Johnson clearly called the movie ‘insidious’ and implied it was anti-business, but there’s no conspiracy claim. (Merriam-Webster defines a conspiracy as "a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal.")
When questioned on the "conspiracy" claim, Feingold’s campaign provided a dozen links to stories on Johnson and "The Lego Movie," but no evidence that Johnson had called it a conspiracy. A Feingold spokesman noted only that Johnson mentioned the movie to the Leader-Telegram two days after describing to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce how "the radical left" controls the university system, education system, news media, entertainment media and "more and more of our courts." The coverage of that talk also did not include any more direct reference to a conspiracy. And the conspiracy claim was notably absent when Feingold’s campaign hammered Johnson on "The Lego Movie" several weeks before the Democratic convention speech. The campaign issued a news release May 14 and even sent a press assistant to Johnson’s Milwaukee office dressed as Lord Business, asserting he and Johnson were friends. The character offered to endorse the senator if he supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement backed by the Obama administration.
As long as we’re on the topic, are Johnson and other commentators right to call the movie anti-business? However you summarize the plot, it is a feature-length piece of product placement, which seems a curious frame for anti-business propaganda. And while being "anti-business" is an opinion, it’s worth noting the creators at least didn’t intend it that way. Philip Lord, who co-wrote and co-directed the movie, described it as an "anti-totalitarian film for children. Something that was talking about the importance of freedom and innovation in keeping society honest." When asked to respond on Twitter to the anti-business claims last year, Lord said: "Art deserves many interpretations, even wrong ones." Feingold told a hall full of Democrats that his opponent called "The Lego Movie" an "insidious, anti-business conspiracy." Johnson used the word "insidious" to describe the movie on multiple occasions and repeatedly referred to it as anti-business, though not in so many words.