You might also want to check out our reviews of The Lego Movie, Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, and Batman Begins – and of course, Check out our book on Amazon to see how to use films to have adoption-friendly family movie nights all year round! The film presents adoption and orphans in some unhelpful andBruce is referred to as “the greatest orphan of all time.” Dick asks Bruce, “Do you have any advice on how to get adopted?” He goes on to list several things he could do to become more likely to be adopted including learning a foreign language and having “experimental surgery to make my eyes larger and more vulnerable looking.” He also asks Bruce whether Bruce would be more interested in adopting a “base model orphan” or one with “more upgradedBruce doesn’t really listen to Dick’s questions and carelessly answers each of his questions with a thoughtless affirmative. Although Bruce still isn’t listening, Dick confides in him, “All I want is to get adopted so I can finally stop being
Bruce still isn’t paying attention when Dick asks whether Bruce is looking to adopt, and his careless answer of “yup, yup, yup, yup” makes him Dick’s unwitting adoptive parent. Dick seemed to feel that he had to change something about himself in order for him to be able to get adopted – how do you feel aboutIf you were Dick’s friend, what would you tell him? Thanks for checking out our review of The Lego Batman Movie. You might also want to check out our reviews of , , , and – and of course, to see how to use films to have adoption-friendly family movie nights all year round!Though my kids and I saw “The Lego Movie” last week, I’ve been avoiding blogging about it. Contrary to what some commenters claim, I don’t relish seeing yet another movie for kids with the same old sexist pattern that’s been done so many times my head spins. I’m so fucking sick of the Minority Feisty, I could scream. I cannot believe Hollywood keeps churning out this shit.
The last line of the movie, the finale, is all you really need to know to understand the sexist stereotyping throughout. Batman (a major character, while Wonder Woman gets two lines) urges his girlfriend, Lucy, to go off with, the movie’s protagonist, saying: “No, Lucy. He’s the hero you deserve.” The girl– and she is the girl– is the prize to be won. Why can’t a girl be the fucking hero? Here’s what drives me crazy about this film. “The Lego Movie” is all about prizing creativity above all, yet, when it comes to gender, innovation flies right out the window and cliche dominates the imaginary world. It’s just like how in “Turbo” the movie’s message is that a snail can win the Indy 500, follow your dreams, be anything you want to be…unless you happen to be a girl. Same with “Planes:” anyone can become a champion, even a crop duster, except for…females. What are children supposed to think about possibility and potential when in narrative after narrative girls are stuck in supporting roles if they get to exist at all?
The bad guy (yes, bad guy) in “The Lego Movie,” Mr. Business, is evil because he wants all the LEGO sets to stay only with their intended pieces. He wants to build impenetrable boundaries to make sure nothing too creative goes on. His deadly weapon, the kragle, is superglue. To Mr. Business, LEGO is not about process and creativity, but a static, finished, perfect product. This is a brilliant message to teach kids. Art is about process (not to mention, life.) LEGO’s self-awareness about its toy surprised and impressed me. The movie’s narrative illustrates the problem I have with LEGO sets (besides their sexism, of course.) Every time I struggle through yet another 1,000 piece project with my kids, I wonder: What is the point here? What are we learning, how to follow directions? Near the end of the movie, Will Ferrell, who voices Mr. Business appears in human form. He’s angry with his son (yep, his son) who’s in the basement, playing with Ferrell’s completed LEGO sets.
The kid has put a dragon on top of a building, where it’s not supposed to be. Ferrell gets mad, and the kid says, “But it’s a toy! For 8 to 14 year olds.” Ferrell says, “That’s just a suggestion!” At this point, like so many other times in the movie, I cracked up. The villain is my husband. While I lie there wondering what the point of LEGO is, he’s snatching up pieces, trying to finish the set himself, do it all perfectly, and once it’s done, he puts it somewhere high up where no one can reach it. So, this is what I want to know: LEGO, how can you be so creative, smart, and funny but then fall into tropes when it comes to gender roles? Why can’t you break through the impenetrable boundary of your own sexism? There’s one Minority Feisty gleam of hope that comes at the end of the father son scene. After an epiphany, Farrell lets his kid enjoy the LEGO and says, “Now that you’re allowed down here, we’ll have to let your sister play too.” Cue the scary music.
Could this be the next movie? Girls are allowed to play, front and center? And what if those girls are actually seen having an adventure, not shopping or eating at a cafe or taking care of sick puppies or whatever LEGO Friends allows them to do? LEGO’s world would change. Not to mention ours. That would be an adventure. Reel Girl rates “The Lego Movie” ***H*** Update: For those of you who don’t know about LEGO’s history of sexism, here are some posts you should read: If you want to see how male protagonists dominate children’s movies while female characters are continually sidelines or go missing all together, check out Reel Girl’s Galleries:They seem to have been around forever (actually, since 1949). As a kid, some 40 years ago, I can remember playing with them: colored plastic bricks that snapped together. Since then, the Lego empire has expanded, venturing into arenas previously dominated by model kits and action figures. Now, there's no need to combine Legos with other products to develop a bedroom floor adventure milieu - Lego produces everything.
But toys were just the tip of the iceberg. Video games, cartoons, amusement parks, and now a potential blockbuster movie have joined the fold. Over the past few years, animated films have reached a nadir with promotional and box office considerations trumping all else. It has worked for the bean counters - high profile animated films are as close to "gold" as anything out there. Unfortunately, the care and effort lavished on the genre during the '90s and '00s, as Pixar rose like cream to the top, has been missing in recent years. In particular, the "dual layer" approach, in which an animated film works on different levels for adults and kids, has largely evaporated. Pixar hasn't made one of those since 2010's Toy Story 3 and, in the interim, we've seen only a few similar efforts from the other animation studios: Despicable Me and Wreck-It Ralph, in particular. Despite a generic, marketing-friendly title, The Lego Movie fills the breach nicely. It's not as complete and satisfying a film as the best of Pixar but it's at least on par (and perhaps a little better) than some of the lesser post-Toy Story 3 efforts.
This is truly a movie that children and their parents can both enjoy for different reasons. The Lego Movie boasts an over-the-top and childish base story, but that's by intent. This is essentially the kind of imagination-fueled romp one might expect if a creative child was placed in a room with an unlimited quantity of Legos. The result would be spaceships, explosions, an overflow of pop culture icons, and general mayhem. The movie attempts to replicate this but, as is revealed in a third act twist, there's more to things than initially meets the eye. The narrative thrust in the final 30 (or so) minutes gives The Lego Movie thematic heft. Older viewers will ponder father/son relationships and how the weight of "adult concerns" conspires to kill the child in all of us. Younger viewers may be perplexed by some of this but they'll still have a satisfying final confrontation to enjoy. The Lego Movie tells of the adventures of an average construction guy named Emmet (voice of Chris Pratt) who is mistaken for "The Special," a master builder prophesied to save the world.
At the moment, the world does in fact need saving because Lord Business (Will Ferrell) is putting into action a plan to destroy it. Accompanied by faithful companions Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), and Vituvius (Morgan Freeman), Emmet seeks to fulfill his destiny while avoiding capture by Lord Business' henchman, Bad Cop (Liam Neeson). The film's look should match the expectations of Lego fans. A certain "clunkiness" to the (pseudo) stop-motion aspects of the animation is intentional - the result of ensuring that every aspect of the landscape looks like it was assembled using Legos. When water floods a compartment, it's "Lego water." When fire erupts, it's "Lego fire." There are some exceptions late in the film but these come with explanations. Co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a Chance for Meatballs) have taken a page out of the Legoland book and used virtual Legos to fill every nook and cranny of the film. Many of the high profile characters Lego has licensed over the years make appearances.
The only one with a significant role is Batman, who is played like a parody of Christian Bale's interpretation (right down to the growling voice, provided by Will Arnett). Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Gandalf, Dumbledore, Shaq, and at least one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have cameos. Like Batman, they are comedic versions of their more serious non-Lego alter egos. A quartet of Star Wars characters also makes appearances: C3PO, Chewbacca, Han, and Lando. While voice actor Keith Ferguson is Han, original actors Anthony Daniels and Billy Dee Williams lend their talents. Having seen the movie in 2-D, I can't comment on the quality of the 3-D version, but the 2-D prints are bright, colorful, and altogether pleasing to the eye. The only place where I noticed an obvious nod to 3-D viewing was during the opening credits. My guess is that this looks fine in 3-D and the format choice is a matter of personal preference (and a willingness to pay the extra money). The Lego Movie is a solid cinematic translation of the toys from which it gains its name.