He is usually the star of the show wherever he goes.But Liam Neeson shared the limelight with his character from The Lego Movie at the Cinema Societyscreening in New York on Wednesday.The jolly Northern Irishman broke into a menacing grimace as he held a model of Bad Cop/Good Cop, the movie's tough guy villain with a split personality. He's so two faced: Jolly Liam Neeson grimaced as he posed with his Bad Cop/Good Cop character at a screening of The Lego Movie in New York on Wednesday The former Guiness brewery worker seemed to be having a great time as he hammed it up on the pre-showing red carpet.Liam, 61, was looking great for his age in a black suit and open necked shirt, though he would been even smarter had he worn a tie.He also posed alongside Chris Pratt, who plays the films hero Emmet, an ordinary construction worker mini-figure who is mistaken for a master builder who can save the entire Lego universe. Old bill: The 61-year-old was looking great for his age in a suit and open-necked shirt combo
Who's the biggest star? Chris Pratt gave a helpful hint as he posed with his co-star The Rob Roy favourite said he had no hesitation in signing up for the film as he has played with the building brick toy since he was a boy.He said: 'I was always a Lego fan, they've been around since the Jurassic period I think.'I'm 60 years of age and when I was a kid Lego was around, so I had them and my nieces and nephews and my sons had them.''It was very much part of my world, so I was thrilled to be part of this.' Bricking it: Chris looked proud as he stood next to a portrait made of Lego pieces in honour of the movie That's more like it: But he seemed far more excited to be posing next to a proper Lego man And while it is a children's movie, he said there will be plenty of laughs for parents too.Liam said: 'What the writers and directors have come up with is crazy, zany, brilliant dialogue between all the major characters.The witticism these characters throw at each other is quite extraordinary.
And he said he loved improvising with Anchorman star Will Ferrell, who plays his evil boss Lord Business, even though they were acting together in different sound studios.He said: 'I'm wearing it as a badge of honour that I got to crack jokes with Will Ferrell.' Lovely Legos: Elizabeth Banks flaunted her perfect pins as she showed up for the screening You have 10 seconds to comply: Bad Cop/Good Cop is far more intimidating than the new RobocopProduct placement as artistic expression, The Lego Movie is less interested in the product proper than in the way people play with said product. Instead of a big-screen toy catalog, this is a kids’ comedy about social engineering.As Lego enthusiasts know, there are two extreme types of Lego personalities. Some meticulously follow the directions for each set, constructing exactly as instructed and never daring to disassemble a completed project. Then there are those who dump the pieces of multiple sets in one big pile and form bizarre creations, most of which enjoy brief, strange lives before being dismantled and reformed into something weirder.
Identifying where you fall on the Lego spectrum will explain a lot about your approach to life.The Lego Movie opens in one of the first scenarios, a carefully planned city where a nondescript construction worker named Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt) compliantly goes about his ordered routine, the same one followed by everyone else. Emmet and his coworkers build according to their assigned instructions, bop their heads to the same hit song (“Everything Is Awesome!”) and line up to pay for overpriced coffee each morning. If there is ever any grumbling, their domineering overlord President Business (Will Ferrell) placates them with promises of Taco Tuesday.Taco Tuesday is more than enough to pacify Emmet, at least until he meets WyldStyle (Elizabeth Banks). A loner with impulsive streaks of color in her hair, WyldStyle decidedly does not follow instructions. Soon she sweeps Emmet into an adventure aimed at deposing President Business and bringing individuality, spontaneity and creativity back into the Lego universe.
The Lego Movie feels like a junior version of Jacques Tati’s Playtime.What is the shape – physically and philosophically – of a healthy society? That’s the unlikely but guiding question behind The Lego Movie, which was written and directed by the team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street). They explore it with the quick wit and giggly humor of a children’s film, yes, but also in a way that respects (indeed, challenges) its target audience’s intelligence. From throwaway lines (“I think I heard a whoosh”) to priceless character cameos (the pompous Batman might be my favorite, though I’m also partial to the Abraham Lincoln who zips around in a space chair), the movie doesn’t let a moment pass without a laugh. You watch in gleeful anticipation, because every brick might just contain a gag.Aesthetically, The Lego Movie is a head-on collision between rudimentary imagery and spastic sophistication. Rather than create anthropomorphic versions of Lego figures, the film stays true to the geometric body types, flat facial features and even removable hair pieces of the real-life toys.
It lends a hand-crafted sensibility that’s oddly endearing (similar to that of South Park). A tactile feel is also brought to the animation, as the CGI employed mostly mimics the herky-jerky movement of stop motion. Altogether, the picture embraces the multitude of color and shape variations inherent in Legos and then puts them in a frantic spin cycle.During the “Everything Is Awesome!” number, this is thematically ingenious, if a bit deranged. It’s like the flip side of Alex’s experience in A Clockwork Orange, as we’re force-fed a barrage of happy happy joy joy sounds and images. The action sequences, however – in which our heroes create elaborate escape vehicles and other devices on the fly – move at such a harried place that they may induce seizures. (Although they are, I might add, still more comprehensible than your average Transformers action scene.)In any case, this commitment to endless, exponential creativity is connected to the movie’s underlying worldview: that ingenuity should always trump conformity, whether you’re planning a community or playing in your basement.