and telling Lucy that Emmet was the hero she deserved in the finale. And Batman was fighting a , which were his enemies .It's only been out for one weekend, but you've probably — like most of the world — seen "The LEGO Movie" multiple times. But did you catch all the Easter Eggs and plot points that zip by during the non-stop speedy dialogue and action? Here are some of our favorite blink-and-you-miss-it moments. And spoilers on, of course: "Eight And A Half Years Later" Right at the top of the movie, after Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) battle for possession of the all-powerful Kragle, we cut to a title screen that says, "Eight And A Half Years Later." While this is a nice preview of the running "very specific time frame" joke throughout the movie, it's also way more important to the plot. That's because Finn (Jadon Sand), the kid who ultimately turns out to be playing with the LEGOs in the movie is eight and a half years old. So though it's never explicitly stated, when Finn was born, The Man Upstairs locked his toys away, separated the worlds and made sure that his son would never play with them.
Given the poignant ending, this is yet another beautiful, emotional detail that adds to the richness of the film. Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman all get their time to shine in the movie, but there is one other DC Comics superhero gets his big screen debut. That would be the Flash, seen during Metal Beard's flashback to the Master Builders' initial assault on Lord Business' stronghold. He doesn't get any lines, so hopefully we'll get to see more of the speedster in the sequel. When Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and Emmet (Chris Pratt) visit The Old West, you can hear a plinky, olde timey Western version of "Everything Is Awesome" playing in the bar. One of the biggest cameos in the movie has to be when the Millennium Falcon shows up unexpectedly next to our heroes' pirate ship. Though they weren't able to get Harrison Ford back as Han Solo (he's voiced by Keith Ferguson, who's done various Ford characters on "Robot Chicken"), they did manage to snag Billy Dee Williams for Lando, and Anthony Daniels for C-3P0.
It's surprising that the Warner Brothers movie managed to get Disney's talent, but the long relationship between LEGO and Lucasfilm makes the whole thing a little more understandable. And super freakin' awesome. Another big screen reunion, Channing Tatum plays Superman and Jonah Hill plays Green Lantern, reprising their partnership from directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller's "21 Jump Street." The team will once again reunite on "22 Jump Street," though out of their superhero costumes. When Vitruvius runs down all the worlds Lord Business has tried to lock down, he mentions there's a bunch we don't care about. One that quickly flashes on screen is Bioncile, a LEGO line that ran from 2001-2010 with a deep, complicated back-story of its own. Though this may have been a joke at the expense of some of the brick-maker's failed toys, it's also an indication of places the story could go in the sequel. What's With All The Croissants? One of the more knowing jokes in the movie finds Emmet's "friends" talking about what makes them all different, which includes eating croissants, and loving turkey drumsticks.
The reason behind this is that LEGO has a few generic foods that fit right into mini-figs hands. Croissants actually show up in over 30 different LEGO sets, while turkey drumsticks are in well over 50. Probably the only item more popular is carrots, which show up over 60 times. Here's one we actually missed, but according to Deadline there's a shout-out to Jeffrey Robinov. The legendary studio head was working at Warner Brothers and greenlit "The LEGO Movie," before abruptly leaving the company. Perhaps he's mentioned on one of the many, many billboards in Brickington at the beginning of the movie? We'll just have to go watch the movie a few more times to find out... "The LEGO Movie" is currently in theaters.Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.Story highlightsMovie critics have crowned "The Lego Movie" as a must-seeReviews are pegging it as a cross between Pixar and "South Park"EW review: 'The LEGO Movie'Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly) ▲A.O.
Go watch the LEGO Movie. Believe the hype, forget that it’s ostensibly a children’s film and go watch it immediately. Try to avoid as many spoilers as possible and go see it. Your cinema viewing experience in 2014 is that much richer after watching it. The LEGO Movie is a knock down, irreverent, inventive piece of cinema that I believe will launch a thousand and one creative careers out of its unwitting child audience. The LEGO Movie is the most important mainstream blockbuster film since Star Wars: A New Hope and there’s no doubt in my mind that decades from now they’ll be a raft of filmmakers, screenwriters and more citing watching The LEGO Movie as the “lightbulb moment” that pushed them to pursue a creative career. Allow me to rein in my hyperbole for a moment. The LEGO Movie tells the story of everyman LEGO figure Emmet, who one day stumbles across mystical MacGuffin “the piece of resistance” and is enlisted by two Master Builders (LEGO characters who can build materials on the fly), action girl Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and old wise head Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) to stop evil tyrant Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from gluing the universe together with his Doomsday weapon “the Kraggle”.
To tell you anyone more of the plot would be to smash this bizarre party piñata early and give away half the fun so I’ll move things on quickly to why I keep using Star Wars as a cultural touchstone. Part of Star Wars’ success, both back in 1977 when A New Hope was first released and to this day, lies in its marriage of a simple tale with an extraordinary visual style and aesthetic. Luke Skywalker’s story is “The Hero of A Thousand Faces” tale writ large – a young adult is forced to go on a journey to gain a skill, or “boon” if we’re using Joseph Campbell’s terminology, so they might save the world. Along the way they will encounter a mentor (Obi Wan/Yoda), enjoy brief success (see the destruction of the Death Star), before descending into “Hell” (Luke’s time on Dagobah/losing his hand/discovering who Vader is) before eventually overcoming evil and saving the world. Luke Skywalker’s story is one you’ve heard a thousand times before (which certainly helped it spread internationally) – what made you stay to hear it told in Star Wars was the lightsabers, the Wookies, the Millennium Falcon and more.
The closest cinematic successor mainstream cinema produced to Star Wars; the first Matrix film, worked on the same principle. Again, Neo’s story was simple and followed all the familiar beats – what made you stay was the cyberpunk setting, the amazing choreographed martial arts fight scenes and of course, bullet-time. The LEGO Movie’s story (seems) to be a simple you’ve heard a dozen times before. What grabs you is the LEGO aesthetic. The LEGO Movie is an incredible marriage of CGI and stop motion animation that makes it one of the best movie worlds the big screen has seen in perhaps a decade. Watching Emmet do star jumps like a retro 2D platform character, water and fire made out of LEGO bricks and characters interlock claws rather than hold hands will have you snigger and bring into the film’s world – one that, unlike Star Wars and The Matrix, you can go home and replicate at home with a few toys and a camera. This is one of the most intelligent, inventive, inspirational films in a long time and its visual style can be aped by a seven year old with a camera and a bit of patience.
The same seven year olds that are going to be seeing this film in droves. Really think about that for a moment. If the plot sounds like a children’s parody of The Matrix, then that’s part of the big joke that lies at the film’s core. Don’t dismiss The LEGO Movie as a children’s film or something not worthy of your times because it seems predictable (I assure you, a potentially divisive moment in the final act of the film completely blindsided me). That Vitruvius, the film’s "mystical black man”, is voiced by cinema’s favourite father figure in Morgan Freeman is only the start of a number jokes that will have you mouth agape. Much like Lord and Miller’s previous surprise comedy hit, “21 Jump Street”, The LEGO Movie revels in and argues against its own existence. It could have been an overblown toy advert, so there are blink and you’ll miss it references to the LEGO toys on screen that you can buy. Emmet is an everyman, so of course he eats at chain restaurants and drinks overpriced coffee.
The LEGO Movie even finds time to take a swipe at dads in the audience who are using their children as an excuse for a nostalgia hit. At the beginning of my viewing I was worried that The LEGO Movie might be too clever. I felt a nine year old girl stare at me and wondering why I was giggling at an obscure sight gag and began to worry that much of this may fly over children’s heads, but at every turn, The LEGO Movie boasts an innate understanding that simple doesn’t have to mean stupid, and sometimes you have to let entertainment be entertaining - “this is stupid but we like it anyway so let’s do it.” As I left the cinema awestruck at The LEGO Movie, two ten years raced passed me, jumping up and down at their mum at how they were going to go home and start making stories of their own. You get the feeling there will be thousands more just like them. The LEGO Movie just may shape a generation. Carl Anka is but one of many sarcastic voices of ill-repute that suffers of obsessive pop-culture disorder and primarily exists on the internet.