Official Synopsis
The original 3D computer-animated story follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as The Special, the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.
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The beginning of the film couldn’t have gone any better. You get a nice little backstory that firmly sets up the struggle between good/evil. Lord Business (evil – Will Ferrell) is introduced, as well as the soothsayer of sorts, Vitruvius (good — Morgan Freeman). You also get your weapon in this opening, which is called the KRAGLE (Krazy Glue), that is going to destroy the world. At the same time, Vitruvius gives the audience a description of the savior that is going to stop Business and his plans. All described, established and introduced within two minutes of the film opening.
That’s a way to do a setup, ladies and gents.
From that point, we’re introduced to our hapless hero Emmet (Chris Pratt), who is completely oblivious to the evil world around him. He goes about his business of doing remedial work on a day-to-day basis and loves every minute of it. Pratt leading the way with Emmet was the right move, as he gives lighthearted life to a budding hero. When hasn’t Pratt given a free-spirited approach to his characters?
Moving along, Emmet works his day to his fullest with destroying and rebuilding buildings, and runs across a mysterious stranger messing around the work area. Wanting to call it in to report the unusual occurrence, Emmet finds himself falling down a rabbit hole and into an artifact that literally latches onto him, thus making him the savior or what Vitruvius calls ‘The Special’.
And this is where the film and its comedy really gets going.
Emmet wakes from his attachment to find himself under interrogation with Good Cop/Bad Cop. He eventually escapes, with the help of Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), and is on the lamb from Lord Business and his cronies. His mission is to stop the KRAGLE from being unleashed on the LEGO world and to save his own keister as well. Along the way on Emmet’s adventure to save the world, you’re given multiple LEGO worlds that shake up the variety of the visuals and humor. You also pick up various amounts of LEGO characters as the story progresses, which makes for good comedy.
The LEGO Movie is simply a wonderful film that not only brings a wacky story that is woven together nicely, but also a sense of nostalgia for everyone’s childhood when it comes to LEGOs. The fact that Warner Bros. actually allowed (or bought) pretty much every conceivable interesting LEGO license to include in the film, including Star Wars, really adds some humorous depth to the entire piece.
Speaking of the entire piece, the story woven together by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller is pretty strong. It never feels like a chore due to the amount of humor embedded into the piece that caters to all ages. Also, it helps when you understand how much screen time jokes and characters should have at any given point. For example, Will Arnett’s Batman, while hilarious and cool, gets a perfect amount of screen time to set up his coolness, idiocy and pompous attitude. He never goes beyond what he is needed of him and comes back now and then to deliver just a bit more to the story. His interaction with the Star Wars characters is gold. I’m not going to ruin that for you.
In short, the movie is balanced well. You get the right amount of story, the right amount of screen time for each character and it never feels bloated.
With that said, the only issue I have with The LEGO Movie is when *SPOILER ALERT* the movie shifts from the LEGO world into the real world. I like that they tried to make that crossover and give some explanation to the existence of the KRAGLE, as well as Lord Business’ intentions, but I’m not entirely sure that it was necessary. In fact, it sort of cracked the world they had built up for a good portion of the film. I think connection about why the LEGO world exists could have been developed. The human element hurt it a bit, but didn’t ruin it. *SPOILER END*
That issue aside, the movie is still darn entertaining. It hits home with some nostalgia and mixes in some great writing and comedy bits. This is a movie that has something for everyone, and no one should complain about the end result.
If you haven’t experienced The LEGO Movie yet, then you best get going when it arrives tomorrow on Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD. The movie along is worth your time and attention.
As for the Blu-ray portion of the film, the stop motion feel of The LEGO Movie doesn’t keep this Blu-ray from looking good. The HD transfer from the film produces a clean and crisp look to the visuals. There isn’t any graininess or artifacts with the transfer. You get a lot of solid looking colors, which are in full bloom in the LEGO world (every type of color possible rears its head in this movie). I’m particularly impressed with the contrast between whites/blacks, which stand out when it comes to lighting and shading. Again, the transfer for this movie is absolutely gorgeous. Just another feather in the cap of Warner Home Video and its ongoing efforts to bring you the best of the Blu-ray bunch.
In addition to the good visuals, you also get 5.1 Dolby Digital and a film aspect ration of 2.4:1.
(Reviewed in passive)
As for the 3D, the amount of depth the movie provides bodes well for the 3D format and it makes complete sense. Some films tend to force the 3D and it ends up coming off beautifully hokey, but with The LEGO Movie you get a good amount of depth between your foreground and background layers. For example, when the Good Cop/Bad Cop kicks the silver chair that eventually hits a frightened police officer in the background, you can really appreciate the draw distance between the fleeing officer in the background and the body of the Good Cop/Bad Cop in the foreground. It’s done quite well. A lot of people loved this movie in 3D and rightfully so.
Shifting gears, the special features portion of this collection is actually quite solid. Here’s what you are getting:
· Feature commentary
· Batman: A True Artist
· Michelangelo and Lincoln: History Cops
· Enter the Ninjago
· Bringing LEGO® to Life
· “Everything is Awesome” Sing-Along
· See it! Build it!
· Stories from the Story Team
· Fan-Made Films: Top Secret Submissions
· Outtakes
· Additional Promotional Content
· Alleyway Test
· Deleted Scenes
· Additional Promotional Content
· PLUS Dream Job: Meet The LEGO® Builders
As you can see, the party doesn’t stop at the entertaining movie. There are lots of things to be seen and had with the special features. The commentary is pretty darn solid, as is the Stories from the Story Team and outtakes. The deleted scenes are quite good and the additional content for the Blu-ray (the last on that list) is worth your time and attention. Most of this is geared towards kids, but adults will certainly get a kick out of this list. It’s good stuff.
Overall, you get a strong special features section to accompany a great 3D film. What more could you possibly want?
Own “THE LEGO MOVIE” now on Digital HD and on June 17th on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD 2-Disc Special Edition