What are the possibilities when making a film out of Legos? In many ways, they are excellent for starter films made by young aspiring filmmakers, often being used as stop-motion figures to create online videos or early skits to get an idea of how to create an actual film, with these types of movies having being titled Brickfilms. But outside of that, they have rarely been used in cinema because it would come across as too gimmicky, feel like it is a creation only meant to sell toys, and would be seen as far too childish.  Warner Brothers was hoping to challenge this mindset and gave the reigns of a Lego Movie off to Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, two writers that have earned their niches for movies that are entertaining while also being pretty child-like and stupid. This combined effort along with various other impressive elements helped to mould what should have been a soulless, cynical cash-grab on a famous product, and instead made something charming, creative, fun, and unbelievably wholesome. In a world of Legos, an everyday un-special Lego named Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt) is pushed away from his casual boring life when he is deemed ‘’the special one’’ by a band of resistance fighters trying to upset the tyrannical order of the evil Lord Business (voiced by Will Ferrell). With plans of having every Lego creation frozen in place, Emmet, along with squad leader Wyldstyle (voiced by Elizabeth Banks), the blind old mentor named Vitruvius (voiced by Morgan Freeman) and even Lego Batman (voiced by Will Arnett) have to get this special ‘’piece of resistance’’ (which is stuck on Emmet’s back) to Lord Business’ evil device before he puts all of the Lego Universe into permanent stasis. The warning signs that were going off in people’s head were immediately silenced as soon as they saw the film. The reception for this film was incredibly high by both films and critics, even to the point where they were upset when the film was not nominated for an Oscar. For what could have easily failed, The Lego Movie opens up audiences of all ages back to their nostalgic routes without being manipulative.

The first obvious point about the movie comes from simply reading out the plot, its an incredibly stupid plot. Everything about it feels unbelievably childish and even captures a similar atmosphere in how the characters act throughout. But what should be simplistic and annoying instead makes the movie feel incredibly similar to how a child would make a movie about Legos. The energy of a child mixed with writers that do incredibly well at mixing heart-felt and wholesome with random craziness gives the film an atmosphere that works for both a young audience in providing them with flashy imagery and funny situations, but also in connecting to adults in reminding them about the creativity and heart that Legos can give. The entire movie proves to be insanely charming through the writing, the characters, the visuals and especially within its message, which is usually a pretty hammered in lesson but is handled with great care, timing and build-up which makes it a truly heart-warming closer. The twits towards the end of the film really drives home the strengths of the toy brand and why they are still being played by children and adults alike to this day and it remarkably doesn’t make the film feel like an advertisement even though the entire movie is nothing but a demonstration for Legos. This reveal does have a few cheesy moments that take that happiness level a bit too overboard, but it thankfully does not disrupt the movie overall.

The characters all act and talk like children, even in the situations that should require a ‘’serious’’ moment, the dialogue and acting from everybody sounds like something that would come out of a child’s mind, and that strangely doesn’t distract the movie at all. Every single voice actor for this film is very good at comedic timing and each one is very good at playing into this kiddish atmosphere while still keeping their adult talents in check. Chris Pratt feels like a Jack Black of the current era; where his mannerism and attitude feel incredibly kiddish in the best way and can add a lot to a role if it’s in part with his style, this is very much that style, making the character really likeable and innocent. Elizabeth Bands is a good love interest and Morgan Freeman is always perfect as the mentor-type character, even so much that the movie knows to make fun of that fact. Will Arnett provides a very entertaining Lego Batman, so much so that it would later get him his own spin-off movie in the same universe. Will Ferrell, who can usually come across as very annoying and shouty, also works pretty well in this as the main bad guy, feeling much more reserved in this role which is especially ironic. Even side characters like the side villain played by Liam Neeson is especially funny in this, utilising his typical gruff and monotone voice offset with an occasion happy, sun-shiny attitude is simply perfection.

The film’s animation would have been unbelievably difficult even in comparison to other animated films. Making an entire movie out of physical Lego-created sets and models would have been close to impossible, so the film took a CG approach, but with careful detail and inspiration from several Brickfilm movies and Lego Studio sets to make these areas feel and move like real sets. It is a marvel to look at every single location and every character moving around within it, as every Lego character moves like how a Brickfilm would move its figures, being intentionally jumpy and moving like they are being guided by a hand. It gives the film its own style of motion and imagery and the usage of CG allows for the colors to be extra vibrant, the facial expressions to be surprisingly good for simple Lego figures, the sets to be better shown off and for the action to be extra flashy and full of motion. These set pieces can often be so glisty and move at such speeds that it can sometimes be a bit disorienting to watch, but otherwise its pretty cool to witness. The music for the film done by Mark Mothersbaugh, feels like a nice balance between retro chip tunes and current style music which is a nice enough balance. Also, the film’s main song ‘’Everything is Awesome’’ is so intentionally catchy and painfully repetitive and simple that it will never leave your head after listening to it. The writers for this film have always been excellent at this type of silly and delightfully kid-oriented style humor and their handling of it does not make people groan, but rather gets them in the mindset of a child which makes them more accepting. The flashy and often randomness of the humor can mostly stem from Miller and Lord’s involvement along with Chris McKay, the director of Robot Chicken, having also co-directed the film along with them.

Against all odds, The Lego Movie turned out a fantastically entertaining, energised and intentionally silly film that works for both kids and adults while never feeling like a cash-in product simply made to sell toys, rather present them in the best way possible. This idea has been done in other outings with examples like Bionicles, PlayMobil and even Emojis trying to get their own movie, but none managed to reach the level that this film manages to raise itself too. With charming humor, wholesome story, likeably silly characters, very impressive visuals and a nostalgic atmosphere, there is very little not to like about this movie. There’s very little left to say as many people have already grown to love this movie and will no doubt see it again, but overall, a majority of this film is simply awesome.