Movie Reaction: The Lego Movie

Formula: Toy Story / (Any toy that isn't Legos)

Note: I don't know if the plural of Lego is. Does it need the 'e' before the 's' or not? I'm going with my gut though.

Why I Saw It: Great voice cast, directors I'm growing to like, unique animation, etc.

[Voice] Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Will Ferrell, Will Forte, Morgan Freeman, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Jake Johnson, Liam Neeson, Shaq, Nick Offerman, Cobie Smulders, Billy Dee Williams. Need I say more?
...oh, I do. Uh, ok. Pratt, as seen from his work as Andy on Parks and Rec. can turn on overgrown-child mode which suits animation and this in particular very well.He's the only one who has to do much with his character. The rest is stunt-casting, mostly resulting in a couple good moments for each.

Plot: The story starts off as a sort of dystopia. Pratt's Emmet finds himself on a quest to stop Ferrell's President Business from destroying the world. That alone is fine for a kids movie. I'd've watched that enjoyably for the whole 90 minutes. Without going too much into a couple turns the movie throws in, there's a bigger message in this that I loved about creativity and imagination, which is perfect for what Legos have always stood for. It's a great message for kids and, as an adult who has always had trouble letting go of the childish freedom to create, I ate it up as well. The plot does over-reach though. It goes on a big "everybody's special" kick which I was not as hot on. Perhaps changing it to "everyone is different" or "everyone has their strengths" would've hit me better than "everyone is a winner and can be absolutely anything ever and should". Sorry for being vague about some of the specifics. There's just a couple things in here I'd rather not ruin.

Animation: This was a cool animation technique. The giant Lego world allowed this to look different than any other animated movie I've seen. It isn't as seamless as some of the best that Pixar or Dreamworks has to offer but it is so drenched on nostalgia that it didn't matter.

Elephant in the Room: How much does it rely on "Look, it's animated Legos!!!"? I don't walk into any animated movie rated under PG-13 expecting to constantly laugh. There's a give an take to most of them (one for the kids, one for the adults). The kid jokes are easy and I didn't find them to be groan-worthy here. For adults, the movie had to be clever. Sometimes, it tried to be too clever, but mostly, I enjoyed it. There is a lot of playing with the history of Legos and the backlist of generations the company has (generic city, outer space, wild west, pirates, NBA, etc.).

To Sum Things Up:
I went into The Lego Movie with high expectations but little idea of how it would be executed. Thankfully, the writers and producers put more thought into that than I did. If all you need is a hundred callbacks to memories of playing with Legos, you'll leave pleased. I would call the jokes in in charming as opposed to laugh out loud. What sold it for me is that the story is aiming a little higher than callbacks and jokes and succeeds, albeit with much subtlety.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend