Back in 1930, a couple of years after the release of the first ever synchronized-sound cartoon, “Steamboat Willie”, Walt Disney commissioned the first ever stuffed doll of its star, Mickey Mouse. The effect on children worldwide was instantaneous – they went nuts, demanding that parents everywhere rush to stores to buy one immediately before somebody else snatched them all up. Yes, for almost as long as there has been cinema, there has been movie tie-in toys.
Still, it probably wasn't until Hasbro launched its G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of action figures in 1982 that someone got the bright idea to make the toys first and then worry about the movies and TV shows later. Sure, it's not the usual way one goes about producing art, but hey, at least give them some credit for being honest about their intentions. Besides, it worked. The G. I. Joe show became a runaway hit, and stores couldn't keep the colorfully named characters on the shelf (except for maybe Dial Tone, because what kid wants an action figure whose only battle accessory is a phone?). The result is that hundreds of millions of dollars and a few decades later, Hollywood and Madison Avenue are still teaming up to crank out films based on existing product lines: Battleship, Transformers, Masters of the Universe, Bratz (can you believe it… Bratz?) – the list goes on and on. If the suits think there's a buck to be made from a brand, they'll churn out a movie based on it. Not good movies, mind you, but movies just the same.
And so it is that we come to the latest in this long line of cynically produced efforts in profiteering, The Lego Movie. Apparently not content with the billions of toy bricks they've sold over the years – not to mention the countless books, clothing lines, TV shows, video games, and retail outlets that have spun off from them – the Lego Group has decided that what they really, really need is an intake of box office money.
Well, guess what… if they keep making things as good as The Lego Movie, then they can have it. In what has to be the biggest surprise to show up in theaters so far this year, The Lego Movie turns out to be better than any other animated feature to hit the big screen in a long, long time (and yes, that includes Disney's Frozen). “Now, hold on,” you might be saying. “That sounds a bit over-the-top. Are you sure the movie earns such high praise based on its own merits, or simply because the previous year's animated efforts proved to be so lackluster?” Well, let's talk about that.
The story is a fairly simple one; the evil Lord Business, a.k.a. President Business (Will Ferrell), has grown tired of the constant building, tearing down, and rebuilding going on in the Lego world. To put an end to this activity, he launches an attack against the wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) in order to steal the Kragle, a mysterious object that has the power to keep things fixed in place for eternity once they've been properly constructed according to the instruction booklet. Business successfully obtains the Kragle, however, and Vitruviius warns him that a prophesied person known as the Special will arise, locate the legendary Piece of Resistance, and put an end to Business's evil machinations.
After that opening, we're introduced to Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt), a rather generic construction worker who eats the same breakfast as everybody else (croissants), who watches the same television show as everybody else (“Honey, Where's My Pants?”), who listens to the same song over and over again that everybody else listens to over and over again (“Everything Is Awesome!”), who… well, you get the idea. Emmet's life is ordered and monotonous, and he, like most of Lego City, likes it that way. But one day after work, Emmet notices a strange yet attractive figure sifting through the construction site and decides to investigate. Falling through a hole in the ground, Emmet discovers the Piece of Resistance, and, upon touching it, immediately passes out.
When Emmet awakes, he finds to his horror that he is in the custody of Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), the man tasked by President Business with finding and destroying both the Piece of Resistance and the Special. Before Bad Cop can carry out his orders, though, Emmet is rescued by Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), the girl he had been following at the construction site. Wyldstyle, as it turns out, is a member of the Master Builders, a group of creative individuals with the ability to construct anything they envision in their minds without the aid of an instruction booklet. With Bad Cop in hot pursuit, Wyldstyle, along with some help from Vitruvius and Batman (Will Arnett), attempts to deliver Emmet to the rest of the Master Builders so that he can tell them how to defeat Business. Unfortunately, once they reach their destination, the Master Builders are horrified to discover that Emmet is completely unremarkable and has never had a creative thought in his life. In short, if Emmet was the Special everyone was waiting for, then Lego World is doomed.
To say anymore about what happens next would be to spoil the surprises, and if there's anything The Lego Movie has a lot of, it's surprises. Unlike so many movies aimed at children, The Lego Movie is consistently funny, with jokes flying at the audience with the break-neck pacing of an Airplane or Naked Gun movie. The script contains a broad range of humor, from gags based on the toys themselves (when Wyldstlye whips her hair around in tried and true movie heroine fashion, for instance, her entire hairpiece revolves in a single motion) to timely cultural references (nobody can tell the difference between Lego Gandalf and Lego Dumbledore) to unexpected, clever comments on our consumerist society (weird coming from a movie based on a toy line, but that's just part of the film's charm).
Now if there's a criticism to be made, it's probably that the characters themselves are a bit thin (we're still talking about Lego mini-figures here, after all – just how deep can you expect things to get?) But truth be told, the voice work is so wonderful, you probably won't mind. Almost every word issued from the mouths of Vitruvius and Batman is gold, and many of the lesser characters such as Uni-Kitty (Alison Brie) and Benny the 1980-Something Space Guy (Charlie Day) are standouts, as well. Plus there's a couple of surprise voices I just don't have the heart to spoil, but they're almost worth the price of admission alone when they show up.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about The Lego Movie, though, is that it ends up having something of a heart by the time the credits roll. There are plenty of clues as to where the last act of the film is heading, and veteran movie watchers will probably guess the twist before it happens, but the way things play out is still both heartfelt and sentimental. Ultimately, the movie ends up being a paean to the imagination and creativity of playtime. You see, Lord Business isn't the bad guy because he's a capitalist or any other such nonsense – he's in the wrong because he's all work and no play; because he forgot, as Ecclesiastes tells us, that there is a time to build AND a time to tear down (see what I just did there?). God didn't rest on the seventh day because he wore himself out; he did it as a model for human action, so that we would understand that we, too, need to rest and be refreshed. God wants us to play, and The Lego Movie gets that in spades.
So yes, to answer the earlier question, the movie stands on its own merits. Of course, it's still obviously designed to sell Lego products (it should be no surprise that kits based on scenes from the movie were already on the shelves before opening day), but it really is much more than just a ninety minute commercial. Go see it for the laughs and then go home and play with your kids. (Lego purchase optional.)
In a world he didn't create, in a time he didn't choose, one man looks for signs of God in the world by… watching movies. When he's not reviewing new releases for Aleteia, David Ives spends his time exploring the intersection of low-budget/cult cinema and Catholicism at The B-Movie Catechism.
And today we celebrate...