OVP: The Lego Movie (2014)

Film: The Lego Movie (2013)
Stars: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman
Director: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Original Song-"Everything is Awesome")
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

While recent years have brought an onslaught of superheroes and fairy tales to multiplexes across the planet, it was only a matter of time before toys and games became a mainstay.  I mean, the cross-marketing possibilities are endless-look at what Disney and Mattel have done with their Princess, Tinkerbell, and Barbie lines through the years, creating a multiplatform industry by incorporating what’s going on on a big screen and what’s happening on a DVD.  Nothing better spices up a staid toy that’s been around for decades than a fresh new film.

Of course, this strategy hasn’t always worked (cough Battleship cough) and even a comic masterwork like Clue wasn’t a hit initially.  Therefore, I went into The Lego Movie with my brow furrowed, even with all of the praise being showered upon the film.  Little did I know that I was worried for nothing, as the film was a charming, utter delight.

(Spoilers Ahead) The plot of the film is pretty easy to solve and follow, with Emmett (Pratt) playing the role of our amiable but clueless hero, and Wildstyle (Banks) the girl he’s destined to fall in love with as they attempt to stop the evil Lord Business (Ferrell).  The film gets a bit long in the middle (occasionally there are too many twists as we’re getting to the obvious next plot shocker), but the movie’s secret weapon is that it is so attuned to its audience.  Most of the kids in the audience will be thrilled to see Batman, Superman, and countless other action heroes enter the screen and this is cheeky fun, but what’s better is all of the callbacks to the Lego brand itself.  From the appearance of the iconic ghosts and ninjas to a quick Duplo tease at the end of the film, the movie plays frequently with the toy brand itself and gives lots of great inside jokes for the adult audience.

The film also animates the story quite beautifully.  Computer-animated, it’s one of the only non-Disney films of its kind to really find the fun, clever color palette that Pixar employs and apply it to the screen. Lego toys are most often in solid patterns and bright, bold colors, so there’s very little tonal shifts and shadows, and instead we are given a cheeky look at the worlds that children created when they were young (which of course matches the big twist toward the end when we get a live-action sequence).

Since I’m in the midst of reviewing multiple Oscar-nominated films, I will point out that this movie could well be the Academy’s surest thing this year for a nomination of released films.  Animated feature this year looks quite lacking; Pixar has no contenders and Disney’s latest is a comic book film, a genre that has fared pretty poorly when the hero doesn’t have a butler named Alfred.  The only other contender that could make a legitimate play for the trophy right now is How to Train Your Dragon 2, but it’s worth noting that in a genre that crushes hard on sequels, only Toy Story 3 has pulled off a win as a follow-up (and it beat Hiccup's original escapade).  Could one of the bigger categories of the Oscars already have been locked up so soon?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

And also share your thoughts on The Lego Movie-I’m currently working my butt off to get through all of the films that I have stockpiled with reviews (most of them from the 2013 Oscar race…and then there’s a pile of films that I’m hoping to see soon and basically I'm just surrounded by oodles of ideas, though we're about to have our first seven-day-in-a-row-post-streak in eons, so at least we're delivering), so I’m far past getting to the party here, but surely some of you must remember the movie.  Did you like it?  Does it play well in the whole hippocampus?  Share your thoughts!