Who would've thought the first real cinematic triumph of 2014 would be a film based on a toy series?
Writer/director team Phil Lord and Christopher Miller build off the previous success they had on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street to craft a film that not only manages to avoid being a long-winded advertisement for Lego products, but is one of the most engrossing, heartfelt and amusing animated films to grace the screen since the dawn of the new millennium.
Like the animated classics of yesteryear, Lord and Miller beautifully combine humor that is aimed at children and adults. For every silly gag aimed at the younger audience, there is a pop culture reference or observation that only the older crowd would understand. There's a certain oddball sophistication to Lord and Miller's style of comedy that just makes their films so unique and gives them the ability to pander to audiences of all ages.
Lord and Miller make their rapid-fire comedy really pop with a voice cast chock full of comedy talent. What looks like a dream team of modern TV sitcom scene stealers Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation), Allison Brie (Community), Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philladelphia), feed off each other like it was a live action project. Even if it's just their voices, it's great to see so many standout actors from some of the finest television comedies of the moment share the screen together. Non-comic actors like Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson also get to let loose and add to camaraderie of the project. Freeman and Nesson deliver tongue-in-cheek rifts on their recent role choices (Freeman as the old wise character with the distinctive, much-lauded voice, Nesson's sudden transformation into ass-kicking action hero) with good spirits and a willingness to poke fun at themselves.
What really makes The Lego Movie stand out from a majority of recent animated fare is just how genuine its heart is. The film's message of being yourself and not suppressing your creativity is a potent one that really resonated with me. Creativity is not celebrated nearly enough in children's films and hopefully this film will inspire younger viewers to develop their own unique ideas and use their imaginations to explore the unknown. The Lego Movie dares the audience to create and think outside the box; which is exactly what the film itself did to become the newest animated classic. It's going to be damn near impossible for any other animated film released this year to be as funny, poignant, entertaining or visually-striking as The Lego Movie.
4/5 Stars
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