The LEGO Movie Builds an Unexpected Treat

There are two kinds of people on Valentine’s Day: People who are going on a date and people going see The Lego Movie. It turns out the latter group might be luckier.

So many great moments elevate this above the standard all-ages film. The people behind the film avoided the temptation to cast unknowns and hack out a silly script to cash in on the built-in LEGO fandom created by the growing empire of LEGO stores and popular branded videogames, like LEGO Batman, LEGO Marvel Superheroes, and LEGO Lord of the Rings. As a result, the film is expected to rake in almost than $70 million in its first weekend, the second largest February opening weekend of all time.

Sure, there’s a lot of stuff about a prophecy, some other exposition about a plot to take over the world, and a number of scenes that play like a commercial for LEGO. But it goes down easy thanks to excellent voice performances by Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Jonah Hill, and Morgan Freeman.

The animation alone is worth the price of admission, just to see decades of incredible LEGO sets rendered on a monumental scale, then reshuffled with zeal and imagination. There are particularly fun scenes with Arnett as Batman, who appears in most of the film and undercuts the Dark Knight’s super seriousness with slapstick glee. If anything, this will only increase the fandom and ensure a sequel in the near future.

It’s not a perfect movie by any stretch, but like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? it knowingly plays off expectations to layer jokes and make the plot sail along. Like the movie’s signature song says, “Everything is awesome” … not quite, but this one knocks it way, way, way out of the park.