[Film] The LEGO movie

From the very first time that I saw a trailer for the LEGO movie I knew that I wanted to see it. I had to see it. The trailer was very, very funny, and the film was clearly going to make the adaptability and creativity inherent in LEGO a central part of the story. I was sold. Sadly, in a familiar story, I missed it at the cinema. My old fallback, the Student Cinema, looked like it would come to the rescue once again, but I ended up being busy on the night that they showed it, so it looked as though I would miss out. Then I decided I wanted to see a film over the bank holiday weekend, and to my surprise saw that the Odeon had a couple of showing in the morning. So off I went.

Even the poster is awesome. (Credit: en.wikipedia.org)

This film is brilliant. I mentioned the trailer being funny, but the full film really ramps it up to 11. There are a lot of clever little references in there to various pop culture things, ranging from films ('Come with me if you want to not die') to video games, tv shows, and music. I was chuckling all the way through, and there were some really, really funny moments. But around that there's actually a really good story, and one which presents some interesting questions and commentaries on traditional story-telling tropes, imagination and creativity versus precision and 'just-so', and the direction of Lego itself as a product.

The storyline is a fairly familiar 'chosen one' tale, but takes some interesting turns and riffs on the expectations of the audience. This chosen one really is useless and boring, but in his very blandness ends up saving the day (as expected). But there's also a second level to the story that, if you've been paying attention as you go along, won't be so much of a shock as a nice way to take the film to the next level and appeal to the adults in the audience. Like most of Pixar's offerings this is a "children's" film that has lots in it for adults, but unlike those films the LEGO movie directly addresses its adult viewers, and asks them some questions.

Metalbeard is amazing. He has cannons for a hand! And a shark on his arm! Not that's how you create a pirate-themed

suit in LEGO. (Credit: wolcartoon.com)

Once of the great things about the film is the way that the very nature of LEGO is integral to the storyline. This isn't a film about LEGO (well, not for most of the film anyway) but a film that just happens to use LEGO as its medium. The characters swap parts around at will, build crazy contraptions, and use the detachable nature of their limbs to their advantage. There's even a character with multiple personalities, depicted by his head rotating through 180 degrees! The laser guns shoot the little coloured plastic rods! How can you not love this film?

What I found particularly interesting was the way that the film tackles the direction of LEGO as a product head-on, and leaves you with a message that's almost completely at odds with the way that LEGO sets have evolved over the years. Rather than using LEGO to build things the way they're supposed to be, according to the instructions, and leaving them like that forever, the film tells us to use our imagination. Build things with parts from wherever you find them, create completely new models, and don't be afraid to experiment. After all, that's the beauty of LEGO. Yet over the years the product itself has moved away from this in my opinion towards sets that are very prescriptive, and to parts that are more and more specific in their use. For the official LEGO movie to send a message that's almost the antithesis of this is a bold move, and one that I applaud.

Voila - the double decker couch. That's thinking outside the box. (Credit: leahlambart.com)

If you've ever played with LEGO, then do yourself a favour and see this film however you can. You won't be disappointed.