A Wickedly subversive statement on contemporary childhood, the film is a joy to watch with an awful lot of craft, both in the visual aesthetics and in the storytelling.
The Lego Movie, 100 minutes, directors: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, *** 1/2 of 4 stars
How strange it is for The Lego Movie to come out on a weekend eyeballs all over the globe are focused to Sochi, a pop-up city built by an
oppressive regime. It, along with the modernizing China is a bit like
Bricksburg, the city at the center of this visually exhilarating movie. Told in a pseudo-style stop-motion-animation look, co-directors Phil
Lord and Christopher Miller have made a hilarious, engaging, witty and
allegorical film that deserves to ranked amongst Pixar’s best work.
The style is reminiscent of 8-bit graphics of the original
Nintendo Entertainment System, limiting its physical pallet (light does streak in for reasons we later learn). What is remarkable is just
how grounded the story is – set in a sort of reality, even the water (save for
a potential cheat) is made of those versatile Lego blocks. Allegedly inspired
(according to producer Dan Lin – talking to KCRW’s The Business) by stop motion
Lego fan fictions on YouTube, the film’s photorealistic look shows tremendous small details up-close including nominal wear and tare.
Revolutionary this sure is – a film with an awful lot of
product placement including the use of vintage characters – or shall we call them
collectables - that appear interchangeably within the narrative. They join
forces to save the world against Lord Business – aka President Business –
leader of the Octan. Of course this one just one story that can be told here – maybe not
even the best story – producer Dan Lin has an interesting point; the universe
is endless.
Still, this is one lovable flick. Our Man is Emmet (voiced by
Chris Pratt), an anonymous construction worker who follows the directions at all
times, a textbook for the design of a happy, productive life. That is until he finds
a valuable piece wanted by Lord Business (Will Ferrell) and a secret
underground resistance of master-builders led by Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) as
a kind of voice of God. Emmett teams with Lego cyber-punk Wyldstyle (Elizabeth
Banks) and her boyfriend Batman (Will Arnett) for the adventure. What follows
is delightful as they travel to various realms and play sets. They include the
Wild West and a cloud where anything goes – before they’re summonsed back to
the Octan controlled Bricksburg in a call to action.
(Potential Spoiler Alert)
The story contains a complexity providing an unexpected political analysis of a contemporary childhood that I have not quite seen before on screen - at least not recently. Once the clues snap together we see what exactly is occurring – the events in Bricksburg reflect a patchwork of news stories overheard. The narrative is created by a kid developing his system of values and social norms, growing up without the proper context to understand news stories of twitter uprisings and growing economic inequality. The film is insightful as a commentary on the experience of growing up, middle class, in the suburbs - and in this respect it's frame story is apolitical while its core contains a political narrative that functions as a mash-up of current global events.
Who knows if in tightly regulated film markets the film will be a perceived threat (worth noting per IMDB is it currently does not have a Chinese release date - although that may have less to do with content than quota laws and a culture context). Typical tent pole films contain a non-political external threat - consider other toy-inspired films Battleship and Transformers, pro-US military films that contained non-political extraterrestrial threats. Lord Business is presented first as a communist dictator, CEO and President of Octan - a conglomerate producing culture (including the catchy tune "Everything is Awesome" and the hit TV show "Where's My Paints"), premium coffee, infrastructure, and voting machines! Octan is GE, Comcast, Starbucks, and Halliburton all rolled up in central government. Conspiracy theorists may have a blast here, in fact I look forward to the criticisms the film will no doubt receive from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones.
But they would be missing the point - the universe is political as a result of the cultural mash-up experiences through the lens of a boy making sense of a media reporting he's likely overhearing. This story is the real one with an effective emotional resonance in its resolution, edging towards (although not quite reaching) the very best of Pixar including films like Up and Toy Story 3. Wickedly subversive as a statement on contemporary childhood, the film is a joy to watch in the moment with an awful lot of craft both in the visual aesthetics and in the storytelling, developing (and reinventing itself) in unexpected ways.
(Potential Spoiler Alert)
The story contains a complexity providing an unexpected political analysis of a contemporary childhood that I have not quite seen before on screen - at least not recently. Once the clues snap together we see what exactly is occurring – the events in Bricksburg reflect a patchwork of news stories overheard. The narrative is created by a kid developing his system of values and social norms, growing up without the proper context to understand news stories of twitter uprisings and growing economic inequality. The film is insightful as a commentary on the experience of growing up, middle class, in the suburbs - and in this respect it's frame story is apolitical while its core contains a political narrative that functions as a mash-up of current global events.
Who knows if in tightly regulated film markets the film will be a perceived threat (worth noting per IMDB is it currently does not have a Chinese release date - although that may have less to do with content than quota laws and a culture context). Typical tent pole films contain a non-political external threat - consider other toy-inspired films Battleship and Transformers, pro-US military films that contained non-political extraterrestrial threats. Lord Business is presented first as a communist dictator, CEO and President of Octan - a conglomerate producing culture (including the catchy tune "Everything is Awesome" and the hit TV show "Where's My Paints"), premium coffee, infrastructure, and voting machines! Octan is GE, Comcast, Starbucks, and Halliburton all rolled up in central government. Conspiracy theorists may have a blast here, in fact I look forward to the criticisms the film will no doubt receive from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones.
But they would be missing the point - the universe is political as a result of the cultural mash-up experiences through the lens of a boy making sense of a media reporting he's likely overhearing. This story is the real one with an effective emotional resonance in its resolution, edging towards (although not quite reaching) the very best of Pixar including films like Up and Toy Story 3. Wickedly subversive as a statement on contemporary childhood, the film is a joy to watch in the moment with an awful lot of craft both in the visual aesthetics and in the storytelling, developing (and reinventing itself) in unexpected ways.
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