After months of painstaking work, LEGO makes the leap from your toy box to the big screen, with the opening of the first ever LEGO movie. But, does it hold together, or fall apart? Find out in my review

FIGURES AND MORE MOVIE REVIEW

The LEGO Movie

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Alison Brie, Morgan Freeman and others.

MPAA Rating: PG

Now, I can hear you all now, why is there a Movie review in the Toy Fair coverage? Well, the answer is simple and two-fold. One, LEGO is almost certainly announcing the second wave of LEGO Movie sets at Toy Fair and, Two, never before has a movie been so directly tied to the Toy Industry. Indeed in most cases, they make the toys based on the movie. In this case, the movie was made OUT OF THE TOYS! That’s right, every single set, character and prop in the movie was made out of LEGO bricks! Ok, with that little bit of exposition out of the way, on with the review

The LEGO Movie tells the story of Emmett Brickowski (Chris Pratt), an ordinary construction worker in the city of Bricksburg, an idyllic city ruled over by President/Lord Business (Will Ferrell). Emmett is a model citizen, following all of the rules and never standing out. He does everything by the book, which he usually carries with him. Even at his job, he strictly follows the instructions to build whatever structure he’s working on. His life changes forever, when after closing time, he comes upon a girl snooping around the site. When she flees, he tries to go after her, but falls into a hole in the ground. Landing underground, Emmett comes upon a red block, which he touches. Then, after a very weird vision sequence, he blacks out. This is the PIECE OF RESISTANCE, and it is the key to saving the world. From what?, you ask. Well, when Emmett awakens, he is being questioned by President Business’ top henchman Bad Cop (Liam Neeson), who also has a Good Cop face, which he doesn’t show very often. The Piece of Resistance is now stuck to Emmett’s back, and Lord Business orders it to be burnt off. See, Lord Business doesn’t like creativity and so he plans to use a powerful weapon called the Kragle to freeze the entire LEGO world in place. The Kragle is part of Lord Business’ collector of relics. Other relics include a Band-Aid, a Q-Tip and a bottle of Nail Polish remover. The Kragle is in fact a tube of Krazy Glue and the Piece of Resistance is it’s cap. Anyway, the women from the construction site comes to Emmett’s rescue. Here name is Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and she is a Master Builder. Master Builders have this unique ability to build objects just by looking around and plucking pieces out of the environment, without looking at instructions. The effect being)  used in the movie is extremely cool, and can best be described as a combination of the “Mind Palace” effect for the BBC show Sherlock, and the “Detective Mode” effect from the Batman: Arkham video game series. LEGO elements are highlighted in blue, with their name, part number, and set number appearing beside them. In no time at all, Wyldstyle has constructed a bike and one of the coolest chase scenes I have ever seen begins. The bike is rebuilt on the fly during the chase as needed. Emmett and Wyldstyle escape through a hidden tunnel, as Wyldstyle begins to fill Emmett in in his new role as the Chosen One, One who will bring balance, Special.  As the Special, it is Emmett’s destiny to unite the other Master Builders and stop Lord Business’  plan. Wyldstyle and Emmett head to the Old West, and along the way Wyldstyle discovers Emmett might not be the Special, in fact he has no Master Builder skills at all. In the Old West, they meet up with Virtuvius (Morgan Freeman), the Yoda-like Leader of the Master Builders. Vitruvius is blind thanks to an earlier battle with Lord Business when he stole the Kragle. Vitruvius tries to begin training Emmett to be a Master Builder and sends word to the others that the Special has come forth. Bad Cop follows them to the Old West, and its time for another chase. The chase ends with our heroes being rescued by Batman (Will Arnett), who also happens to be Wyldstyle’s boyfriend. Together, our heroes fly to Cloud Cuckoo Land, quite possibly the weirdest LEGO location EVER created. There, they meet Unikitty (Alison Brie) and have the meeting of the Master Builders, including Superman (Channing Tatum), Green Lantern (Jonah Hill), Wonder Woman (Cobie Smulders), Benny, a 1980’s Spaceman (Charlie Day), Abraham Lincoln (Will Forte) and Shaquille O’ Neal (Shaquille O’Neal). Emmett’s appearance does not inspire confidence, and several Master Builders leave the meeting. Suddenly, a robotic pirate name Metal Beard (Nick Offerman) interrupts the meeting, telling the story of the last time the Master Builders tried to storm Lord Business’ tower. SPOILER ALERT: It ended badly. In fact, Metal Beard escaped with just his head and had to build a new body out of miscellaneous pieces. As the arguments continue, Bad Cop and his forces attack Cloud Cuckoo Land, led there by a tracking device placed on Emmett during the Old West chase. Emmett, Wyldstyle, Batman, Unikitty,  Benny and Vitruvius escape in a submarine they each build a piece of. The rest of the Master Builders, including Superman and Wonder Woman are captured and taken to Lord Business’ “Think Tank.” The rest of the movie is too good to give away, sufficed to say, there is a daring rescue attempt, trials and tribulations, pain, loss and ultimately redemption. There is also an incredible twist, that no one will see coming. And a cliffhanger ending.

The movie is fun and funny right from the get go. None of the voice actors take their parts too seriously, to the benefit of everyone. Liam Neeson’s peformance as Bad Cop/Good Cop is absolutely hilarious. Bad Cop’s lines are read in Neeson’s normal voice with his normal cadence, but Good Cop’s lines are read at a higher pitch, which makes them instantly funnier. Will Ferrell is , as always, deliciously over the top as Lord Business. Will Arnett plays Batman as an extension of the character we have seen in the LEGO Batman Movie and Video games. He is dark, brooding and solitary, and he is never wrong, never misses and never makes a mistake. He is not as committed to their relationship as Wyldstyle, who idolizes him. He still does not like to work with others, but he grudgingly agrees to help out. He is also very good at tricking people, which he demonstrates to hilarious effect, while possibly providing the answer to a lingering question in a particular Sci Fi franchise. One of my favorite characters is Charlie Day’s Benny, the 1980’s Spaceman, who is obsessed with building Spaceships. And, I mean obsessed. If you don’t believe me, check out how many times he uses the word in the movie. Elizabeth Banks brings the strong willed Wyldstyle to life as a strong willed woman hiding a lingering insecurity. Alison Brie’s Unikitty meanwhile is trying very hard to stay sparkly sweet while repressing anger simmers inside. I could go on about all the incredible voice performances, but it would take up entirely too much space, and spoil some awesome surprises. The script is very smartly written and brings to mind some of the better Family Guy and South Park episodes. There is one caveat that I must warn you of, however. The Movie’s theme song, “Everything is Awesome” by Tegan and Sara, is INCREDIBLY catchy. Seriously, you will not be able to get it out of your head. Other than that, Go, See, Enjoy. Everything really is, as the song says Awesome.

The LEGO Movie gets a 5 out of 5.

For more information on the movie, visit www.thelegomovie.com.

And, stay tuned here for coverage of LEGO’s 2014 offerings from the American International Toy Fair 2014 in New York City.