Two enthusiastic thumbs up for what looked like the dumbest movie of the year but was in fact a SCREAMING DELIGHT!!
My brother Andy has little kids so he sees a lot of kid movies. He goes to them expecting to be bored half to death but every once in a while he’s pleasantly surprised and once a year or so is actually happy to have little kids as an excuse to see something great.
He’s the one who told me to go see The Incredibles, saying it was as good as any action adventure movie out there. He was right; it was quite a bit better than most of the special effect driven dreck that passes for action/adventure.
He’s also the reason I finally saw Tangled, the funniest, most romantic and most beautifully rendered of Disney’s reworking of Classic fairy tales since Cinderella.
I know most folks think Beauty and the Beast is an artistic feat; it’s not. In fact, from a draftsman's point of view, it’s crap. The hand rendered drawings are not good. There are scenes where Belle’s anatomy makes no sense (unless she were Elastigirl ) and her face actually slides around on her head. In short, it’s no Snow White.
Not only was Tangled a delight to look at, it was the best rom/com of 2010. Most of Hollywood has forgotten what ‘romantic’ or ‘comedy’ means. A sex farce is not a romantic comedy.
Andy told me the Lego Movie was good. His taste in kid movies is much better than his taste in romantic comedies.
It’s quite a bit better than good, it’s clever, layered, hilarious and visually fascinating.
Any comedy in which there are hysterical things happening in the background is my kind of movie.
As with Toy Story, the A-listers who do the voices put more into their parts than they have in half the movies they’ve done where their faces show. I had no idea Liam Neeson could be funny and Morgan Freeman hasn’t been so over the top since Driving Miss Daisy.
Chris Pratt, who voices the Hero, Emmet, is simply perfect. He’s at the top of my Actor’s list right now. From Andy on Parks and Recreation to Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy to the un-named Ranger in Zero Dark Thirty, he’s always awesome sauce.
Will Farrell plays Lord Business and he’s as good as ever.
In addition to being really funny, the movie is made of Legos. I know it’s not really; it’s not stop action but CGI but it’s still fascinating to look at.
As if that weren’t enough, the story line is really good. I can’t say it’s totally original, like Toy Story or Moster’s Inc but it’s a classic Orwellian tale of dystopia. There’s even an oblique reference to Big Brother. The fact that they managed to create a Hunger Games style story for the preschool set is worthy of Kudos.
Emmet is a generic, ordinary citizen of Bricksburg. All he wants out of life is to follow the rules, fit in and be happy. It’s good that that’s all he wants because nothing else is offered in President Business’s society. Emmet isn’t completely oblivious to the disturbing currents running beneath the surface of the Utopia in which he lives but when something alarms him, he’s more than happy to turn his attention to more upbeat things. Unlike Neo, Emmet is perfectly happy living in the Matrix.
He allows himself to ignore red flags, be distracted by silliness and hope for the best while leaving President Business and his legion of micro managers to run things.
Until he inadvertently runs afoul of the rules. When the Lego shit hits the Lego fan, the Lego fun begins in earnest.
I loved Legos growing up. My beef with the brix lately has been that they’re all sold as kits to make specific things. Isn’t that what model kits were for? Legos were for building whatever you think up.
On one level, this movie is about that. Yes, Lego sells kits with directions to build to specifics but no one ever said (or meant) that you were bound by the directions. Go ahead and build your pirate ship. Then tear it apart and build something new and better.
You can’t become a master builder by always using someone else’s directions.
Nothing is perfect and Perfection is boring.
Micromanagers are the Devil.
The dumbest idea you ever had just may save your bacon.
Legos are toys and toys should be played with.
Imagination is way more fun and infinitely more entertaining than rules.
Dare to fly your freak flag.
Fitting in is over rated.
Being the bad guy is a choice.
I loved it.