Sodas & Popcorn – Movie Review: Lego

Directed by: Phil Lord & Chris Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 1&2, 21 Jump Street.)
Written by: Phil Lord & Chris Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 1&2, How I Met Your Mother (TVseries), Dan Hangemen & Kevin Hangeman (Hotel Transylvania).

Notable Actors: Chris Pratt (Her, Zero Dark Thirty, Wanted), Will Ferrell (Anchorman 1&2, Talladega Nights, Megamind), Elizabeth Banks (Pitch perfect, The Hunger Games movie series, What to Expect When You’re Expecting), Liam Neeson (Schindler’s list, Taken 1&2, Unknown, The Grey)

Last weekend, I decided to go see the much talked about Lego Movie. Hollywood’s history with movie adaptation of toy figures has been questionable. We’ve had ups & downs, highs & lows. Mostly downs and lows. For the flops, remember Bratz and The Care Bears Movie? While for the successes we have The Transformers Franchise and G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra. Even though I know both are guilty pleasures. So it’s safe to say I watched The Lego Movie with the purpose of finding out how bad it was going to be. And here’s my review.

Synopsis
The LEGO (R) Movie follows Emmet (Chris Pratt) an ordinary, rules- following, perfectly average LEGO mini figure who is mistaken as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously under prepared. (c) Warner Bros

The Script
The script is superbly crafted with so many funny lines. It’s hard to catch all the jokes. You will honestly have to watch it several times over to get them all. What I loved the most was the constant jabs at so many pop culture icons. I loved the fact that it didn’t only entertain the kids, but adults as well, turning the theater into a large revival anchored by Basket Mouth and Russel Peters. With this cleverly written and well put together piece, this movie seals itself as the best toy-to-movie adaptation I have ever seen and most likely, our first certified Oscar nominee of the year. We’ve seen how good and creative Phil Lord & Chris Miller were with Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (for kids) and 21 Jump Street (for adults) but this definitely carries everyone in the cinema along on a very entertaining and enjoyable ride filled with loads of smiles.

The Directing
The first challenge that arose in my head when I heard a big screen adaptation of action figures and toys from the Lego franchise was being made was “how original will it be?”. I most especially wanted to know how the movements of the characters will be made with such edgy toys. Thankfully, the visual effects team did the most creative thing by using simulated stop motion movements for the entire film. It felt so realistic, I could almost reach out and grab the figures to play with them. To design the characters with very limited facial expression, yet very artistic direction couldn’t have been an easy task. This movie was a pure visual delight.

The Acting
Will Ferrell’s portrayal of the villain President Business reminded me of his Megamind persona and brought to life a very funny villain. He was, however, outclassed by his henchman, Good Cop/Bad Cop which was played by Liam Neeson who fitted into his role quite well. Morgan Freeman was very funny as Vitruvius. Chris Pratt (we await his big break in this year’s Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy) playing the lead character was the star of the show. We couldn’t forget Elizabeth Banks’ splendid performance as Wyldstyle could we? To cut the long story short it was a top notch performance form the entire casts.

The Verdict
The Lego gets a Popcorn and Soda.

At Sodas and popcorn HQ the top price ‘Popcorn, Soda and Hotdog‘ can only go to one movie each year. If not for this reason, this movie would probably get it. It’s really interesting, I loved and totally enjoyed it and its good for family entertainment.

This review was brought to you by www.sodasandpopcorn.com Award winning movie blog. We Watch Movies So You (Don’t) Have To.

Review by @A_Gbemudu  and  @don_sylvestre for @sodas_popcorn

Thanks for reading. Have you seen the movie? What did you think? Please drop your comments in the box below.

Photo Credit: www.owlkids.com