THE LEGO MOVIE

Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

GRADE: A

Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman

Written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Once in a while Hollywood comes up with an idea so asinine that it's impossible to believe somebody is actually making that movie.  The first Pirates of the Caribbean somehow turned out be a brilliant idea disguised as a terrible one, while Battleship was worse than a Biblical plague. Happily, The Lego Movie falls into the first category.

Emmett Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt), is just another face in the crowd in the Lego World, a construction worker who makes a point of doing everything the same way everyone else does. One day, Emmett stumbles upon a strange artifact and is recruited by a beautiful revolutionary named "Wildstyle",  (voiced by Elizabeth Banks), who takes him to meet Vitruvius, a wise old man (with the voice of Morgan Freeman) who prophesied of the coming of "The Special," the most extraordinary person ever, who will save lego kind. Joining forces with Batman (voiced by Arrested Development's Will Arnett), they attempt to overthrow the diabolical President Business (voiced by Will Ferrell, doing what struck me as a parody of Mitt Romney), who plans to unleash a super weapon called "The Kragle".

Parody seems like a lost art in Hollywood these days, with only increasingly awful Wayans brothers movies or worse as current examples of the genre.  But writer/directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs) have created a hilarious film that parodies The Matrix, Star Wars, multiple superhero movies and even Ray Bradbury, but does so in a surprisingly cohesive story that actual turns out to have moments that are genuinely thoughtful and touching. The script is nothing short of a triumph, and it deserves to make these two among the most sought-after writers in Hollywood. 

Of course the animation is eye popping, and the voice cast (which also includes a delightfully silly Liam Neeson as the personification of "Good Cop/Bad Cop.") is top-notch. But it's the writing that lifts The Lego Movie from being a lame commercial into a movie that will entertain audiences of all ages and likely go down as a pop culture classic. Against all logic, The Lego Movie is great.

The Lego Movie is rated PG for mild comic violence.