Super Frat

Chris Pratt voices the lead character, Emmett, in this animated movie about Lego people in their Lego world.  Will Ferrell voices the villain, Elizabeth Banks voices WildStyle (the love interest) and Will Arnett does a killer Batman.  The basic plot: Ferrell (Lord Business) wants to rule the Lego world and eventually destroy it.  Emmett, the chosen one, must stop it.  It’s cute.  Not particularly clever, but cute.

What makes the movie fun is the stellar cast which also includes Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson.  It’s a silly, crazy movie, kind of a big budget version of something a kid would shoot in his basement.  The big reveal is, ultimately, pretty derivative, but the movie doesn’t dwell on it all that much.  It would’ve been nice to see a few more characters in the mix other than mostly superheroes from the DC universe, but the Lego character kind of filled them out.

I’m not sure if the movie promotes teamwork or individualism, as it seems to go back and forth with both themes.  The big reveal kind of undermines that, but at the same time, makes the world kind of make sense.  In general, I liked it, but after hearing everyone rave about it for so long, I feel it was kind of oversold to me.  It’s definitely worth a look if you haven’t seen it, assuming you can catch it on cable for free or on HBO (as I did) as something you’re already paying for.  Thanks for justifying my enormous cable TV bill for once, Lego Movie.

I give it a thumbs up if you’re looking for a movie that’s cute, funny and won’t make you think too much after eating leftover turkey.