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The Lego Movie (1 Viewer)

Jacinto

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Sooooooo much fun! Highly entertaining. The script is wickedly funny and full of plenty of satire for the adults. All four kids loved it too, but I think my wife and I may have enjoyed it even more than they did. I'm very happy to hear of its success at the box office.
 

Sam Favate

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Great movie. I've heard of a lot of sold out shows this weekend. The showing we attended was packed. The kids loved it, of course, but Lego is their lives right now. All the adults enjoyed it too.
 

DavidJ

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The matinees were selling out like crazy around here. It's a very fun movie and while the story may be derivative in some aspects there are some very clever moments too. As a friend of mine said, it's a rare movie that can entertain a 10 year old and his 40-something dad at the same time.
 

DaveF

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"Wreck it Ralph" meets "The Matrix". You know, for kids.The story is mostly pretty standard: Lord Business steals the Kragle, the ultimate weapon, and plans to destroy the known universe. There's a prophecy. Non-descript Emmit is the guy who will fulfill it and save everyone. He just needs to believe in himself and be awesome.Lego building and Lego destruction ensues.The Lego Movie is fun. A hyper-kinetic visual overload. Stylistically, it's almost shocking, it's so perfect and also strange. The legos flow smoothly, and then suddenly, stutter-stop motion as they move about. It also lurches from exceptional detail to childish stylizations. And it all makes perfect sense.There's some messages in the movie. They're a little jumbled. That's ok, the movie is too much fun to be wrinkled about mixed morals.Also, I'm pretty sure that '80s Lego Spaceman built the awesome space ship that my childhood friend had. Loved those kits.Go see it. And I may see it again in 3D.I have one complaint with it. I am annoyed by movies that preach non-conformity and anti-consumerism while simultaneously trying to create mass-market side-products. Lego Movie has a message of non-comformity, and illustrates this with a generic pop song that everyone listens to endlessly. But this is a real pop-song that is meant to be sold for great profit on iTunes and listened to endlessly by the conformist mass market.Ah well. It's a really catchy song, and I'll probably buy it. And the movie's strengths outweigh this annoyance.
 

DaveF

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Sam Favate said:
Great movie. I've heard of a lot of sold out shows this weekend. The showing we attended was packed. The kids loved it, of course, but Lego is their lives right now. All the adults enjoyed it too.
I was watching seating options for the local Alamo, and it looked sold out for all of Friday and Saturday, and Sunday mid-day. I went to a 4pm showing today and it wound up at least half full. My Facebook feed seems full of comments. Typically, February is the dumping ground for inferior movies. The Lego Movie is playing a smart counter-programming move: this could have been a summer blockbuster. But they've come out during a typical drought, and bringing something bright to the grey Winter. And I think they've getting great success, and there is noting competing against them. And since it's a good movie for all ages, they can pick up the spare tickets from people who might have seen Monument Men, until they heard it's mediocre.
 

Chuck Mayer

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Everything was Awesome.Almost stolen by Charlie Day. Beautiful Lego designs and flow. Just a blast at the theater. Audience loved it. Will make fat cash.
 

Jason_V

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We went to a 21+ theater yesterday morning...10:30 show...I was shocked the place was at least half full with adults watching this one.

It's a lot of fun, with more than enough in-jokes for the adults and lots of crazy stuff going on for the kids. Listening to a review this morning, there's a lot going on if you bother to dive deep enough: Vitruvius, for example, was a real author, architect and engineer. Cloud Cuckoo Land comes from Aristophanes and means a place where everything is perfect and the people may be naive.

The ending, even though it took a little too long to get there, was especially poignant. This may be the only film where Will Ferrell didn't annoy me to high heaven.
 

Sam Posten

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Loved it. Only wish it had avoided the whole every-kids-movie-message-of-you-are-a-special-unique-snowflake-with-your-own-special-purpose trap.
 

mattCR

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Sam Posten said:
Loved it. Only wish it had avoided the whole every-kids-movie-message-of-you-are-a-special-unique-snowflake-with-your-own-special-purpose trap.
The storyline that makes me appreciate 'The Incredibles' more everytime I watch it
 

Edwin-S

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So a better message would be you-are-a-not-so-special-snowflake-who-will-join-the-unwashed-masses-as-a-completely-nondescript-worker-drone when you grow up? That's about right. Kill those dreams of being special as soon as possible. Don't want the kiddies to get the wrong idea of what they can really expect out of life.

Film seems to be getting generally positive feedback. Might go and see it.
 

Jason_V

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Sam Posten said:
Only wish it had avoided the whole every-kids-movie-message-of-you-are-a-special-unique-snowflake-with-your-own-special-purpose trap.
Disagree. :) I do think we are all special in our own ways and the movie celebrates that idea. It says to think for yourself and don't get stuck in the box society wants to put you in. The sad thing is that most people will be content to stay in that box and never achieve their true potential.
 

Jason Charlton

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Loved it. So did my boys and my wife. I agree with Jason_V - the movie wasn't so much about whether the individual is "special" or not, it's about not being afraid to just express yourself and be creative.

Legos are HUGE in our house - my boys are 5 and in addition to their new Legos, I've "donated" all of my old Legos (some sets from way back in the late 70's - STILL WITH THE STICKERS!!! - though they're dirty as hell..) to add to their bins.

Nothing beats when one of the boys comes up to me and "explains" his creation. "Here's where the missiles fire, and this is the rocket motor that also shoots flames, and the grapple hook goes here..." It's just freaking awesome - and everything about this movie spoke to that and just nailed it for me.
 

Jason Charlton

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Oh, and I have to add - I LOVED that 80's Spaceman's helmet was cracked in the middle. That happened to just about EVERY spaceman helmet I ever had.
 

Sam Posten

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I'm with you Jason C. But... I think the dichotomy between those who build to the instructions and those who get creative is an interesting thing to examine, and I'm really surprised that they chose to make the instructions followers the bad guys. Ultimately the world needs both, don't you think? Wouldn't it have been a stronger message for them to team up but also admit that there is strength in having the skills to do it both ways? I hate the phrase but the old saying "the world needs ditch diggers too" comes to mind. Having the tenacity to complete long projects that were designed by others is a talent in its own right. Knocking on that seems short sighted to me.
 

Chuck Mayer

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I think the movie made it pretty clear that you do need both types. It played one side more obviously for the first half, but Emmet makes a passionate speech that following instructions is joyful for some people. That maybe the group needs a little instruction to succeed.

And as someone who likes to build his Legos via the instructions, I'm pretty sensitive to it. And then I have to know to let go, to let my son play his own way. It works both ways.
 

Jason Charlton

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Sam Posten said:
I'm with you Jason C. But... I think the dichotomy between those who build to the instructions and those who get creative is an interesting thing to examine, and I'm really surprised that they chose to make the instructions followers the bad guys. Ultimately the world needs both, don't you think?
I agree completely. After all - who doesn't follow the instructions the first time you build a new set?

I don't think the "following instructions" part was what made the bad guys the bad guys - it was using the Kragle (Awesome reveal, BTW) and thus refusing to acknowledge creative building as an acceptable thing.

I'll cite another example from my own personal life:

Several months ago, I built a "ship" at home using mostly generic 2x4 bricks on an old baseplate from the 70s. Nothing fancy, but it was small and didn't lend itself to lots of play. I browsed some online instructions at the Lego site to look for inspiration on some other building techniques for ships. I came across instructions for a couple of "Pirates of the Caribbean" ship sets from a few years ago. I noticed that these kits used some very specialized pieces for hull construction. These pieces allowed for a MUCH bigger ship, and would be the basis for a great foundation to build whatever ship or vehicle the boys could dream of (they're modular for the most part, so two smaller ships or one big, monster ship is a possibility).

So I headed over to www.bricklink.com and discovered that these hull pieces were readily available for about a dollar each. I decided to order enough pieces to build the basic hulls for two decent-sized ships. I showed the boys how to "start" their ships, then left them to their own devices to continue the build. Best $13 I've spent in a long time.
 

Edwin-S

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What you can't do with Legos. Did anyone ever see that scale model jet engine that was built out of the things?
 

Bryan Tuck

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I really enjoyed the majority of this movie. It was fast-paced, witty, and even exhilarating in places. And there were some great, Robot Chicken-style gags with classic characters like Superman, Batman, Han Solo, etc. One of my favorite lines was "President Lincoln, you bring your space chair right back here!" (or something to that effect)

My one big issue came at the end (trying for no spoilers here). I actually thought the "standard" find-your-own-creativity message that others have discussed was nicely handled.... until that third-act twist almost ruined the movie. I mean, almost completely destroyed it. I felt it literalized the already crystal-clear central metaphor and then drilled it into the audience's heads like a jackhammer. And it suddenly felt like a blatant Lego commercial, when it surprisingly hadn't before.

I guess it seems strange to criticize a movie like this in this manner, but I was just disappointed by the clumsiness of the climax when everything before it had been so clever. Still totally worth seeing, though.
 

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