THE LEGO MOVIE DVD (2014)

SYNOPSIS: The first ever full-length theatrical LEGO movie follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified 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 underprepared.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Making an animated movie without dumbing down its contents for children isn’t easy. But directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller manage to score a homerun with their latest movie based on the famous brick toy, Lego even though it sounds like a ridiculous idea at first.

Lord and Miller who also co-wrote the effort place a construction worker Emmet (Chris Pratt who will be appearing in his true original form in Guardians of the Galaxy) in the center of the story. A more than average ordinary worker in Lego city, Emmet stumbles upon an ancient red block known as the Piece of Resistance and finds himself unwittingly becoming the savior of the world. 

Essentially a movie made for Lego to sell more toys (Remember Transformers?), The Lego Movie in the end contains more heart than economic intentions to transport viewers to a land made of bricks and inhibited by plastic minifigures. It’s a Lego movie made for fans and non-fans. But the latter will have the ability to spot many hilariously sight gags liked the evil Lord Business’ horns are actually made of red Lego coffee cups and the constraint movements of the characters as per the real plastic figures and clever one-liners, one that took a stab at one of the Danish company’s failed product line- Bionicle.  

Since it’s an adventure for Emmet, the movie widely took viewers to the Old West (a reference to a cult, short-lived product line) to a colourful Cloud Cuckoo Land that features a cute character called Unikitty (not to be confuse with Hello Kitty) to being rescued by a pirate named Metal Beard and meeting a 80’s spaceman Benny (another classic product line reference). Star Wars and DC comic fans will marvel at the cameos and yes, Batman joining Emmet and gang on their adventure. On many levels, it not only entertains but gorgeously animated and wildly imaginative. Even though the entire movie is done via CGI, a portion of the visuals is purposely animated to look aged and stop motion-like. 

The spirited voice casting also includes Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius the wizard, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle the love interest, Will Arnett as Batman, Charlie Day as Benny the spaceman, Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, Liam Neeson as bad cop/good cop among many.

The Lego Movie is one animated flick that is unexpectedly meaningful and charming for the kids. It’s not just the younger ones, the Master builders, Lego fans and many others will also brimmed with pride after catching it. Totally awesome. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Fan-Made Films: Top-Secret Submissions is a collection of homemade Lego clips made by fan for a contest.

"Everything is Awesome" Sing-Along is a karaoke video for everyone in the family to of course sing along. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Lego Movie looks awesome with bright colours and detailed images. Audio quality is superb as well with lots of surround activity and aggressive sound effects. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee