The Lego Movie (Review)
The Lego Movie
2014
Story by Dan Hageman & Kevin Hageman and Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Screenplay by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
The Lego Movie constantly refrains the song “Everything is Awesome!” throughout the film, and though the song is presented as a joke because things aren’t awesome, it best describes The Lego Movie. Because everything is awesome. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller took a toy commercial and traditional hero’s journey narrative and turned it into a celebration of tossing out instructions and a collectivist uniting against conformity and conservatism. Also it’s fun and hilarious.
The unlikely group of heroes unite against President Business, who controls the entire world and wants things to stay just the way they are. He gets incensed when things are built that don’t follow the rules or are weird. His reign has seen the Lego city become a virtual police state where everyone follows a huge list of rules and destroys anything out of the ordinary to be replaced with construction that follows the rules. The people are lulled into accepting their reality with glee, thanks to control of television and music, where every show is Where’s My Pants? and every song is the aforementioned “Everything is Awesome!”
The resistance becomes a celebration of individuality vs marching to the same drum beat. The Lego Movie encourages you to build what you want, and not worry about if your projects conflict with what someone expects you to do. While President Business seeks his stagnant perfection, the real progress and fun comes from the chaos of creation.
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Minor spoilers below the fold!
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Categories: Good, Movie Reviews Tags: Alison Brie, Anthony Daniels, Batman, Batmania, Billy Dee Williams, Channing Tatum, Charlie Day, Chris Pratt, Christopher Miller, Cobie Smulders, Dan Hageman, Dave Franco, Elizabeth Banks, Jonah Hill, Kevin Hageman, Lego Batman, Lego movie, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Nick Offerman, Phil Lord, Shaquille O'Neal, Tars sells out!, toys to films, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell, Will Forte
The Lego films are going to be damn awesome!!
The Lego film seems like it will be amaza-tastic! Also damn awesome, since that’s what I wrote in the headline. Co-directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) and featuring voices of many a talented actor: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Nick Offerman, and Alison Brie.
There will be largely animated with a few live-action components. Lego: The Piece of Resistance will also feature Superman and Batman in the same film, showing that a cartoon can do in theaters what Warner Brothers is too stupid to pull off themselves for decades! Other rumored licensed Lego properties for cameos include Yoda and Indiana Jones. The film is tracking so well they’ve bumped up the release date, from February 28, 2014, to February 7, 2014. That’s still way too long for impatient me.
Regular Lego figure Emmet (Chris Pratt) is mistakenly identified as the key to saving the Lego world and he’s forced to go on a quest to stop an evil tyrant. President Business (Will Ferrell) is the evil CEO who is too evil to manage his personal life correctly, and Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) is his henchman.
If you can’t get enough of Lego Superman and Lego Batman, then you are in luck, as there is also going to be a Lego Batman DTV flick with Superman guest starring! The trailer released is pretty much just cut scenes from the video game, but the story so far is there will be new animation in addition to these cut scenes to make a full film. So we will see. Even the cast list for LEGO Batman: The Movie is the same for the rumored voices in the Lego: The Piece of Resistance – Will Arnett as Batman and Channing Tatum as Superman. This is like synergy or something. I hope they make Lego films for those awesome monster hunters sets I see at the stores.
via
FirstShowing
THR
THR
Categories: Movie News Tags: Alison Brie, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Lego Batman, Lego movie, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Nick Offerman, toys to films, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell
Universal giving us a Lego Hero Factory film
For those of you who don’t Lego unless it is to say “Leggo my Eggo!”, Hero Factory is the Lego line created to replace Bionicle, there old cool line of Lego figures that my nephew really liked, but I guess no one else did. So instead, Hero Factory just became more blatantly alien fighting robots. There is a huge complex back story that you can waste lots of time reading about if you’re bored at work.
from Wikipedia
Far away in an entirely different galaxy than our own, there lies the surreal and high-tech Makuhero City, home to the Hero Factory, where new robotic heroes are built every day. The factory was created by the wise architect of Makuhero City, Mr. Makuro, with the intention of upholding peace and prosperity throughout the universe, fighting the worst villains and monsters from all over the galaxy. The main story revolves around the Hero Factory Alpha Team and their allied rookie heroes combating evil on several different planets.
Despite the fact several of the robots have names like XPlode, Drilldozer, Raw-Jaw, Natalie Breez, Rocka, Jawblade, and Splitface, this is not a line of porn stars. As demonstrated by Battleship’s awesome opening weekend haul, the public is really hungry for blatant Transformer ripoffs. Oh, wait, I seem to be reporting news from an alternate reality where Battleship wasn’t a giant bomb. Sorry about that.
Michael Finch and Alex Litvak are in negotiations to write, but that is it for “attached” people at the moment.
This will be completely separate from the other Lego Movie being developed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (the 21 Jump Street directors) which is due out in 2014 and will be awesome. This one better be awesome, too, because they really should have just made a Lego Monster Fighters movie!
Via BeyondHollywood
We're blatant ripoffs of Transmorphers, not Transformers! Get it right or pay the price!
Categories: Movie News Tags: Alex Litvak, Hero Factory, Lego movie, Michael Finch, Universal
Lego the movie
Lego is being turned into a movie, joining Viewmaster, Battleship, and other toys on the big screen.
Sez Variety:
Scribes Dan and Kevin Hageman are penning the script for the family comedy that will mix live action and animation. Warners is keeping the plot tightly under wraps, but it’s described as an action adventure set in a Lego world.
Dan Lin, who is shepherding Warner Bros.’ “Sherlock Holmes” and exec produced the studio’s upcoming family film “Shorts,” will produce the movie through his Lin Pictures, which is also behind a “Tom and Jerry” film that will put the feuding animated characters in a live-action setting. The shingle’s Stephen Gilchrist serves as co-producer.
Roy Lee will produce through his Vertigo banner, while Jill Wilfert, VP of licensing and entertainment at Lego, will oversee the pic for the toymaker.
Eagerly awaiting the Bristle Blocks and Lincoln Logs movies.
Categories: Movie News Tags: Lego movie, toys to films
