My Review: The LEGO Movie (7/10)

"Let's take extra care to follow the instructions or you'll be put to sleep, and don't forget Taco Tuesday's coming next week."

The directors behind this very creative and imaginative animated film, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street), deliver a highly entertaining and hilarious movie thanks to a sharp script which is packed with extremely funny lines and hundreds of pop culture references. It also benefits from a talented cast who do excellent voice work here. Despite being a film that promotes its very own Lego empire, it still works because it has lots of heart and reaches to kids and adults alike. Kids who are fans of the TV series Ninjago will have a great time with this film, while adults will love the witty script beside the fact that it will touch their nostalgic senses. The Lego movie took me back to my childhood days and reminded me of when I played with these building blocks and invented adventures as I played with them. In a way this film felt like I was watching a very smart and creative kid playing with his Lego figures. I can think of no other movie where you get so many pop cultural references as this one. In what other film do you get to see an NBA star like Shaq share a scene with a Ninja Turtle, Batman, Han Solo, Gandalf, Dumbledore, and Wonder Woman all together? These character cameos keep on coming throughout the film with silly but hilarious and witty one-liners. 

Emmet Brickowoski (Chris Pratt) is an ordinary Lego mini-figure who is content with his life following orders from Lord Business (Will Ferrell) as well as most of the other citizens. What they don't know is that Lord Business is planning on gluing their universe together. When Emmet stumbles across a mysterious block he is mistakenly identified as the chosen one and considered to be one of the MasterBuilders called to save the world. He is drafted by Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and is introduced to the different Lego universes that Lord Business has been keeping separated. He teams up with other MasterBuilders like Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie), Metal Beard (Nick Offerman), and several others all led by the old wise man Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman). Together they begin a quest to stop Lord Business from destroying their worlds, but they have to face fierce opposition from Bad Cop (Liam Neeson) and the rest of the police force who serve Lord Business. A task which Emmet isn't really prepared for as he is simply an ordinary mini figure, but who everyone is depending on to save the world. 

The plot is a little over the top and silly, but it works thanks to some great gags and witty dialogues. The script writers, Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Lord, and Miller know their pop culture references and use it to their advantage. It took me a while to get used to the animation style as it was done by using Lego figures in stop motion and combing it with CGI effects. They did paint a colorful and imaginative world and soon I was won over by the style of the film. It's a fast paced movie and one that you will probably have no problem in wanting to go back and rewatching it considering the jokes are so fast paced that you might have missed lots of them.