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.

My Review: The Five-Year Engagement (6/10)

¨This is supposed to be exciting. It's your wedding - you only get a few of these! ¨

The Five-Year Engagement is a rare and honest Hollywood romantic comedy which explores the relationship between a couple with its usual up and downs in a very sincere way. It does have some unauthentic moments as well, but for the most part it does take the story pretty seriously. You can`t have a romantic comedy without those few eccentric moments Jason Segel likes to add to his work. These moments don’t work really well (the New Year`s costume party with Segel in a pink bunny suit, the ending which I don`t want to give away, and a weird scene between Segel and one of his female co-workers), but the rest of the film is pretty strong and authentic. My main concern with this movie was that it did seem to drag at several points of the film. The film could have been cut much shorter, two hours is very long for a romantic comedy. Jason Segel and Emily Blunt have a strong chemistry together and their relationship is very believable, we know these two characters belong with each other despite all the difficulties they have to face. It helps that both actors have worked together in the past and that you have two hugely likeable actors of their comedic caliber. Director, Nicholas Stoller, also knows Jason Segel very well as they have worked together in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Muppets. Once again they contributed with the screenplay and they leave their unique signature in the story. The Five-Year Engagement is rare, but in a good way thanks to the authenticity with which it tells the story. For the most part it never feels forced or cliché, so I would recommend this movie although it isn’t very memorable.

Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) are perfect for each other. They are very much in love and after having met for the first time exactly one year ago Tom proposes to Violet. They get engaged and everything seems to be working out fine for the couple. They have their engagement party where Tom`s best friend, Alex (Chris Pratt), and Violet`s sister, Suzie (Alison Brie) meet. Both of them spend a night together and Suzie ends up pregnant thus ruining the moment for Tom and Violet to get married. The couple agrees to postpone their marriage in order for Alex and Suzie to get married. Tom is happy in San Francisco with his job as chef at a clam restaurant, but Violet receives a very important offer for her career at Michigan University. The couple decides to move to Michigan since Tom believes he can find a decent job there and Violet can finish her degree. Tom has a difficult time adjusting to life in Michigan as he can’t find an important restaurant to work for, but Violet seems to be doing well. Her employer, Winton (Rhys Ifans) thinks highly of her and extends her position at the University. This is when the couple begins to experience difficulties and constantly find excuses to postpone the marriage that has been going on and off for five years.

The audience will find it very easy to sympathize with Tom and Violet as their relationship is believable and authentic. We know they are very much in love and have great chemistry together, but their paths seem to go very different ways. This is something that many people can relate to since it happens in the real world and we know that in order for things to work someone has to give in some way or another. The problem I had with this film beside the fact that it`s too long is that in the end we never get a solution. The entire film feels so real and authentic, but the ending had Hollywood written all over it. It`s as if they couldn’t think of a way to find a believable resolution and simply rushed things at the end. If you are going to take two hours to present an honest portrayal about relationships then you need to come up with a better ending instead of just trying to sweep everything under the carpet. This film fails to find an honest solution to the couple`s problem and leaves the audience wandering what kind of resolution they will get to in order to solve their dilemma. I guess the writers really didn’t want to take sides and left the film open ended, which would`ve been ok if they hadn’t hammered the issue on us throughout the entire film.

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