Any film allowing a toy
product in its title, and occupied by brand-name toys, is going to fall under thought
as nothing more than something that is just wanting to have people buy their
products from toy stores.
Then let’s take a look
at the surprising success of directors and co-writers Phil Lord and Christopher
Miller (“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”). With their animated 3D adventure
film, “The LEGO Movie,” released by Warner Bros in 2014, they not only give a switching
hilarity for both adults and children, they also manage to include a surprisingly
critical spoof of traditional consumerism into the events.
An everyday person of
that modern style, ordinary construction worker Emmet, voiced by Chris Pratt,
just goes along with the people in his boring hometown of Bricksburg. He buys
expensive coffee, laughs at the right moment at a mindless, one-joke show
called “Where Are My Pants?” and loves the same upbeat catchy pop song – Everything
Is Awesome – like everyone else.
Emmet also trusts totally
in the local expert of weakness, creativity-hating CEO President Business,
voiced by Will Ferrell.
John Mulderig stated in
his review, “Two closely related events are destined to rock Emmet's
contentedly brain-dead world, however. One is his accidental acquisition of a
fabled building block called the Piece of Resistance.” The other is his run-in
with touch but attractive underground protester Wyldstyle, voiced by Elizabeth
Banks, a rebel average excellence who he immediately falls in love with.
Based on him holding
the Piece of Resistance, that she has been looking for, Wyldstyle is sure that
Emmet is a prophesied hero called The Special. According to the legend, he is
the one to lead a team against President Business. Mulderig said, “Unbeknownst
to the public, behind the scenes this evil would-be tyrant prefers the title
Lord Business, and he has a scheme on foot to control the world, and purge it
of all originality, using a secret weapon.”
He’s sure that a
mistake has been made – his total lack of the needed requirements soon has
Wyldstyle herself showing doubts about him – Emmet sort of unwillingly agrees
to do his best.
Joining Emmet and
Wyldstyle in their journey to take down the aspiring dictator is an oddball
team of fighters that includes Wyldstyle’s narcissistic boyfriend, Batman (Will
Arnett), and Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), the pixilated wise man who predicted The
Special was coming in the first place.
The person who is
trying to stop them is Lord Business’ right-hand man, Bad Cop-Good Cop, voiced
by Liam Neeson. Just like his name says, this police officer is both
hilariously schizophrenic and legitimately facing between the positive and
negative sides of his own personality.
Mulderig said, “Colorful
and fast-paced, "The LEGO Movie" sails along toward a format-shifting
conclusion that adds another asset to the rich mix: a touching sequence
promoting family bonds over selfishness.”
As the movie runs, confusing
use is made of the phrase, “the man upstairs.” Some may think this repeated
reference as guessing that God himself – or maybe religion – is just another
source of forced order against what the characters are rebelling. Mulderig
ended his review by saying, “But those disposed to resist such a reading are
given an out when the words receive a quite literal fulfillment close to the
movie's wrap-up.”
If you haven’t seen
this movie, why read this review? Go out and see it if you haven’t. It’s
definitely one of the funniest kid’s movies you will have ever seen. You will
be laughing from first minute to last and will have a great time with it. After
seeing it, the song Everything Is Awesome will continuously play in your head to a
point where you buy that song off of iTunes.
Peter Travers started
his review out by saying, “Is it possible that every movie would be better with
Legos? Suicide Squad, for sure. And, of course, Batman v Superman: Dawn of
Justice. How do I know?” Because “The LEGO Batman Movie,” released back in
February, animated with love and insanity, is the funniest Batman movie ever
made. Will Arnett may have found the role of his career as the voice of the
raspy superhero as a delusional, ego-maniac Batman wanting and willing to get
laughs out of his own obsession, Hollywood’s dark soul of every Bruce
Wayne/Batman from the late Adam West to Ben Affleck. Travers stated, “The kids
are gonna love it, even if the inside jokes, Freudian subtext and subversive
jabs at corporate America sail right over their towheads. As for the,
grown-ups, they'll eat up the antics of this newly lighthearted DC vigilante.
"I have aged phenomenally," he beams. And for the under-10 crowd –
pampered with poopy-level sight gags and "wanna-get-nuts" action –
everything is PG awesome.”
If any film is at the
top of the business, it’s “The LEGO Movie,” which was made first and was a huge
hit in the crazily creative minds of co-directors/co-writers Phil Lord and
Christopher Miller. That team is now off to make the Han Solo “Star Wars”
spin-off, and their mischievous disrespect is really missed in Gotham City.
However, Chris McKay steps right up to bat, and since he was animation director
and editor on “The LEGO Movie,” he already knows what to do.
Travers said, “It
begins in the dark: "All important movies start with a black screen,"
explains Arnett's Batman, satirizing the comic-book universe in one fell
voiceover swoop. (Funny idea. It would have been funnier if Deadpool hadn't
beaten it to the punch, but still.)” The story, which has so many writers that
you have to look up and see, starts as Batman the loner is fighting the Joker,
voiced by Zach Galifianakis, the surprisingly sensitive villain who wants
Batman to admit that they “complete” each other. Startled, Batman sends the
Joker into the Phantom Zone, a somewhat alternate dimension for arch-villains
(including Sauron (Jemaine Clement), King Kong (Seth Green), the Wicked Witch,
Dracula, Godzilla, Lord Voldemort and Agent Smith from “The Matrix”).
Eventually, there’s a breakout, thanks to The Riddler (former writer on SNL and
“The Simpsons,” former host of “The Late Night” and “The Tonight Show” and
current host of “Conan,” Conan O’Brien), Harley Quinn (Jenny Slate) and
Two-Face (Billy Dee Williams) teaming up. Can this orphan superhero, who can’t
forget the murder of his parents, beat them alone? Are you kidding? Travers
stated, “How long do you think this dude can sit alone in his Lego Batcave
eating microwaved Lego lobster thermidor before he realizes he needs a
surrogate family to help him?”
That’s where Alfred
(Ralph Fiennes), Wayne’s butler and other father figure, and Dick Grayson
(Michael Cera), the adopted son who’s soon has his own superhero suit and calls
himself Robin comes in. “He’s not my son,” insists Batman. “It’s even weirder if he’s not,” says new police
commissioner Barbara Gordan, voiced by Rosario Dawson, also champions the sass
area. He wants to call her Batgirl. “How about I call you Batboy?” she replies.
As the trouble
increases, the movie goes completely insane in ways the first Lego movie did
not. It’s easy to get distracted with everything going around and never really
connecting into a main story. Travers said, “My advice? Don't obsess over the
rough edges. The Lego Batman Movie rises on its own goofball spirits. Wanna get
nuts and shake your sillies out? This is the place to do it.”
This is not as funny as
the first movie, but it’s still almost as funny and worth seeing. If you like
to see a good spoof on Batman, this is the movie for you. It’s good for adults
and children again, and it’s fast-paced that you won’t be able to catch up with
every joke, which is good.
In Ninjago, every day
is the perfect day for the evil Garmadon, voiced by Justin Theroux, to attack
with his mechanized shark-dressed minions to try and take over and rule the
city. Fighting against him each and every time are a team of mechanized Ninjas,
all given codenames representing the Earth’s elemental powers like Water,
Earth, Lightning, Ice and Fire. What Garmadon doesn’t know is that his own teenage
son Lloyd (James Franco’s youngest brother, Dave Franco), aka Green Ninja, is
the leader of the team, his best friends from High School, in actuality his
only friends thanks to being the son of the “Worst Guy in the World,” Cole
(Fred Armisen), Jay (star of the HBO series “Silicon Valley,” Kumail Nanjiani),
Kai (Michael Peña), Nya (star of “Broad City,” the hot Abbi Jacobson) and Zane
(Zach Woods) the other members of the team. Is anyone else thinking Power Rangers?
Going against the
teachings of the group’s wise teacher Master Wu, voiced by Jackie Chan, and
tired that his dad, as evil as he is, refuses to recognize him as anything
other than a thing from the past and rarely as his son, Lloyd hits him with the
Ultimate Weapon. Unfortunately, that brings the giant cat Meowthra to Ninjago, destroying
everything in its path with it paws. Now, forced to team up with Garmadon,
Master Wu and the kids have to walk into the forbidden forest in order to find
the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon, needed to get this cat threat out of their
peaceful city. As they make this dangerous walk, every one of them learn things
about one another they never knew beforehand, while Lloyd and his evil father
make a family bond that very well could change both of their lives forever.
After the huge success
of “The LEGO Movie” in 2014, it’s no surprise that Warner Bros was going to do
everything in their power to make more box office money as often and frequently
as they could. Back in February they made the successful “The LEGO Batman Movie,”
that animated comedy getting positive reviews and audience love in basically equal
ways. Sara Michelle Fetters stated in her review, “Now comes The LEGO Ninjago
Movie, inspired by the long-running “Ninjago” animated television series, and
from my understanding far more comedic and ridiculous than the show is.” It’s
going to be a really huge hit, just like the past entries. More importantly, it’s
actually also really amazing.
Giving us a story and
script credited to nine different writers, asking for any type of narrative structure
here isn’t a good idea. Fetters said, “Same time, like a great piece of sketch
comedy, all of the numerous vignettes feeding the central storyline are so
consistently amusing the fact all of this goes way beyond nonsensical into the
realm of outright absurdity isn’t as big a problem as it might otherwise have been.”
The jokes go by really quick, both verbal and visual (there’s even a Locke joke), and it will probably need
multiple viewings to even start to notice so many of them. Fetters said, “I
admit to having a giant grin on my face all the way through, even during the
live-action prologue featuring Chan as a kindly shopkeeper telling a tale of
heroism, sacrifice and forgiveness to a wide-eyed youngster, played by Kaan
Guldur. The movie is just a heck of a lot of fun, and to my mind is an even
more successful piece of family-friendly pop entertainment than The LEGO Batman
Movie ended up proving to be.”
Fetters goes on to say, “I
love the vocal cast, especially Chan, Franco and Theroux.” Everyone looks like
they are having so much fun voicing these characters into life. Better, their energy and excitement jumps off
the screen. Particularly, Theroux is completely loony. Fetters noted, “The
stuff he says (as well as the way he says it) is consistently hysterical, some
of his off-the-cuff asides worthy of a gigantic belly laugh all by themselves.”
However, the whole cast has their moments, especially Jacobsen and Nanjiani,
while Oliva Munn has an enjoyable time voicing Lloyd’s cheerful overprotective
mother Koko, a confidently determined woman with a samurai past of her own.
Everything is obviously
funny, and some of the extended jokes don’t have as much hits as the film goes
on, most notably a joke where Garmadon’s never-ending series of generals
getting shot out of a volcano for not coming up with good ideas for dominating
Ninjago. Fetters said, “But visually there’s so much going on there was always
something that drew my attention in a positive way, and I honestly feel like
this latest LEGO offering is the most fantastically and imaginatively animated
one yet. The LEGO Ninjago Movie made me giggle, start to finish, and to my mind
saying anything more than that just isn’t necessary.”
I noticed that this
movie isn’t really getting as good reviews as the past two, but my brother and
I saw it this morning and we thought it was a fine, funny kid’s film. I personally
think this is good and has the right amount of jokes that is hard to keep up
with, so if you liked the first two LEGO movies, then definitely see this one,
especially if you have children, they will love it.
Alright everyone, now
that I have done “The LEGO Trilogy,” there will be a sequel next year, stay
tuned tomorrow for the continuation of “Halloween Month.”
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