The LEGO Movie

[SuperStingray]

The LEGO Movie: Hideo Kojima Approved.

[Willsy]

Amazon FR have leaked the DVD released date;

June 25th 2014.

So only four months until the DVD comes out.

[Detective Shadzter]

Just saw this movie at the cinema with one of my brothers and his g/f and I must say...

 

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

 

 

Seriously, it was brilliant. Didn't expect it to be that good at all. My brother and his g/f thought so, too.

[Covskin]

I also saw this at the cinema yesterday, and I really enjoyed it.

 

Like many people I guess, when I first heard about it I rolled my eyes and dismissed the film as a simple cash grab. All the positive reviews though made me change my mind, which is why I gave it a go.

 

Plus, Will Arnett as Batman. Couldn't go wrong.

 

The humour just clicked with me, that almost anarchic style at times, mixed with character stupidity worked really well.

 

Double Couch!

 

Also, the whole Live Action aspect near the end was a great touch and helped elevate to film into something more.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Amazon FR have leaked the DVD released date;

June 25th 2014.

So only four months until the DVD comes out.

Looks like Warner Bros, doesn't want to take any chances of losing any hype and sales profit potential of the LEGO Movie. Smart move.

[Willsy]

Looks like Warner Bros, doesn't want to take any chances of losing any hype and sales profit potential of the LEGO Movie. Smart move.

It's actual because the amount of time between cinema release and DVD/Blu Ray release is decreasing drastically each year. It now averages at about 4-5 months.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Really? Well either way, that's a plus in my book.

[Doctor MK]

Went to see the film earlier today and absolutely loved it. When the first trailer came out I was cautiously optimistic but afraid it might just be a pointless cash-grab, but with all the positive reviews upon release I went in with high expectations... and it completely shattered them. It's so full of charm and fun and it really resonates with the audience, whatever age you are. As long as you've had some contact with LEGO in your life, this film will pull you in on both an entertainment and emotional level. There's so many great jokes, visual gags, and surprising twists - and the fact that it looks so damn good helps to bring the whole experience together into one excellent package.

 

Much like the spirit of LEGO itself, the creators have taken a seemingly generic concept and a seemingly generic protagonist and built it into something bursting with whimsy and wonder. Bravo, guys!

 

And yes... I too now have Everything Is Awesome! stuck on an endless loop in my head... SING IT WITH ME, EVERYBODY! *dances*

[Sean]

This movie was like waaaay better than it had any right to be, I remember seeing the initial trailers and thought it looked pretty dumb and forgettable, and I was surprised to hear its insane popularity and good reviews come release day. I saw it today with Wolfy with more curiosity than excitement because I had no idea what to expect, and it turned out to be hilarious and pretty freaking good.

[TearForFear]

Feel free to call me a pussy, but I can't look at

 

Scribble-Face Good Cop

 

without being frightened

 

Seriously,

 

why can't he work to be accepted by the people for what he already looks, instead of... painting... that...

thing... on his head?

[...]

Chris McKay, who co-directed the animation in the first film and has directed several episodes of Robot Chicken, including Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III has been chosen to direct the sequel!

 

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are producing the sequel, so I guess they'll still have some sort of part in the creative process. They're part of what made the first so excellent, after all. Still sorta bummed about the writers, though.

[Acter48]

My friends said the movie was only okay. how It's the best movie ever

[Acter48]

Who else liked 

Unikitty

 

[DarkLight]

Did that even need to be in spoiler tags?

[Emperor Robrainiac]

Chris McKay, who co-directed the animation in the first film and has directed several episodes of Robot Chicken, including Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III has been chosen to direct the sequel!

 

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are producing the sequel, so I guess they'll still have some sort of part in the creative process. They're part of what made the first so excellent, after all. Still sorta bummed about the writers, though.

 

Well, it's good to know Chris McKay is returning. Though Phil Lord and Chris Miller only producing the movie kinda leaves me a little iffy... Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 only had them as producers as well and from what I've heard, it wasn't as good as the first.

[Gabz Girl]

Finally saw the movie tonight and wow, it was great! I wasn't sure if I was going to like it at first even though the movie has so much hype surrounding it, mainly because I never really grew up with LEGO. I'm a Duplo girl. Yeah yeah...

Anyway, whilst the story was entertaining and the characters were awesoooome (seriously that song is stuck in my head now D: ), I think the highlight of the movie was the animation which was just unbelievable. There was so much detail in things like the water and fire and lots of neat LEGO toys. Bit sad there wasn't o Bionicle but eh, there's always the sequel.

Btw the twist near the end was really clever and surprisingly emotional. I was sort of expecting

a real world moment when Emmett was falling through the vortex thingie but it was still a nice surprise!

[Emperor Robrainiac]

Bit sad there wasn't o Bionicle but eh, there's always the sequel.

 

Well, Bionicle does make an appearance... Kinda... It's more of a mention, really

 

They're one of the  when Wyldstyle telling Emmet about the other worlds in their universe. Bionicle gets a very "Blink and you'll miss it" mention as one of the "ones that don't matter," along with Speed Racer and Lego Friends.

 

That scene hurt my feelings, cause I liked Bionicle... =(

[Willsy]

That song Batman writes.....

....amazing. Will Arnet is an amazing Batman.

[Acter48]

This movie was hilarious 

[Willsy]

Just saw the film today, and it was a great movie. The storyline was really well written, the humour was handled well, and the film really stood out overall. It will probably wind up being one of the best films of this year, and maybe the best for me.

It was really sad when the citizens of Bricksburg pretty much called Emmet a nobody, and the bit with Flinn and The Man Upstairs was quite emotional too.

"I can build a spaceship spaceship SPACESHIP!"

[Willsy]

Just so everyone knows, the digital version is out now! It's US only at the moment, the UK have to wait until July 7th. However you can create a US account on whatever service to get it early.

[Emperor Robrainiac]

Anyone see this short yet from the Blu-ray release? It pokes fun at the troubles of Executive Meddling. Pretty funny stuff, as expected from a movie like this. 

 

Interestingly enough. It's also interesting to note that Warner Brothers had wanted to make a Ninjago Movie for quite some time as well.

 

(Note: I have no Idea how to post videos from tumblr here, sorry about that.) 

[Willsy]

Funnily enough, Warner Bros are making a proper Ninjago movie!

It's set to release September 2016:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/21/lego-ninjago-film-gets-a-release-date

[The Deleter]

Watched the second movie, and man am I seriously split on what to think about it.
 

For reference, the first movie is one of my favorite animated movies of all time as a lego fan, for all the comedy, brilliant animation, and fanservice, but especially for containing an allegory to a parent and a kid playing with legos, and what it meant for the movie, the toy, and the audience as a whole at the end of the day. It was basically the best Lego movie we could have asked for, so hearing that the sequel was going to be dealing with a brother and sister angle, and seeing some of that potential already paying off in the trailers, ("Missed me!" "No I did NOT", the increasing grit of the boy's toys vs the unabashedly poppy girls toys, and her eventually tending towards the cooler side just so that she could fit in with his world better) made me reeeeaaally hopeful that this movie would hit most, or at the very least some of the first movie's high notes, but for sibling relationships.

In that regard... this movie kinda falls flat. The story going on in the real world works, I guess, but it doesn't go as far as the first movie does with the strained father/son relationship at all, which feels a lot lighter and less meaningful as a result, and the movie kinda feels like it sabotages itself with it's own plot threads at every turn. Rather than building up everything around a central theme that could relate to the children's conflict in the real world, it convoluted the film with different plot threads (either barely related to the theme or didn't even bother trying), underutilized certain characters that deal with that theme and overemphasizing more superfluous ones, (*cough*QueenWateveriwannabe/Batman*cough*) or even threw the rules of the world on it's head because... reasons? I dunno.

Spoiler

Like I don't even get it. Does Rex actually travel back in time to alter the past? He does mention staying under the dryer for years, and the legos do physically move in the world as the first one showed... and besides, if we're talking universes here that influence the other in one way, might as well throw time travel into the mix just for the sake of it. Why not.

But on the other hand, the brother talked about how he was incorporating the time travel into his pretend story, as well, which... okay, one, takes all merit away from Dangervest, because his experience wasn't only in the imagination of a kid, it never even happened in the first place, and two... what exactly is the son pushing back against in this instance with this angle? In this "future", Rex stayed under the drier until he willed himself back, but the siblings continued to play alongside each other just fine. For something that is supposed to be the core of the "hardened grit" the boy is going through at the time, and something that drives emmet/the son to destroy the sister's Legos once it reached it's peak... where exactly did it come from? Is Emmet's fear of losing Lucy the reason? Because the son thinks in the back of his head that being "too childish" is going to end up pushing away/losing someone he wants to be with in the future? Or is it just something that coincidentally lines up with what's going on in the real world, with no bearing on the theming whatsoever? He's actively planning out a narrative with this if his words are to be believed, I don't understand why though???

*inhales*

 

... It's just a kids movie... about building toys... stop overthinking this dude...

But on the other hand... I loved the first movie not only because of it's allegory towards the real world, but also because the Lego world worked on it's own as it's semi-independent world, as rather than treating all the characters as puppets where nothing matters, it's more a relationship between two worlds where one is influenced by the other... (and if anything, this movie doubles down on that angle to the point of absurdity, honestly)

And in that regard, as a sequel, this movie is... kinda perfect in that way? It goes all over the place with it's storyline, throwing a couple twists, turns, and new characters here and there to keep it enjoyable, and builds off the established characters of Emmet and Lucy in a pretty great way, without even feeling like the typical "Oh we gotta make a sequel; quick, let's throw some tension in between the main couple of the first movie so that we can up the stakes of the plot! Will they stay together, or NOT?!?" cash grab movie.

... I mean, it kind of is. It's almost there. But it doesn't feel like that; the character progression feels natural and carried over from where the first movie left off, the conflict never feels arbitrary for the sake of soap-opera esque drama, and the messages on display are just as wholesome as the first movie's for a lot of the characters. Throw that together with a rollercoaster of a musical, a good add-on message to the first movie, (even in song form) and some good jokes and writing, and... yeah, it's a pretty good sequel to the first? Not the best, as I felt the script was seriously lacking this time around and a lot of visual gags had already been used in the first, so it's more of the same... but still, not bad at all.

 

So, I dunno. On one hand I don't think the movie could have ever lived up to my wildest hopes for the theming of the movie*, so in that regard I can kinda accept the movie for what it is as a small sequel to the first's characters and world, and enjoy it for what it was... but the thing is, they do touch on some of this stuff and potential, if only for a moment, but also integrate it so poorly into the movie as a whole it kinda sticks out, as well. I don't feel like I should take it too seriously, but on the other hand they try hard enough to make it a thing that it's hard to ignore.

Spoiler

*For example, touching on the "Boys toys; Girls toys" controversy with Lego sets, the relationship between two siblings who become estranged because of these directions and the effort a younger sibling will put into bridging the gap, and the general stigma of how children of certain genders should grow up, compared to what's actually good for them. Or any acknowledged conflict outside of that, really. Speaking of, what if Rex Dangervest was actually a lost Emmet figure, for example, and the brother holds a grudge over it, replaces him with an action minifigure to fill in the role in his head, and leads to the events of the movie like that, distrusting his sister with his toys forever as a result? I know a thing or two about situations revolving around lost pieces and characters, after all :V

 

So once all's said and done, I guess I enjoyed it well enough to get some entertainment from the characters, but I wouldn't put it up there with the greats. If anything, it's helped me realize all the more how great the original really was, instead.

 

Obviously this was the highlight of the first movie, so it's kinda cheating, but look at it

The acting is subtle, the message is heartwarming and inspiring, but it's so well layered and incorporated into the story and movie itself it's almost incredible. Everything that has to do with Emmet and President Business is separated from the real world, everything that has to do with the father and son is separated from the lego world, all the relevant words and thoughts the two worlds share with each other are said simultaneously, in their own unique context, and the characters and their messages compound onto each other to form an almost profound message to us, the audience, about creativity, about self worth, and about kindness to others altogether.

It's just such an expertly crafted scene, but it's also worth pointing out how well it ties into the characters themselves without detracting from the main focus of the real world conflict, as well. I missed it on my original viewing, so I was a bit confused on how Emmet's words related to President Business, and why he ended up so swayed by the same message the son had, but if you look back, he has a downright distaste for the concept of a "special", if only because he was never called the special. He's a business man, probably self made, and his distaste for participation trophies shows that he puts value in the effort individuals use to build themselves up, but also probably because of a lack of general appreciation from everyone else. What Emmet decided to say to him, ended up being exactly what he needed to hear. Maybe his desperation for validity even seeped into his want for perfection, because if it wasn't perfect in his own eyes, what worth could it even have otherwise?

The characters build up to messages, the messages complement other characters and their themes, and the movie is basically an expertly crafted tango of meaningful purpose... while also being a fantastic comedy movie about a zany, unlimited building system and it's legacy. That's insane.

I liked the second movie well enough, but it really makes it clear that there's no touching the original in my eyes... and that's fine. I hoped for something a tad more ambitious when I heard Lord and Miller were writing the movie again, buuuuut I'm probably an outlier on that one. It was innocent enough, and added onto the original's characters pretty well, so it really isn't that bad of an end result for a studio cash-grab, honestly.

Not like they'll be able to milk the universe for more movies much longer, anyways...