In 2005, my wife (back when she was my girlfriend) paid for us both to go Disneyworld for a week. We had a good time doing all the normal Disney stuff: the rides, eating, a moderately lame show, more eating, fireworks, still more eating, a parade, some more rides, and then, before bed, more eating. It was all very typical, but still very enjoyable.
On our last day, we went shopping at some place (Adultland? Adventureworld? Adultadventureworld?) that had a store I had never, ever been to before. An entirely unique experience that I put as much imagination and effort into as anything we did at Disney in the preceding six days. They had a Lego Store. And you get to fill the container with any pieces you want.
My point, if there is one, is year after year of happily devouring Disney flicks (and to an extent, Dreamworks), seeing The Lego Movie felt like some kind of epiphany. I went in expecting greatness, and was only let down by the fact that I couldn't immediately watch it again. Trust me, this might be the most fun you'll ever have at an animated movie. It's that good.
While the story is certainly charming, it's not like something we haven't seen before. Well, sort of anyway. Imagine putting Toy Story, Kung-Fu Panda and The Matrix in a blender, and you'll have The Lego Movie. Even though it reminded me of other stuff, it did nothing to lessen my enthusiasm in the least.
For me, and probably most other guys, the pure joy was seeing all these Lego versions of things we loved as kids come together in truly awesome fashion. Batman, Superman, Shaq!, Dumbledore, Wonderwoman, Lando Calrissian, Michelangelo and even Abraham Lincoln to name a few (assuming there's a kid out there who loves Honest Abe), are onscreen together in an orgy of imagination and comedy. Half the time, I simply wanted to pause any given frame and just stare. Gents, you gotta see this one. Ladies, imagine Jem and Rainbow Bright riding Starlight around Polly Pocket's house and you might be in the ballpark. Probably not though, as, you know, all girls toys are super lame.
On our last day, we went shopping at some place (Adultland? Adventureworld? Adultadventureworld?) that had a store I had never, ever been to before. An entirely unique experience that I put as much imagination and effort into as anything we did at Disney in the preceding six days. They had a Lego Store. And you get to fill the container with any pieces you want.
While the story is certainly charming, it's not like something we haven't seen before. Well, sort of anyway. Imagine putting Toy Story, Kung-Fu Panda and The Matrix in a blender, and you'll have The Lego Movie. Even though it reminded me of other stuff, it did nothing to lessen my enthusiasm in the least.
For me, and probably most other guys, the pure joy was seeing all these Lego versions of things we loved as kids come together in truly awesome fashion. Batman, Superman, Shaq!, Dumbledore, Wonderwoman, Lando Calrissian, Michelangelo and even Abraham Lincoln to name a few (assuming there's a kid out there who loves Honest Abe), are onscreen together in an orgy of imagination and comedy. Half the time, I simply wanted to pause any given frame and just stare. Gents, you gotta see this one. Ladies, imagine Jem and Rainbow Bright riding Starlight around Polly Pocket's house and you might be in the ballpark. Probably not though, as, you know, all girls toys are super lame.
