Boom. Lego logos, cool-ass bass line. The computerised percussion
arrives and you realise - this soundtrack is some really exciting stuff. In fact, the music in this movie
happens to absolutely bang. It’s well-produced, it
accompanies the film perfectly, and it’s both adorably retro and
genuinely cool modern sci-fi. The music and visuals are both deeply
adventurous but still principled. Speaking of the visuals, the whole thing looks absolutely bonkers - the attention to detail at
hand is almost maniacal. So much knowledge of the intricacies
of Lego was poured into this film. The result? It’s an absolute joy to watch. This one can hold my attention much better than the other Lego movies because they use
every opportunity at hand to tell a joke or otherwise show something visually entertaining. Unlike more recent big-budget toy movies, the money was clearly spent almost
entirely on making the film good. The script and story and jokes are
all just so amazingly well-groomed, the communication skills
alone deserve serious credit. Despite being a blatant advertisement,
the movie pulls an equally blatant ‘fuck you’ to the studio
and the corporatism thereof with immense style and self-awareness. Throughout the movie, corporations are treated
like the unspeakably evil entities that they are. Still, the experience fills you with an
incurable sense of childlike wonder - not to mention the absolutely stacked
cast, whose performances, by the way, all slap. Thankfully, it is also damn stupid – perfect tone for a kids’ movie. Traditionally, the genre calls for
preachy, morally grandstanding tosh, which The Lego Movie conspicuously
and graciously ignores. While I think the first half of the movie is more philosophically interesting because of its critique of modernity, it’s never boring - the second half just feels like a
perfectly orchestrated adventure. This film spends its runtime wonderfully. Dillying, dalliance, and claptrap
is kept to an absolute minimum. They smartly spend no time on Lord Business
getting the Kragle at the beginning because it wouldn’t be interesting. Speaking of that setup, it’s absolutely amazing. Not only does it introduce the fantastic door-opening-killing-two-people bit, it completely subverts the
audience’s expectations. When Vetruvius pulls up his cool-ass lego birds, the audience are expecting
a long-ass fight scene - instead: “Your robots are no match for a Master Builder, for I see everything!” *pew* "My eyes! Ow!" Complete anticlimax. Why make a meal out of it? In the prophecy the line "A special one, with face of yellow" is obviously nonsense - nearly all Lego figures are yellow - but The Special
is meant to be ordinary. "A special one? What a buncha hippy-dippy baloney." 8 ½ is an Italian art film about the search
for meaning through the lens of filmmaking. The struggle with which Emmet finds his own self
makes this feel like an appropriate reference. While Fellini views filmmaking from
a very individualistic standpoint, I feel the Lego Movie takes a
much more communitarian approach. I would classify it as a kind of
communist manifesto for multiple reasons. Emmet is almost archetypical working class, Lord Business is stereotypical ruling class. It tells us, in no uncertain terms, that we must
band together as people if any good is to be done. This is not to say that the
movie thinks problems will cease to exist once our society is more equal, rather collective ownership is the only
way a society can be organised morally. I understand for some people,
this movie being an advert kind of guts it of a socialist message. If that’s you, I would invite
you to consider otherwise. Is the message of this movie that
we need to build our own businesses? That we should compete? That other people are just NPCs in your story? No! The film is straight up telling
you that capitalism is evil, that the world is for everyone, and we must work together to build a better one. Elaborating on the theme of
The Special being ordinary, welcome to Emmet’s apartment. Look at all the products! This is where these MasterBuilders’
worldbuilding and environmental storytelling skills shine particularly brightly. The world of Bricksburg prioritises
conformity above all else. “Conform. It's the norm!” “Integrate! It's inte-great!” You are ‘instructed’ what to do, but
being non-instructed gets you disappeared. “Put to sleep."
In the first act, Emmet is the
embodiment of ignorance being bliss - his apartment contains no personal objects, they're all mass-produced posters
and toothbrushes and bicycles. The movie presents a twist
on the Socratic paradox - "I know that I am not special." Emmet is meant to be the ultimate
everyman, the most unspecial person - and this affords him the opportunities
that ultimately make him The Special. "Emmet... don't worry about what the others are doing. You must embrace what is special about you." Touching the piece represents
gaining consciousness. With Emmet, this is both in a
figurative and a literal sense. Firstly, there’s the process of
learning to think for yourself. Emmet is forced to learn how
to become his own person when he’s seemingly irrevocably Kragled to a
seemingly irreplaceable, unique object. Secondly, Emmet becomes enlightened. At least a little bit. The vision he has shows his eyes
opening fully for the first time. Emmet, however briefly, experiences
reality for what it actually is - that of course being the world around us humans. This is not just metaphysically materialistic, it's dialectically materialistic. Lastly, gaining consciousness is a meta-reference
to one of the true intentions of the film - make children class conscious. In both the real and Lego world, we face the guarantee of total
destruction if we do not take action, and the cataclysmic stakes at hand are communicated perfectly by the movie. Emmett has no people in his life, but he's content. Right? Emmet smiles, but he's not happy. His enthusiasm is the replacement
for deep emotional connections with people and a personality of his own. It seems that every person he meets has
something special about them, but not him. This is the very thing that
allows him to achieve greatness - he has no copes to cling onto, he has no choice but to accept his fate. The film presents the dichotomy of
whether or not being blissfully unaware is preferable to waking up and taking action. The film argues that true
happiness comes from the latter – it will hurt, but it's
preferable to the alternative. You must be willing to suffer in
the pursuit of true happiness, which comes from responsibility,
love, and community. There’s a painful sadness to the
pre-piece place in Emmet’s arc - even though his loneliness is mostly played
for laughs, it’s still completely crushing. His double-decker couch, his one original idea – it only works with friends. Lord Business acting in the capacity
of President Business reminds his people that he is president of both the Octan
corporation (the company that owns everything) and the entire world. Thankfully, he does it with a
smile on his face and distracts people well enough with free tacos
and saying the loud part out quiet. "Let's take extra care to follow the instructions or you'll be put to sleep." And then, of course, a state-created comedy show
to prevent people from having too much to think. "Tonight on Where Are My Pants:" "Honey... where are my pants?" The logo, line delivery, and accompanying laugh
track for Where Are My Pants are just impeccable. Also she’s dusting your
pants, you fucking charlatan. The main restriction Lord Business puts on the
citizens of Bricksburg is their creativity. They are disallowed from making something that shows too much personality
and therefore nonconformity. Citizens are only allowed to build
if they are instructed to build. The instructions are the urbanite’s
replacement for religion. Everyone pays rent to the Octan
corporation, not just with their money but with their souls. The “I've got my eye on you!” billboard
is a fairly explicit reference to 1984, being almost identical to the “Big Brother
is Watching You” propaganda poster. Misery is not tolerated in Bricksburg. Smile! Everyone else is. "Step nine! Eat a complete breakfast with all the special people in your life." A croissant and a waffle is
not a “complete breakfast”, you incoherent fool. “Everything Is Awesome”, while
being an objective banger, is a horrifying representation of how popular
media can be used to enforce the status quo. The line “when you're living
a dream” is an allusion to illusion. The people survive but do not live, they remain shrouded in darkness
for their entire existence. The themes of the song are
fairly cut and dry in my opinion, the lyrics are just hilariously sinister. If you lose your job, that's your problem. Smile. It’s also the only music that's allowed to exist, variations of it are the only thing that play in Octan HQ and also everywhere else. I think the Lonely Island
feature and general tone, as well as the incredibly hokey
chord progression and lyrics, get across the ironic nature of the song. Parts of it remind me of socialist realism, where art was forced by the state to
be awash with mindless positivity, meaningless jingoism, and propaganda. While the song is a criticism
of conformity and capitalism, it mounts suspicion against any
entity that claims that all is well. Perfect music for a 16-lane highway. The driving scene features so many cool
and telling posters and billboards. Not only is it clear that
these are the rules kids hate, but they also represent social demands
that keep people trapped within their ways. One enforces colouring inside the lines. One demands the curfew be obeyed. One encourages people to accept defeat. Like the totalitarian regime of Lord Business, the Nazis held tight control over the media. Art was required to honour Hitler, censorship was rife, and any dissenting or foreign voices were
brutally suppressed in order to create a bubble, an ideological echo chamber. In this context, entertainment is weaponised
to further the intentions of the regime. Lord Business’ physical appearance emphasises how
this character is both intimidating and pathetic, requiring constant validation from his lackeys. Like Ben Shapiro, Lord Business must wear lifts. While his gait is undoubtedly
one of a brutal dictator, he is still very easily
manipulated by feeling uncool. In the instructions sequence, Emmet starts telling
you them rapid-fire so you don't notice ones like “read the headlines” Not “read the newspaper." You are told exactly what you need to know,
whether or not it’s true is irrelevant. "that's $37." "awesome!" The $37 price tag of the coffee is only
going to sound less ridiculous every year. "that'll be $42." The builders’ instructions are to “take everything weird and blow it up” and so away the nonconforming living spaces go. This is something the US did and continually
does to low-income black neighbourhoods. After we see the aforementioned billboard, we immediately see a surveillance camera. Citizens are watched at all hours by
the militarised robot police force, but I'm sure that's not a metaphor. Bricksburg is a dystopia with the very,
very carefully crafted image of a utopia. Emmet, despite being told to ignore
anything weird he hears, says: "I think I heard a whoosh." He did indeed, some poor sound
designer spent probably months fine tuning that cuz it sounds
like the whooshiest whoosh ever. It’s more important than that, though - this is when Emmet starts to trust
his senses over the instructions. People are heavily encouraged
to snitch on each other - all strange activity, nonconformity, must be reported immediately
to the Super Secret Police. Thankfully, Emmett and Wyldstyle are
prevented from being sent to Room 101 through the power of heterosexuality. Along with the excellent visual comedy, the scene of Emmet falling
through the construction site reminds me of the treacherous
journey out of Plato's cave – it’s painful being ejected from your comfortable
ignorance, and you will be tempted to run back. However, there is no other way but forward,
unreal though your journey may seem. The Piece Of Resistance, which is an excellent pun, is arranged in a throne-like position. "what is that?" And then he says: "What do I do? I don't have my instructions..." This is the first time that Emmett
has to make a decision for himself. Thinking and making decisions for
yourself is a skill that’s hard-fought. The piece kinda reminds me of the bagel
from Everything Everywhere All at Once - it's a representation of absolute
truth and the madness thereof. Emmett gives a completely voluntary interview to the cops (more the cop). The good-cop bad-cop strategy is a well-established tool of
psychological manipulation, not to get the truth but to get a confession. The surveillance technology, of
course, designates him a liar. Polygraphs, despite being completely unreliable, are somehow still used by police and government. One of the robot cops is playing solitaire. To hammer home that Bricksburg
is a complete corporatocracy, Emmet beams with enthusiasm for Lord
Business and the Octan corporation. "President Business is gonna end the world? But he's such a good guy! And Octan - they make good stuff! Music, dairy products, coffee, TV shows, surveillance systems, all history books, voting machines... wait a minute." However, it is here when the mask of
corporate idealism begins to slip. Emmett is forced to realise,
through no action of his own... "Hey! Not so special anymore, huh? Well guess what - no-one ever told me I was special. I never got a trophy just for showing up! I'm not some special little snowflake - no. But as unspecial as I am? You are a thousand... billion times... more unspecial than me." Bad Cop obviously thinks he's guilty
and will accept no other explanation. The perspective shot of the melting
chamber is really impressive. The combat in this movie is awesome, super cartoony but incredibly precise and lively. It’s filled to the brim with excitement and vigour and is equal parts technical marvel and spectacle. It’s worth noting that while
Good Cop is nice, he still says ‘Hi everybody! How’s the melting going?’ He's is still directly contributing to the
mechanisms of the state, as nearly everyone does. Especially considering his parents are both cops, he feels as if he has no choice, wrong though he knows his work is. The carnage going around Wyldstyle and Emmet
while she’s monologuing is absolutely hilarious. The robot specifically places down a chair so Bad Cop can kick it into its crotch. I also love the scream that Pratt does. Like everyone, Emmet aspires to be special, but since the instructions and everything about his livelihood prevent
any sort of self-expression, he immediately clings onto anything
that makes him feel special. The city limits, despite there being
little to no physical boundaries, have a barrage of signs to
stop people from leaving. It’s no physical boundary, it’s just the law. The prophecy never said anything about The
Special being competent, smart, or even brave. Wyldstyle assumes The Special
must be a MasterBuilder, and part of her arc means putting away her
previous assumptions about who can do good. Emmet fails to comprehend the exposition with the power of misogyny. The mass arrest of the Master
Builders reflects the tactic fascist regimes use of killing
or imprisoning intellectuals. The people who refuse to be led by the
nose by the state must be suppressed. The walls erected by President
Business are borders. People are free to mingle and build
but only with the permission of the asshole who owns the slice
of the world you live in. The Octan office building is so hilarious. There is not a hint of subtlety
to the evil corporation angle. Bar the human actors, every worker
at the company is literally a robot. The human actors, by the way, are just as much mindless corporate drones as the other bastards. "We've done some great work over
the years together, Bad Cop. Capturing all those
MasterBuilders and torturing them and whatnot..." "Thank you, sir." "Although... you did let the Piece of Resistance go, the one thing that can ruin my plans... the one thing that I asked you to take care of! That's super frustrating!" The thin veil of friendliness
he puts on is very funny, he really does put his whole
Ferrellussy into this persona. He has leagues and leagues of robots
serve him in everything he does. A robot to hand him his coffee, one to
catch his cup when he throws it. A robot to roll out the carpet and one to
sweep immediately after he walks on it. The company is also very well-named, Octan sounds like the most
corporation that has ever existed. Bad Cop’s teeth sliding around on the window
as Lord Business pushes him into it is so good. Those obsessed with order like Lord Business
believe the world should be frozen in place, the metaphysical extreme of conservatism. This would signify the end of change
and therefore the end of the world. Those who cannot adapt to change try to end it. "Pa..." "Uh-huh?" "Why do... whenever I talk to Ma, you start to move." "oh, sorry."
“Get back to where you were!” "h-h-here?" "Perfect. That's great. You can't do anything better. There's no reason why you should move." In this sense, "get back to where you
were" has something of a double meaning. There’s also a lot of criticism
of corporate behaviour in there. The purpose of Octan is to end the world, but that’s in some way better
than real–life corporations, whose purpose appears to grow endlessly
without reason nor conscience. Money is no reason, but anything on
the path to profit must be steamrolled. Bad Cop is ordered to kill his parents,
but his superego does not let him. Thus, it is destroyed. This is how cops are made in real life. Lord Business believes that
everything is “his stuff” even though the world is obviously
neither his nor just stuff. It's the cringe kind of materialism - prioritising stuff, specifically
the ownership of it. Don't know what the fuck is up with
the dude throwing the tomahawk. "Build something simple" "Okay!" "Like an awesome racecar." "Great." "Go." "Do you have the instructions?" "No. You must create the
instructions in your mind, my liege." "Huh, okay. Racecar... well, there's a lot of really cool stuff here... don't see... a wheel... or... three... more wheels?" The way Lucy shakes her head here is really good. You really do sympathise with her
shock at Emmet’s hopelessness. The simulated universe of Lego
sees the assembler as god. The hand of god Emmet produces
from his mind is evidently a reference to the invisible
hand of the free market. Seriously though, knowing that
people are ultimately behind the plot makes it feel much more personal. It is not a story about LEGO
products, it is a story about people. The world of Cloud Cuckoo Land is inherently
disorganised, but is a pure utopia. It’s a lawless wonderland. It is a yang without the yin. It’s also fragile - the arm of the state shalt
rain heavy upon fun-havers. Cloud Cuckoo Land cannot exist. This is the naïve version
of communism that is so oft criticised as if it represents
the true heart of the idea. Therefore, the cops destroy it. I love that the Statue of Liberty
speaks French, by the way. The 1980s-something space guy aka Benny
is voiced by Charlie Day, who is just... he’s a running-joke character used
sparingly enough to be wonderful every time. There’s also the great Morgan
Freeman outtake they left in. "Vitruvius!!" "Alright you gotta write that down cuz I'm
not gonna remember any of it but here we go." The speech scene is so painful, I almost want to skip it every time, but you gotta publicly humiliate
yourself on occasion, I get it. "He led them right to us!" "Guys, nonono... it's not my fault!" "You are the worst leader I've ever seen." Very funny that Emmet goes
for ‘it’s not my fault’, he's still a coward at this point after all. This is a nobody who has only
just started being somebody. The Think Tank, of course,
is a nod to think tanks. Even the brightest of society are forced
to produce instructions against their will; ultimately forced to cowtow to the powers that be. They play around with words a lot, the Kragle being the obvious example, but here's a personal favourite. "... I was wrong." "It's the orb of teetle-ist!" We can’t go this far without mentioning the frankly sublime Shaq joke,
voiced by the man himself, of course. "It's game time. Y'all ready for this? Oh no! They were ready for that!" The look of the water is absolutely insane. I have nothing else to say, it’s just painfully
high-effort, unreasonably good filmmaking. The way Metalbeard speaks in
particular is applaudable: “Did ye not hear my whole story circumscribing
the folly of this whole enterprise?” Emmet and his ideas possess a quality
that we also see in Glass Onion – he’s dumb enough to fool his way to the top. His lack of originality is the pathway to victory. When in doubt, murder the security guard. The film makes the very good decision to combine the planning and the execution of the
scheme in a very tasteful montage. It would have been boring if they didn’t. I love when Bruce Wayne plays on Lord Business’
insecurities by getting them to make speakers - he's so desperate for any kind of
approval from those he sees as cool, allowing a critical component
of the scheme to work. The animation never loses
its immaculate sense of pace. "sneaking around the corner..." "Vitruvius!" Good voice acting, animation, and
comedic timing does not expire. Like losing his eyes, Vitruvius’
death comes unexpectedly and in what appears to be a moment of victory. While it is hilarious, it’s
a genuinely shocking twist – the kids’ movies' tropes are
flipped on their head at once. "Bad Cop, unfortunately I'm gonna have
to leave you here to die." "What?! Sir, I-" "It's not personal... it's just business. Lord Business." Of course, when Bad Cop stops being
useful to Lord Business, he drops him - his years of service were ultimately worthless. The police act merely as a
protectorate of the state - when their usefulness expires, so do their worth. There is no time to ruminate and bitch, it’s time to kill yourself. Once Wyldstyle stages a coup through
the TV, the revolution begins. Yay!! It is here where we are graced
with one of the most hilarious, cathartic and insurmountably joyous
moments in cinematic history. I’m goint to show you the
whole thing because I love you. "I could, uh... I could... build a... I could build a...
I could build a spaceship! You're not... you're not gonna say no?" "Build away, whatever your name is." "Spaceship!
Spaceship! Spaceship!
Spaceship! Spaceship!
Spaceship! Spaceship!"
"All units, attack that spaceship!" "Spaceship!" "Where'd he go?!" "Spaceship!" Benny gets everyone back to Bricksburg
with the unstoppable power of autism. Lo, the uprising is swiftly brought to heel
using the wretched machinery of the state. Boo!! Emmet enters a k-hole. He realises the true nature of reality and
we’re introduced to our two real-world actors. Will Ferrell has an incredibly commanding
presence, hilarious though the costuming may be. I really like this moment of technobabble. "You- you know the rules, this isn't a toy!" "... it kind of is." "No, actually it's a highly sophisticated interlocking brick system." I love the reveal that there are
more Kragles than we ever thought. In levelling the character of Emmett up, it
too levels up the threat of The Man Upstairs. We realise at this time that
the thing that we thought made Emmet special turns out to be almost irrelevant. He needs to find another way - he needs to cooperate with the main villain. "You got glue all over that construction worker. Here. Give that to me." Always stuck out to me. He says
"here" when taking something from him. "Finn, did you make all of this?" The true turning point of the movie for me is when Will Ferrell realises his
son is extremely talented, and that he's stifling his son's own creativity
by locking all of these bricks into place. Emmet exits the k-hole, gits gud in one of the most pleasing
action scenes I’ve ever witnessed, and gets himself face-to-face with Lord Business. After a brief altercation, the
power of The Special is revealed – the power to turn hearts and
minds towards sympathetic ends. Thank the man upstairs Lord
Business is an actual person who is not meant to represent
corporations as a concept, On subsequent rewatches I think the ending
is stronger than I initially thought. It was the only way to incorporate
the Man Upstairs angle, and the child actor wasn’t
as shitty as they often are. Props to him. The thing that troubles me most about the
ending is that it does not present a suitable alternative to the ultra-authoritarian
capitalism of the Bricksburg of yore. After everyone hugs and congratulates
themselves on ending capitalism, we are immediately met with an even bigger threat. Women. This dodges the question that
Žižek poses to anti-capitalists, 'what happens on day one after the revolution?', but in a pretty smart way. It says once we overcome the great challenges of our time we will immediately
be met with a bigger challenge. In a sense, capitalism is
presented as a hyperobject, something that seems utterly immovable. The Lego Movie says that it can, however, be beaten with the all-important human
connection, humility, and collaboration. Both individual and collective action is
required to dismantle the corporo-state machinery and create a more free, more
equal, more culturally diverse society. Do we ever see the fruits of this, though? Is Middle Zealand literate? Is Cloud Cuckoo Land reconstructed? The movie says, simply, the struggle continues. The worst thing this movie did was
inspire shite like the Playmobil movie, but it’s not their fault whatsoever. One good film is worth a thousand bad ones. Barbie tried desperately to do what this
film did, and was not nearly as successful, even though it had 3x the budget
and 10 years of hindsight. The self-aware corporate advertisement
movie is now a well-established phenomenon, and it is almost never done well. If it capitulates to established norms, it is boring. I will not be talking about The Lego Movie 2
because I haven’t seen it and I don’t want to. The Lego Batman movie was pretty great, the Lego Ninjago movie was mediocre as all hell, but the original Lego Movie is fucking excellent. It’s a children’s movie that proves that you
don’t need to be unimaginative to be successful. The end credits are absolutely
awesome, by the way. Genuine stop motion never gets old. Every frame drips with love,
planning, and hard fucking work. It's rendered inarguable that making
good movies, making good art - is a team effort.
