If you build a sequel, I won’t come.
I admit that I wasn’t thrilled about the thought of The Lego Movie when I first heard about it. Then I started reading the reviews and my film student son told me repeatedly to take his Mom and his younger brother to see it. So, I did.
Twenty minutes in I wanted to take a nap.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s cute. It’s well done. It has some very clever moments.
But to me it was fomulaic. It was cliché. I thought the story line fit with some of those Nickelodeon cartoons we watched for years when the boys where growing up.
True the animation is somewhat amazing. But I need the story. And, maybe it is a product of my being old, but visually I can’t handle the crash-bang-smash-em-up graphics.
I understand that I’m in the minority. My wife and son (actually both sons) loved it. The reviews are glowing. The box office receipts are through the roof.
It’s a shame really. After all I remember playing with Legos when they didn’t come with instructions. You got a box of bricks (in limited colors, by the way), and some suggestions on what you could build. But no kit. No movie sets, or characters.
I will say that The Lego Movie has a pretty impressive list of actors providing the voices, including a few surprises. The twist at the end was unique as well. I won’t spoil it. It almost made up for the rest of the movie. Almost.
At least I had popcorn.
It’s not for you. You got a bone or two thrown at you (Billy Dee Williams, for one), but the whole of it is not for you.
It’s not for me, either. It’s for my seven year old nephew, who sat entranced or bounced excitedly in the seat or clung t my arm as it looked like things were going Very Badly.
It’s for him, and others like him, who haven’t learned and become jaded by the formulas.
Let them have it. Take them, and take them to the sequel, and watch them. Enjoy their joy, revel in their revelry, and collect the “thank you” hugs. It’s worth it.
I realize it’s not for me, and noted above that was my first instinct. But it was sold to me as if it were for me.
As for sitting with the kids, mine are old enough to sit by themselves. Plus, I paid my dues with Squeaquel.