March 22, 2014: The LEGO Movie

It's been a very long time since LEGO bricks were just for children. It's fitting, then, that The LEGO Movie caters to all ages. A lighthearted romp through a beautifully rendered LEGO world, the film still manages to touch strongly on the themes of individuality and change versus stagnation.

The voice cast is filled with stars, from the hilarious performance of Allison Brie as Unikitty, to the bi-polar (with reason) acting of Liam Neeson as Good Cop/Bad Cop. A number of brief voice cameos surprise and delight, but the villainous Lord Business, none other than Will Ferrell himself, steals every scene he's in.

The plot follows Emmet, a generic construction worker, as he goes through his daily life. He tries to do as he's told and follow "The Instructions," but through no fault of his own finds himself thrust into opposition of Lord Business's plans to remove chaos and change from the world. He meets up with colorful and hilarious characters while fleeing from the relentless pursuit of the chair-kicking Bad Cop.

While the majority of the movie is computer generated, it is still filmed in a stop motion style, so the entire bustling LEGO world looks fantastic and believable. The charming way everyone moves and reacts just like the minifigs, including bending, spinning their heads around, and, in some cases, going completely to bits, is used to excellent comedic effect.

It doesn't matter how young or old you are, whether you like building meticulously planned LEGO masterpieces or just randomly making things, or even (gasp) not playing with them at all, this movie will entertain. I highly recommend making time in your schedule to see this film.

As someone who has spent far too much money on LEGO sets, I couldn't help but buy the biggest play set they released from the movie. The piece is Metalbeard's ship, Sea Cow, pictured in this post. 

-- Devin Lewis