I’ll admit it: I had very low expectations for The LEGO Movie. The first trailers were annoying more than anything else, and — out of context from the movie — I wasn’t especially impressed with the corresponding sets (which LEGO sent us to review a while ago — they’re actually pretty great parts packs). But this evening I joined scores of local LEGO fans, press, and others at an early screening, and the movie won me over from the first moments on screen.
Written and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (whose previous writing/directing collaboration is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), The LEGO Movie begins when Emmet (Chris Pratt) wakes up one morning and heads to his construction job, following instructions every step of the way. You can infer most of the lessons that the movie will convey from that premise alone — yes, there are plenty of nods to creativity, teamwork, and other wonderful sentiments. But there’s a lot more to this movie than bang-you-over-the-head morals in the vein of Toy Story 3.
First and foremost, the movie is full of subtle references to LEGO arcana from the past 35 years. I won’t spoil any of the surprises, but the inclusion of a blue Classic Space minifig with a cracked visor should be evidence enough that this isn’t just a movie for boys aged 6-12 whose idea of LEGO is Ninjago and Legends of Chima.
Similarly, and less obscurely, well-timed cameos from completely unexpected parts of the LEGO universe (no, not that LEGO Universe) had the audience roaring with approval. The voice acting is impressive, but don’t go looking up the credits yet or you’ll spoil many of the surprises. And forget Ben Affleck, I want Will Arnett as the next Batman.
The animation style is rather striking. Unlike the flat, uniform style we’ve all gotten used to in LEGO video games, the move essentially looks like it was animated with real bricks. More interestingly, the pieces — especially the minifigs — show lots of play wear. The minifigs also move with the limitations inherent to their form; you’ll never see a minifig bending at the knee or flexing a claw hand.
There’s a final plot twist that comes as a complete but totally natural surprise. With plenty of foreshadowing, this final twist fits perfectly with what you’ve seen throughout the rest of the movie — an indication of good writing by Lord and Miller. Even better, it’s clear that they’re very aware of patterns of thinking among adult fans.
Overall, I can unreservedly recommend The LEGO Movie. This isn’t a movie about LEGO the beloved brand or corporation. Nor is it really a movie about bricks or even creativity. Fundamentally, The LEGO Movie is a movie for LEGO fans and about LEGO fans. It’s also just plain entertaining. Set aside your preconceptions and go see it.
The LEGO Movie opens this Friday, February 7th.
As a final note, I’m interested to learn how LEGO builders we know were involved in making the movie — Facebook lately has been full of subtle references to recent projects with a forthcoming reveal and early cast & crew screenings. Watching the credits, it was great to see designer Matthew Ashton get an Executive Producer credit.
I’d love to hear what you think, too. Feel free to discuss your thoughts in the comments, but please keep the discussion spoiler-free through opening weekend.
I think we can all agree that LEGO helps nourish the mind in various ways. We know it helps with spacial awareness, eye-hand coordination, creativity, and problem-solving.
ROOK gives us some of the tools needed for some very important mathematical and scientific skills, helpfully constructed in brick:
I have to say, I’m really fond of the protractor. The compass is pretty nifty. If you find yourself more comfortable in a lab coat, he’s got some rather clever test-tubes full of who-knows-what waiting for you.
I’ve admired Captain Eugene‘s military LEGO models for a while, but I’d never noticed that he’s quite an accomplished mech builder. In fact, I nearly overlooked this pair of fantastic industrial robots because I thought from the thumbnail that they were plastic miniatures.
And then I noticed the minifigs.
I think that building military models gives you a very solid sense of the purpose that every mechanical detail has; greebles are great, but believable details trump greebs any day. It’s clear that Eugene has invested every detail in these two mechanical monstrosities with purpose, and that makes a huge difference.
71 years ago today — on February 2nd, 1943 — the Red Army defeated German forces who had occupied Stalingrad more than 5 months earlier. Nearly half a million Soviet men and women were killed defending their city from Nazi aggression. The Battle of Stalingrad is arguably the turning point of World War II — a horrendous loss for Hitler and the Third Reich that weakened German forces and led ultimately to Allied victory 2 years later.
Although I haven’t had as much LEGO time over the last six months or so, I’ve managed to keep building. Spurred on by the new Brickmania Track Links, I finally got around to photographing the dozen or so models I’ve pumped out since BrickCon in October. The buildings and minifigs in my diorama of Stalingrad were part of the “Operation Brickarossa” collaboration last year, but my KV-1s tank is new.
Compared to smaller and stranger tanks I’ve built, the KV-1 was relatively “easy” and I don’t have a whole lot in the way of build notes. One recent change to my building methods is to try to include more functionality from the start. Admittedly, I failed to do so on the turret hatches, but this is one of my first tanks to include a gun that elevates and depresses properly.
With several hours of photography and editing out of the way, I’ll be posting the rest of my models on Flickr, along with write-ups here. In particular, check back for full reviews of the new Track Links, BrickMania kits, BrickArms items, and more.
Remember the Brickmania track links kickstarter project? It reached its funding goal and the first models that use these tracks are now appearing online.
These fine examples, an M4 Sherman and two different versions of the Stuart light tank, were built by LegoUli. These already were some of the best examples of minifig-scale US WW2 tanks out there and built in old dark grey to boot. This is a difficult colour to use, because all kinds of handy parts builders have become used to, such as cheese slopes, were never made in this particular shade. It is probably the closest match to the colour of the real vehicles, though. The old track shoes were a bit narrow, but thanks to the new track links, this has now been rectified.
After herculean effort, Mark Kelso (Amhakia) finally unveils the massive Halo universe SHIP he began four years ago. No less impressive than the effort itself, the final product more than manages to live up to expectations.
Seven feet long and with every inch superbly detailed, this build is truly a labor of love. Head on over to the MOCpages gallery to read Mark’s thoughts on completing this marathon of a build, or head over to his flickr if you’re inclined to scroll back to the first work in progress shots from 2010.
Welcome back fight fans, to Hong Kong for a special Chinese New Year bout. What’s more fitting than a day at the races to usher in the year of the Horse?. Let’s go down for the Pre-race Paddock Inspection:
Starting at Gate 1 we have schfio with this black stallion:
In gate 9 we have Kazumi and Omar Ovalle with their brown horse already in mid stride:
As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this pony race by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, the architecture action was a bit lopsided like the Tower of Pisa with Patrick Bosman winning by a score of 13-6. Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!
Oh and a few bonus horse links:
In Gate 2 with some lovely Chinese charactesrs: BricksBen.
In Gate 6 with the adorable Toy Story BullsEye : ArzLan.
David Frank (Fraslund) is one of the best period and fantasy architecture builders currently working. You may recall the last project of his that we featured here, the gigantic Rivendell diorama he constructed with Alice Finch. As much as I loved Rivendell, as a longtime pirates fan, I have to say that David’s latest model, though smaller, enthralls me just as much.
Ghostbusters will be the next official Cuusoo set, LEGO announced today on the blog for the Cuusoo site. Cuusoo is a LEGO website that allows fans to submit ideas to LEGO. If an idea garners 10,000 votes, LEGO will examine if they are able to turn the idea into an official set. Several sets gained the requisite votes in the last review session, but thus far only fan Brent Waller’s Ghostbusters project has been confirmed for transformation into an official set. Another Ghostbusters project also reached the 10,000 vote mark, but LEGO has decided to only pursue Waller’s project, since it reached the vote threshold first, and the model designers liked the car better.
We don’t know yet what the final set will look like, since, as is the case with all Cuusoo projects, it is the idea, not the specific model, that LEGO has agreed to produce. Pictured above is Waller’s Ghostbusters model.
