The Lego Movie - 7 stars out of 10

The Lego Movie - 7 stars out of 10

“The Lego Movie” is perfect for young children and grown men.  Girly-girls need not apply.  While the visual slapstick will keep kids laughing, the clever allusions to Batman and Star Wars are definitely intended for the dads.  This movie is hilarious because it is honest about every stereotype out there, but that is okay because they are legos and not real people.  This is the only film where the worlds of Superman, a pirate, a space guy, Gandalf, a unicorn/kitten hybrid, and Lando Calrissian can all collide and nothing seems out of the ordinary.  I thought the the story was very clever and just right for this lego world, but realistically it is just an excuse to create stupid little moments like Green Lantern constantly annoying Superman and the 1980-something space guy that just wants to build a spaceship.  The visual gags occur one after another for constant laughs.  It actually has more similarities to an episode of “Robot Chicken” than it does to a motion picture, and that is fine in this instance.  In spite of the goofball quality of the film, the animation is actually really impressive, creating the stop-motion feel that you would expect from legos while giving them realistic textures.  It is really cool that, from start to finish, you never see a lego in a position that cannot be replicated in real life.  A lot of the comedy comes from the fact that we have played with many of the lego characters and settings portrayed in the film.  The voice casting is excellent as it brings in big names like Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson for characters that perfectly echo their personalities.  Will Arnett was the perfect choice for Batman, combing the gruff “Christian Bale Batman” voice with fantastic comedic timing.  It got a little too cheesy at the end, but I suppose that we must bear in mind that it is still a children’s movie.  I wish that I could just list all of the hilarious visual jokes in this film but I would much rather go watch it again.  I cannot wait to enjoy this film with my children someday, but not because I think that THEY will be the ones with tears of laughter in their eyes.