Everything about 'The Lego Movie' is awesome

'The Lego Movie'

"The Lego Movie" is a really good film. I would have recommended it on the strength of the creative animation alone. It's about a lot of things and at times it can really be funny. But believe it or not, it really is mythic in it's scope and ambitions. There is a scene in the film when Emmet, the hero, falls through the abyss. What happens next reminded me of the Hindu story of the holy man who falls out of the mouth of God. What you really need to know is that "The Lego Movie" is about a Father and Son, it is about a rebellious angel who redeems a creator who has forgotten how to play.There is a joy that infects this movie from start to finish. The movie plays on the conventions of the creativity inherent in the toy but goes much further. Unlike other movies based on toys, this one is fun, endearing and, in the end, unexpectedly thoughtful. Ironically, "The Lego Movie" is likely to be the closest we're going to get to a good Justice League movie for a while in the same way "The Incredibles" is the closest we've gotten to a good Fantastic Four film.

There are a couple of themes running through this film, many of which have drawn commentary: the evolution of the nominal protagonist, Emmet, from a nobody to a hero. It really is sad when he has to watch an interview of those he believed to be his friends. In their eyes, he really is a go-along, yes-man nobody. From the first scenes, Emmet is shown as someone who follows the rules and, as a consequence, is a person who doesn't stand out and has no original ideas.

Emmet eventually meets with the Master Builders. The Master Builders are all extremely creative and have an abundance of original thoughts but they can't work together towards a common goal. So when the far more organized forces of the nominal villain, Big Business, show up, they're easy pickings.

This is the Campbellian 'Hero's Journey' at play, the hero who becomes the master of two worlds, it this case he synthesizes the two ideas, creativity and rules, to save the world.

But then something really interesting happens in "The Lego Movie": it goes meta in an awesome way.

Emmet falls through the abyss and lands in the "real world" where the true conflict is revealed. It reminded me of the Hindu story of the holy man who falls out of the mouth of God. He lands in the ocean of Eternity where he is exposed to the truth: his world is the dream of a sleeping God. It happens to the holy man twice in the course of his long life and there are hints in 'The Lego Movie' that this has happened to Emmet before as well.

Emmet, in this world, faces the truth: that two true master builders are in conflict. The conflict that drives the story is the one between a wildly imaginative child and his uptight father. This is where the story takes on mythical, biblical import. It is a story about a rebellious angel who redeems a creator who has forgotten how to play. This also reminded me of the series finale of "St. Elsewhere" where we get the sense that the entire series was, in fact, the product of the imagination of an autistic child.

It's hard to know if this is what the writers intended. Even if they didn't, this is the true brilliance of the movie. Even the villain, Big Business, is redeemed in the end.

There are plenty of laugh out loud moments and fan service shout-outs. And the environments and fully realized and memorable. It is unlike anything else in animation right now.

In the end, "The Lego Movie" is a movie that will move you, no matter what your age. And while you may not be singing the movie's signature tune much past the time you leave the theater, you will come away with the sense that you've just sat through an awesome movie and gotten your money's worth.