The Lego Movie (2014)

Warner Bros. presents ... a Dreamworks Animation production ... Wrong. We don't have Dreamworks on the credits. Which makes "The Lego Movie" to get the title of "the most Dreamworks'ish production, where Dreamworks was never involved" ;) ...

The first time I heard about a "lego movie" the reaction was a wide eye-roll, telling myself that probably Lego doesn't sell enough bricks lately, needs some massive advertising, and what we'll get would be a sort of Transformers for kids (= minus the hot chick & more colored). Consequently, I've completely ignored the release in the spring, but following that, some very positive reviews got my attention. So .. I finally decided to check it out. To avoid spoiling too much I'll just say the story follows a sort of Matrix parody, where the One must save the Lego worlds from the terror inflicted by Mr. Business. We have a Trinity there too to train the hero. Morpheus is ... Batman .. or Morgan Freeman aka the God aka Vitruvius aka (well, a wise old guy with a long white robe) ... or maybe both. I'm still not certain about the Morpheus association. What's clear is that Agent Smith is Liam Neeson, although .. we have a multiple personality case here ... you'll get it when you see the movie ;)

Why is it the most non-Dreamworks Dreamworks'ish production? Because it's the funniest animation I've seen since Kung Fu Panda (or since Dreamworks decided to Pixarize itself ... ok, ok, I won't start again :P). I could even say that the jokes density is a bit exaggerated for the first two thirds of the movie (especially considering that many are quite light). Sufficiently enough to feel a pretty high contrast in the last part = seems like the screenwriters have awaken to realize that there must be a moralizing/heartwarming ending for a lego movie. Even so, what stays is the really nice parody mix of various references, which is true that requires some movie background knowledge to catch everything. Overall, a very pleasant surprise, and probably the best animation I've seen this year.

Rating: 4 out of 5