Mark Schroeder’s Movie Reviews

The Lego Movie

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Mark

Grade: B-

The Lego Movie is jam-packed with clever, quotable one-liners. It’s the kind of movie that might inspire lazy critics to give some away in their reviews, like if I were to tell you the film exists in a world where the only pop song in existence seems to be one called “Everything Is Awesome,” and the entire population watches a sitcom called Where Are My Pants, where that appears to be the only line ever spoken on the show. These cute little jokes – and the voice work by the ever-valuable Morgan Freeman – are the best thing the movie has going for it. The plot (to the extent I understood it, or cared enough to try) was too busy for me, the action scenes (to the extent I understood them, or cared enough to try) were too busy for me, and it got surprisingly quiet and “deep” near the end, with undertones that made me think of the Toy Story trilogy. It has lots of fun little parts, though. I was never a big Lego builder, but I imagine that the world of possibility laying before you in those small pieces you start out with is more fulfilling than your huge finished product.

Grade: B-

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One response to “The Lego Movie”

  1. Free Birds – Film Reviews by Mark

    […] As much pleasure as it gives me to “see” an actor play against type in an animated film, I get an equal amount of displeasure when somebody well-known is doing exactly the type of role they’re well-known for. We can’t see them, so why not think outside the box and use them inventively? The new film Free Birds has an example of both extremes. Guess who voices the meek outsider, who turns out to be the unlikely hero. Owen Wilson! On the flip side, I thoroughly enjoyed the terrific work done by an “unrecognizable” (so to speak) Woody Harrelson as one intense, dominating quirky turkey. He infuses Free Birds with more zest, verve, and personality than it deserves. The movie shows the most heart and promise in the beginning, before anything significant really happens, then becomes populated by too many characters, lessons, and false climaxes to the point where I stopped caring before the halfway point. I didn’t check before I wrote this, but whatever the running time is, it’s too long. Don’t bother with this one. Less is more. But hey, the silver lining in this (for my playbook) is that I did get to once again see the trailer for The Lego Movie. […]

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