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Review: The LEGO Movie


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Near the end of last year, Kevin Hinkle from the LEGO CEE Team let BioniLUG know that Warner Bros. was looking to leverage AFOLs to promote the upcoming LEGO Movie and asked if we'd be interested. We jumped at the opportunity, which eventually culminated with several BioniLUG and WAMALUG members showing off their MOCs and attending a screening of the film in Northern Virginia. Since the movie isn't out yet, and I'm sure many of you are anxious to know if you should see it or not, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the film.

 

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Great to hear that you enjoyed it, and also the Bionicle reference. What I was worried about in this movie was all the pop-culture references, ie the justice league, Star Wars characters, Gandalf, etc were going to be detrimental to the film. Were these characters used sparingly enough, or did they bog down the movie? Also, what do you think of the possibility of future theatrical Lego-based movies?

Thank you, BZPower staff. In the past, I wish I showed more appreciation for all that you do. From one Bionicle fan to another, thank you.

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I think I speak for a few people when I say that I want to know what that

the BIONICLE reference mentioned.

 

 

I'm impatient okay.

Ditto this. This is 10% of the reasons why I want to watch the LEGO Movie. 90%-is hoping everything else is awesome. :P

 

I saw a couple of "making of" videos for the LEGO movie and I'm so hyped after seeing how they did a couple of the effects. :)

Edited by CrunchbiteNuva

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The Bionicle reference is there and gone in the blink of any eye - it's not really that important, just nice to see.

 

Great to hear that you enjoyed it, and also the Bionicle reference. What I was worried about in this movie was all the pop-culture references, ie the justice league, Star Wars characters, Gandalf, etc were going to be detrimental to the film. Were these characters used sparingly enough, or did they bog down the movie? Also, what do you think of the possibility of future theatrical Lego-based movies?

Batman is a main character, but all the others are pretty much cameos. Superman and Green Lantern probably have the most lines after Batman.

 

I think we'll have to wait and see how the movie does at the box office before we can tell if there'll be a sequel. I don't feel it was really set up for one though.

 

Did Jillian Michaels do a line or two for the Green Ninja (she's Lloyd in Ninjago)? And were the only Justice Leaguers Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern?

I don't recall the Green Ninja talking. And yes, I believe those are the only DC superheroes.
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I saw the screening with Bionilug as well! It was fantastic. As a mocist, I spent way too much time looking for part recolors XD

 

If you're any kind of Lego fan, big or small, no matter how much you know about legos, you will love it. I was worried that it was going to have a lot of stupid childish jokes, but there was surprisingly little of that; most of the jokes were genuinely funny, and you could tell because all the adults in the theatre would be laughing too~

 

Great to hear that you enjoyed it, and also the Bionicle reference. What I was worried about in this movie was all the pop-culture references, ie the justice league, Star Wars characters, Gandalf, etc were going to be detrimental to the film. Were these characters used sparingly enough, or did they bog down the movie? Also, what do you think of the possibility of future theatrical Lego-based movies?

Personally, I thought that the use of licensed themes did bog down the movie some, but I guarantee that I'm very biased in that respect; I'm not a fan of LOTR or SW or DC/Marvel; I like them, but I'm not a fan per se. I was hoping it would make more fun with lego themes, like Space Police or Blacktron, but it's understandable that they chose to use licensed themes more, because that's what the children will be able to relate to. The Lego references are definitely there; you can find blacktron or classic space logos, etc all around the movie. If you're active in the system moccing community, you might even recognize some fan-made mocs in the movie! (I knew beforehand that a few people I know would have mocs in the movie!)

 

The other thing of note for me was how they seem to have made an effort to incorporate EVERY collectible minifig somewhere; some were even minor characters. It was kinda weird.

 

But neither of those are any reasons to not see the movie. :D

 

Ditto this. This is 10% of the reasons why I want to watch the LEGO Movie. 90%-is hoping everything else is awesome. :P

As you are surely about to see, "everything IS awesome"! ;)

Edited by Steve the Squid

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The Bionicle reference is there and gone in the blink of any eye - it's not really that important, just nice to see.

Important or not I still wanna know. -_-

 

Pleaaaase based Black Six god.

 

Okay fine, spoilers ahead...

 

 

There's a part where Vitruvius is describing how the LEGO world used to be until Lord Business put up walls between the different lands to separate them. At one point, he starts listing different lands and one of them is Bionicle. You briefly see one of the classic pictures of the Toa Mata before he moves on to the next land.

 

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So there is a Bionicle cameo in the movie. Thats all I wanted to know. :)

 

 

But anyway, I wasn't planning on seeing this movie in theaters. But with all the good buzz I've been reading about it, I might go see it overall.

Everyone is one choice away from being the bad guy in another person's story.


 


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I didn't pay much attention to this movie when I first heard about it. I'm glad I decided to watch a couple trailers and several clips yesterday. Some of the humor is hit or miss, but the visuals and attention to detail in the LEGO world is astounding.

 

I won't be able to see The LEGO Movie in theaters, but I'll definitely check it out once it's available on DVD.

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The other thing of note for me was

how they seem to have made an effort to incorporate EVERY collectible minifig somewhere; some were even minor characters. It was kinda weird.

 

I got a sense of that in some of the trailers and preview clips, but I don't think it was an issue of "making an effort" so much as using the assets available to them.

The CMFs, after all, are recent enough that all of their parts and decorations were available as digital assets, so including them could have been a cheap and easy way to add lots of variety to the movie's background character roster without having to pull figs from dozens of older themes like Divers, Ninja, Forestmen, etcetera.

 

 

I'm glad to hear the movie is not too deep or cerebral. Honestly, I think that'll do a lot to widen its appeal. A lot of people who are going to want to see a LEGO movie expect a lighthearted romp, not a movie that tries to redefine the LEGO universe according to a bunch of logical rules. You can see this kind of user-friendly approach even in some of the language the movie uses — minifigures who don't follow the instructions get "put to sleep", which is a much simpler euphemism than the one used in The Adventures of Clutch Powers, in which the worst fate for a minifigure is "to have their creation spark extinguished".

 

I look forward to seeing the movie! Hope this opportunity doesn't discourage people from the Northern Virginia area from attending the BZPower movie meetup my brother has been trying to organize (honestly, I understand the benefits of keeping this kind of info within BIONILUG, but I'm starting to wonder whether it might have had an impact on how few people have committed to attending that meetup).

Edited by Aanchir: Rachira of Time
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I look forward to seeing the movie! Hope this opportunity doesn't discourage people from the Northern Virginia area from attending the BZPower movie meetup my brother has been trying to organize (honestly, I understand the benefits of keeping this kind of info within BIONILUG, but I'm starting to wonder whether it might have had an impact on how few people have committed to attending that meetup).

Only BioniLUG was invited, so we weren't able to spread the news with all of BZPower. Even so, there was a very limited amount of space available, and between us and WAMALUG we filled it up with no problems.
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The Bionicle reference is there and gone in the blink of any eye - it's not really that important, just nice to see.

Important or not I still wanna know. -_-

 

Pleaaaase based Black Six god.

 

Okay fine, spoilers ahead...

 

 

There's a part where Vitruvius is describing how the LEGO world used to be until Lord Business put up walls between the different lands to separate them. At one point, he starts listing different lands and one of them is Bionicle. You briefly see one of the classic pictures of the Toa Mata before he moves on to the next land.

 

That's Awesome! :ahhh:

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The Bionicle reference is there and gone in the blink of any eye - it's not really that important, just nice to see.

Important or not I still wanna know. -_-

 

Pleaaaase based Black Six god.

 

Okay fine, spoilers ahead...

 

 

There's a part where Vitruvius is describing how the LEGO world used to be until Lord Business put up walls between the different lands to separate them. At one point, he starts listing different lands and one of them is Bionicle. You briefly see one of the classic pictures of the Toa Mata before he moves on to the next land.

 

A little nod, nice. :) Any HF references?

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Seems like the general reviews (not including this one) make the film sound a lot better than what the trailers were delivering. I suppose in retrospect that shouldn't surprise me. Guess I'll be making plans to see this eventually, maybe not on opening weekend but probably a few weeks after.

BZPRPG
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Thanks for the review, sounds like it'll be a lively watch. The box office performance should also be interesting given the movie's scale. I hope they've pulled off the next Toy Story, though the possibility of another Lego Universe result is also there.

 

A little sad to hear Bionicle is only referenced briefly, though I suppose that's far better than not at all.

 

Was there anything Chima related?

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The Bionicle reference is there and gone in the blink of any eye - it's not really that important, just nice to see.

Important or not I still wanna know. -_-

 

Pleaaaase based Black Six god.

 

Okay fine, spoilers ahead...

 

 

There's a part where Vitruvius is describing how the LEGO world used to be until Lord Business put up walls between the different lands to separate them. At one point, he starts listing different lands and one of them is Bionicle. You briefly see one of the classic pictures of the Toa Mata before he moves on to the next land.

 

It may be noted that

 

it is VERY brief. I would estimate around 1/3 of a second. So make sure you don't blink.

 

 

 

 

Was there anything Chima related?

Not that I remember noticing.

Yeah, I didn't see anything either. Nor Hero Factory. Which is actually somewhat surprising, because

 

I would have figured that it would have been referenced in the same place as was Bionicle. They even referenced Speed Racer in that scene, so it would have made sense that HF would have been referenced.

 

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I loved the movie. The only real thing I didn't like was the inclusion of Millhouse as one of the master builders. I know there are other licensed characters in the movie. (Batman is a main character for megablocks sake) But I'm just one who doesn't think the Simpsons needed referencing in the film.

 

Was Johnny Thunder anywhere in the film? He is in the Police Dropship set in the summer along with the Green Ninja but I didn't see him in the film.

 

Also

 

Totally didn't expect the live action scene. watching will Ferrell gluing those Lego sets together mad me sad. :(

 

Please put spoilers in spoiler tags. -B6

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Just came here to post about The LEGO Movie and I LOVED IT. So fantastic in almost every respect. Well-written, well-animated, well-directed, well-acted... Just an overall fantastic movie. Can't wait to watch it again. I definitely agree with this review. :)

 

-NotS

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Loved the movie.

 

Will Ferrel's line really reminded me of some of the BBC comments

Which line?

 

 

 

The one where he critiques the spaceship/boat/car built by the master builders about how it's just a mishmash of colours and how it doesn't make sense

 

 

Must have missed that one. I'll have to watch again to see if I can pick it up.

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I saw it later tonight at a late showing, I suggest everyone here to see this in 3D, and this is coming from a guy who has usually not been a fan of the revival of 3D. It's full of rich colors. As a kid growing up collecting toys I kinda got teary eyed and nostalgic at the end, it was a good feeling. :)

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Well, I've finally seen it myself, and I can safely say I absolutely loved it. I had a lot of great laughs, I liked the characters, and it was different from what I expected in a good way.

 

The best part for me was the ending, so touching, I honest to god cried a little.

 

My grandmother told me later that I seemed to have enjoyed the movie a lot more than my two cousins (both much younger than me, and both LEGO fanboys, essentially making them the picture-perfect target audience).

 

I think she was right :)

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