Hmmmm. Ben might know everything. But that doesn't mean he's always right.
I thought the ending was brilliant. I was already enjoying the movie up until that point, but that's what officially made it "great" for me. Not only did it fully explain the motives behind the "villain," but it clarified why all of the Lego worlds were existing in "different dimensions."
The camera may have been focused on Lego City, but you could see that he had various sets set up in "different areas" in the dad's basement. Which is why Emmett and the others weren't allowed to go to different universes, because the dad was just setting them up like store displays, and not letting his son play with them.
That also explained why the son had made Lord Business the "villain" in the world, because he's modeling him more or less after his father. Also, the villain's name, "Business," can be seen as the name the son would give his bad guy, as his father, while clearly well off, is probably at work a lot, and distant from his son as a result. When they were playing together at the end, I took that as the two of them finally connecting with each other.
What I also loved is that Emmett (and the son, likewise) doesn't defeat the "villain" by having to fight him or by telling him that he's wrong. No, he tells the dad (and Lord Business) that what he has done is amazing, and is beautiful in its own right, and he has created something great...even if he was just following the directions. The dad, meanwhile, sees the wonder of what the son has been doing, and is able to join him in his creativity then.
But I love that, telling a "Toy Story" of sorts from the perspective of the toy who's the star of a child's giant, wide-eyed imagination. I love "the great hand" being like a God, and the "chosen one" ultimately being whichever toy figure the child happens to decide he loves playing with. That explains how the Millennium Falcon was just able to show up then. It didn't have to make sense! In a child's mind, he needed the spaceship for his heroes' then, so that's when it showed up in his story.
To me, The Lego Movie captured what playtime as a kid really meant. The fun, the wonder, and, yes, the sheer insanity. So while I can understand while some may not have liked the "twist," this 26 year old male found himself getting teary.
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift--that is why it's called the present."
The only problem I'd had with the third-act 'twist' was its pacing; the movie had built toward something of a climax just prior .. and suddenly, the story had to take a back seat to long lingering shots in which not much was happening.
I mean, I get that Warner Bros probably spent a truckload of money to have Will Ferrell in their movie, so they made darn certain he was 'on-camera' for as long as possible to get their money's worth .. but that workbench scene (in which Emmet tries to move unseen) was freakin' interminable.
I got the symbolism, and such .. I just felt it slowed things down a bit much. Not enough to keep me from enjoying the heck out of the rest of the movie, though..!
Ben wrote:Well, I always make sure to just use the singular! I think "Legos" plural is more an American thing...?
"Legos" is a word made up and used by Americans, but it's meaningless nonsense. "Lego" is the company, so it is only ever singular (if you work at Lego and use "Legos" you'll get your hand smacked, technically it should also always be in capital letters). There is no plural version - you don't go around calling all the action figures "Habros", for example. The sets and plastic pieces are exactly that, "Lego sets" and "Lego pieces". I found this on the Interweb-thingy a few weeks ago:
There is no such thing as "Legos". The progression is:
- "A bit of Lego",
- "two bits of Lego",
- "several bits of Lego",
- "lots of Lego",
and - "leave me alone I'm making a tower."
Dacey wrote:Hmmmm. Ben might know everything. But that doesn't mean he's always right.
Of course not!
And I do get all that...but the movie set up the rules (that this was a Lego universe), then broke those rules (ok, so it wasn't), but then conflicted with itself by...having the Lego figure 'come to life' in our real world.
It's essentially the original blu ray release plus a bonus second blu ray disc with around two hours of bonus material with the key feature being a new commentary track from the directors, animation co-director Chris McKay, and film critic FILM CRIT HULK. There's also more deleted scenes, two of the How It Should Have Ended shorts (Alternate Ending and Super Cafe), the film in 90 seconds as told by a kid, the Trapped in the Ice short that was used to help create the look of the film, the "Wizard Team Go!" short (to explain the "origin" of the Vitruvius character), and a feature where Batman points out some of the hidden Easter Eggs in the film. They also moved the Dream Job: Meet the LEGO Builders features onto this disc for some reason, but at least it's still there.
The Dream Job: Meet the Lego Builders feature was not included on the original 2D set, which is unfortunately what my family bought before I was able to stop them.
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift--that is why it's called the present."
If you liked the first Lego Movie, you're probably going to like The Lego Movie 2.
And if you didn't like the first Lego Movie...you're probably still going to like The Lego Movie 2. It's less "manic" than the original while still being loaded with jokes, and the songs are actually pretty great (similar to Trolls, which Mike Mitchell also directed, there are at least four showstoppers here).
For me the original Lego Movie probably has the slight edge. But both are terrific at what they do, and it's a shame this film has been getting a fairly lukewarm reception box office wise.
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift--that is why it's called the present."
