Film Review: The Lego Movie

Copyright: Warner Bros. Pictures

Lego bricks (and everything else in their cardboard boxes) are a brilliant toy. Apart from being very fun, it is also one of the truly unbound creative activities that kids can get into from a very early age. It’s only fitting that one of the finest toys in the world received one of the best children’s films probably since Wall-E.

The Lego Movie makes use of the fantastic opportunity to take advantage of the companies’ copyright rules, which make many characters from popular culture available and license free in the Lego universe. That is why this adventure includes characters like Superman, Han Solo, Green Lantern, Gandalf and Wonder Woman, while Batman fills one of the leading roles.

In its story, an ordinary Lego construction worker called Emmet, one day gets a call from destiny, and is placed in the situation where only he can stop an incredible danger from destroying his world, but also many other Lego worlds.

He teams up with a band of other Lego characters to put a stop to the plans conceived by an evil wizard Vitruvius, who plans to use his super weapon Kragle.

What comes after that is an awesome adventure, just like the movie’s theme song suggests. Because of that in this movie, yes, everything really is awesome. Emmet and his gang go through amazing scenery, including the Wild West and much stranger lands, while looking for a way to defeat Vitruvius. Here, the 3D tech presents in full glory all the Lego-based gimmicks used in the film. At the same time, all the A-list voice actors do an excellent job, complimenting the colorful characters perfectly.

The Lego Movie Batman is especially interesting as a character, because the script made him both a butt of many jokes and the real hero everyone needs in more than one moment. Will Arnett, who provided his voice, is a brilliant comic when it comes to delivery, even if it’s only in audio.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who wrote and directed the film, did a really solid job of not just creating a kid’s movie that doesn’t try to rip off Pixar in some sense, but by also wrapping their story in a real life environment. Their comic talent, which they recently showed in their 22 Jump Street is undeniable, but with The Lego Movie, they also show a more sensitive side. This sensibility is perfectly capable of transmitting subtle emotions like a boy’s longing for his father’s affection and attention.

The Lego Movie DVD release (it was released on Digital HD in May and on Blu-ray in June this year, making it already available) will probably cement this film as one of those classics to which several generations of children will come back to, putting it in the same category as The Goonies. 

Kids around the world will know the entire movie by heart, but they will still probably enjoy watching it, because it will pick them up for a great adventure every time.

Film Review: L'illusionniste

Copyright: Sony Pictures Classics

Sometimes a movie in which only a dozen understandable sentences are exchanged is enough to remind us about the existence of cinematic magic.

L' illusionniste (The Illusionist) is an animated film from 2010. It is based on a screenplay by Jacques Tati, a French actor and director, who was, several decades ago was, a very influential figure in the film world. Apparently, he wrote the story as a letter to his estranged daughter, with no clear idea of what kind of movie it will turn out to be (if any). But, the origin story of the movie is a little blurry, so this might be just a tall tale. Even if it is not true, I'm sure that work successfully addresses so many real feelings because of the obvious personal stamp that resulted from the difficult relationship between Tati and his child. This film, made nearly 30 years after Tati's death, is a great tribute to parenthood, no matter in what circumstances it reveals itself.

In 1959, an older gentleman, self-employed as a magician and an illusionist, leaves Paris and proceeds to London to revive his stagnant career. There, he performs at a private party where he meets a drunken Scotsman who is amazed with his craft. He invites him to travel back to Scottish highland and gives a few shows. The Illusionist agrees, and there, in the hills of rural Scotland, he meets a girl, who is also completely captivated by him. Soon, she decides to follow him to Edinburgh, where they both have to get used to the new circumstances of their shared life - the village girl lost in a big city, and an artist getting lost in the onslaught of a new era of electric entertainment.

Full of melancholy and driven by a very gentle pace, the film acts as a prophecy that will see this unusual roommates separated. Without words, the director Sylvain Chomet shows in classical animation style the illusionist's oddity and kindness, and the way he stands out in a lot rougher and more calculated world. The team that created this movie deserves a lot of praise, especially for the exterior imagery, whether it comes to barren pastures of Scotland or big city skylines from the 50's.

Equal drama and comedy, L' illusionniste tells its story in a so measured that I found myself completely disconnected from any kind of intellectual processing of the plot and events in the film, and was following it on pure emotional response. Its non-verbal narration carries the viewer on, slowly but surely. Its atmosphere is sad and cheerful at the same time, and beautifully presents the process of disagreements and separation of two human beings.

This is a fantastic movie, accompanied by almost no emotional noise and ambiguities that spoken words often carry. It talks about relationships and the indescribable warmth that they generate, even in the moments when they end.