THE LEGO MOVIE

Basically…
Emmet, your average Lego man living by the instruction manual, finds himself on an accidental journey to save the world. He has to defeat the evil President Business who plans to stop the Lego community fulfilling their purpose in life by attacking them with the (very cleverly named) Kragle (you’ll get it when you see it).

In other words...
Toy Story in Lego form.

The main men and leading ladies…
There are US sitcom favourites left, right and centre (Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation, Will Arnett, Arrested Development, Alison Brie, Community and Charlie Day, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). And it isn’t short on Hollywood stars either – Morgan Freeman, Elizabeth Banks and Liam Neeson being just a few. Even some of the Star Wars cast came along for the ride while Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum will have thrived on the superhero roles they could only dream of normally playing. Will Ferrell also treated us to his least irritating performance, well, ever...let's keep him to the serious roles from now on. Please.

In the chair…
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller combine again after their Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs double header. They surprised a lot of people with their very funny cop-com in 2012, but 21 Jump Street will have to take a back seat for this work of art. The pair have more than raised the bar for themselves now. 

So…?
A smart, slick opening shows Emmet as he conforms to society’s expectations and succumbs to the over-priced corporate world he, and obviously the viewer, lives in. But the second act dips into chaos and despite the impressive animation and creativity, (the water especially deserving credit), the storyline becomes messy. There wasn't enough time to appreciate all the cameo roles and one-liner gags that were being thrown at us. However, just as it was losing its way, the third act not only rescued it, it was so good it turned a good film into a classic. Clever and completely unexpected, the best twist cinema has seen in years made everything fall into place and secure finale gold. To the adults it has a cheeky dig at kids ruining everything but to the children it shows just how good it is to be different - a refreshing theme.

Worth the money?
This is one block-buster (d’ya get it) you’ll want to see more than once just to appreciate everything you missed the first time.