The Lego Movie is an American-Australian-Danish 3D computer-animated action adventure film based on the popular toy line, Lego, that was released on February 7, 2014. The film was directed and written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, from a story by Dan and Kevin Hageman, as well as Lord and Miller, and produced by Dan Lin and Roy Lee. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, the film stars the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman. It was the first film produced by Warner Animation Group in eleven years since Looney Tunes: Back in Action, which was released in 2003, and is an international co-production of the United States, Australia, and Denmark.
The film was then followed by two spin-off films, The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie, and a sequel called, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.
Plot[]
In a world made of Lego bricks and populated by anthropomorphic minifigures, the evil Lord Business breaks into the resting place of a superweapon called the "Kragle". The wizard Vitruvius attempts to stop him but is blinded by Business's robots; he prophesies that a person called "the Special" will find the Piece of Resistance, a brick capable of stopping the Kragle. However, Lord Business merely scoffs at the idea of being stopped.
8½ years later, construction worker Emmet Brickowski finds a woman named Wyldstyle searching for something at his construction site after hours. When he investigates, Emmet falls into a hole and finds the Piece of Resistance. Compelled to touch it, Emmet experiences vivid visions and passes out. He awakens in the custody of Bad Cop, Lord Business's lieutenant, and with the Piece of Resistance attached to his back. Wyldstyle rescues Emmet, believing him to be the Special, and takes him to meet Vitruvius in the Old West.
Emmet learns that she and the wizard are "Master Builders"[6] — people capable of building anything from their imagination without needing building instructions—who oppose Business. Wyldstyle explains Business wants to use the Kragle, a partially weathered tube of Krazy Glue, to freeze the world into perfection; the mingling of the Lego worlds confused him, driving Business insane. Though disappointed to find Emmet is not a Master Builder, Wyldstyle and Vitruvius are convinced of his potential when he recalls visions of a seemingly human deity referred to as "the Man Upstairs".
Emmet, Wyldstyle, and Vitruvius evade Bad Cop's forces with the aid of Batman, Wyldstyle's boyfriend. They go to the hidden "Cloud Cuckoo Land," where they attend a council of Master Builders, who are unimpressed with Emmet and refuse to fight Business. Bad Cop's forces attack, placing a tracking device on Emmet and capturing everyone except Emmet, Vitruvius, Wyldstyle, Batman, Benny (a Spaceman Lego Minifigure), and Princess Unikitty of the now-destroyed Cloud Cuckoo Land. Escaping, they are picked up by the makeshift pirate Metal Beard. Emmet devises a team plan to infiltrate the office and disarm the Kragle, but the group is captured and imprisoned in the Think Tank, where all the captured Master Builders are forced to make instructions. Trying to retaliate, Vitruvius is decapitated by Lord Business, who sets a self-destruct protocol and leaves everyone to die, including Bad Cop. As he dies, Vitruvius reveals he made up the prophecy and that it was never true. He soon reappears as a ghost to Emmet and tells him that his belief makes him the Special. Strapped to the self-destruct's battery, Emmet sacrifices himself to save his friends by jumping into a pit and severing the connection, shutting the computer down. Inspired by Emmet's sacrifice, Wyldstyle rallies the Lego people across the universe to use whatever creativity they have to build machines and weapons to fight against Lord Business's forces.
Emmet finds himself in the human world as a Lego Minifigure, unable to move. The story's events are being played out by a little boy named Finn on his father's expansive Lego set in their basement. His father—"the Man Upstairs"—comes home from work and chastises his son for ruining the set by creating variations of different playsets and proceeds to permanently rebuild and glue his perceived perfect creations together. Realizing the danger his friends are in, Emmet wills himself to move and gains Finn's attention. Finn returns Emmet and the Piece of Resistance to the set, where Emmet now possesses the powers of a Master Builder and confronts Business.
Meanwhile, Finn's father looks at his son's creations and realizes that Finn had based the villainous Business on him and his perfectionism. Through a speech Emmet gives Business, Finn tells his father that he is special and has the power to change everything. Finn reconciles with his father, which plays out as Business having a change of heart, capping the Kragle, and ungluing his victims with mineral spirits. Emmet is hailed as a hero. With Batman's blessing, Emmet begins a relationship with Wyldstyle.
As a result of Finn's father allowing Finn's younger sister to join them in playing with his Lego sets, aliens from the planet Duplo beam down and announce their plans to kill them all, leading to the events of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.
Cast[]
- Chris Pratt as Emmet Brickowski
- Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle/Lucy
- Will Arnest as Batman/Bruce Wayne
- Nick Offerman as Metal Beard
- Alison Brie as Unikitty
- Charlie Day as Benny
- Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius
- Liam Neeson as Bad Cop/Good Cop
- Will Ferrell as Lord Business/The Man Upstairs
- Jadon Sand as Finn
- Channing Tatum as Superman
- Jonah Hill as Green Lantern
- Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman