5 things to know about "The Lego Movie"

I'm pretty sure no matter as a parent or kid, all of us have played with Lego at one point or another. Tell me, are you the kind to follow the instructions step by step, only to realise that building a small toy car, complete with steering wheel, tyres and headlights, can turn out to be a laborious and painstaking process?

The highly anticipated animated film, "The Lego Movie", is about following instructions vs thinking out of the box and so much more. This week, we were thankful to be invited to the gala premiere together with our little Lego-lovers. Yes even Ariel is now into Lego though she much prefers disassembling to assembling, and for Angel, she absolutely loves Legoland and has a impressive collection of these colourful bricks that beats Barbie hands down.

Written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller ("Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"), "The Lego Movie" is the first ever, full length theatrical Lego epic. This original 3D animated story revolves around the main character Emmet, an ordinary, instruction-following, perfectly average Lego minifigure who works on a construction site. After discovering a mythical piece of Lego, he is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary MasterBuilder and the key to saving the Lego universe. Together with his newfound companion Wyldstyle, he gets dragged into a series of hilarious, wild and death-defying adventures as they struggle to stop the evil Lord Business from supergluing the universe together.

Here are five things you should know about the movie:

1) Visually stimulating
The animation in "The Lego Movie" is accomplished using an inventive combination of computer animation and stop motion which is intensified when presented in 3D. You see characters frantically building new vehicles to help them escape and witness the magical transformations in seconds. You see environmental elements like smoke, fire and water which you never imagined possible. I was struck by the scope, design and attention to details for instance how the tiny Lego pieces could combine to even form an ocean complete with waves!

2) A charming cast
I'm not just talking about those cute Lego mini figures which include Emmet the construction worker, Wyldstyle the charismatic female, Vitruvius the ancient wizard and even the likes of Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Statue of Liberty and Michelangelo from Ninja Turtles. I am also referring to the voices who lend life to the characters, including Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle, Will Arnett as Batman, Chris Pratt as Emmet and Will Ferrell as President Business.

3) "Everything is awesome"
You know how after you watch a movie, you can't help but hum to the soundtrack when in the car or in the shower? I mean, my girl was so in love with "Frozen" and would sing "Let it go" every day and night, even up till now. So, it is not a surprise that after watching "The Lego movie", she has started chanting "Everything is awesome" which is the catchy, cheerful song sung by the citizens of Lego universe.

4) Makes you laugh
I went into the theatre not knowing what to expect of this film and so when I realised it made the audience laugh not once, not twice but countless times, I knew this was a show not just meant for kids, but for the whole family to have a good time. Some of the jokes were hilarious, like how President Business was trying to capture Emmet and did a wanted poster of him which they realised it just looked like everybody else in Lego universe. Like what the hubby says, some of the jokes and underlying messages of the film might be too complex for young kids to comprehend. I mean, it's not easy to write a movie that caters to both the likes of adults and needs of children, right? Think Smurfs. In my view, "The Lego movie" is an enjoyment for the entire family and that's what matters most.

5) Surprisingly poignant film
When we think of Lego, we think of building bricks. One key message from the movie is that these are not just bricks, they are tools to unleash your limitless imagination. You know what I always say in Creativity 521, that when it comes to creativity, the sky is the limit? "The Lego movie" tells us that in fact, there is no limit and it drives home the belief that everyone is special, everyone can be creative and everyone has the power to make their dream come true.

What surprised me most was to realise that the film was not just a 100-min commercial about the colourful toy, it had some unexpected twists and heartfelt moments that probably no one was expecting. While the ending might not work for everyone (I'm not going to spell it out here and be a spoiler), I liked how it portrayed the love between the father and son and just like how an obsession for Lego can drive a family apart, it can also bring it closer together.

Witty, exciting, imaginative, never-seen-before, "The Lego movie" will be a delight for the family. Good news or not, they are already working on a sequel. 

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"The Lego movie" opens in theatres today, 6 February, across Singapore. For more information, visit www.thelegomovie.com or their Facebook page. You can also play Lego games here like brick bust, scramble or matching game and create your own Lego sigfig for downloading as wallpaper. Here's mine!

Disclosure: We were invited by Golden Village to attend the gala premiere of "The LEGO movie" at Vivocity. All movie images are provided by Golden Village. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions are my own.