Should we just it over with and out of the way? "Everything is Awesome." You can't help but sing along as the song gets stuck in your head. Surprisingly, I'm still not tired of it. On June 17th, you'll be able to listen to it over and over.
The LEGO Movie was a pleasant surprise when it was released in theaters. With a bunch of cameos, plenty of action, and a ton of humor, it had something pretty much for everyone.
You can say the same for this release. There are plenty of formats to choose from: Blu-ray, DVD, digital, and even Blu-ray 3D (if you have a 3D TV and all). Besides the different formats, you can see from the packaging you get a couple extras as well. There is an exclusive Vitruvius LEGO figure (voiced by Morgan Freeman in the movie) plus a nice 3D-ish cardboard/plastic picture of Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt in the movie) that has one of those fold out things in the back so you can display it on your nightstand.
Because most people may have already seen the movie, we won't go into a full review of the movie. It is extremely well done. The visuals are amazing. These are supposed to be LEGO bricks and it looks like it. The moments when you see the figures restricted by their design is a nice touch and pretty funny. There is a great voice cast and plenty of cameos. Batman, of course, takes the lead in terms of cameos. Will Arnett does fantastic and hilarious job as the Dark LEGO Knight.
Besides just an adventure movie with LEGO figures and environments, there is a bit of a message. You get hints of it throughout the movie and I was surprised that LEGO was okay with this based on the intricate instructions of all their sets. But sometimes you do have to think outside the box. The twist of the end (hopefully it wasn't spoiled for you) was odd. I'm still not fully sure how I feel about that direction despite it giving the entire movie a nice bit of closure.
Of course there are plenty of special features.
- Commentary with filmmakers and cast
- Batman’s a True Artist (1:12) Music video, LEGO style featuring Batman’s song. Instant classic.
- Michelangelo and Lincoln: History Cops (1:21) Preview for upcoming “TV show” featuring the two LEGO heroes. We need more stuff like this.
- Enter the Ninjago (2:13) Emmet talking to the President of Hollywood about some ‘changes’ they want. There aren't credits listed for this but it didn't sound like Chris Pratt. Other featurettes with "Emmet" did sound like Pratt's voice.
- Behind the Scenes: Bringing LEGO to Life (12:36) Designing the characters, coming up with the story, storyboards, casting process, Denmark, LEGO factory, trip to Australia for more animators.
- “Everything is Awesome” Sing-Along (3:19) Just in case you didn't already know all the lyrics.
- Behind the Scenes: See It, Build It! The following three featurettes make up this feature.
- Introduction with Senior Designer Michael Fuller (0:49)
- Build the Double-Decker Couch (3:53) Emphasis is on using your own creativity as well. Nice touch.
- Build Emmet’s Car (2:55) Similar to building the couch. We're shown how we can use our imagination and add our own customization to the design.
- Behind the Scenes: Stories from the Story Team (4:02) All told through storyboards.
- Fan-Made Films: Top-Secret Submissions (3:51) Chris Pratt talks about the challenge they gave to the Rebrick community to make a short-film.
- Outtakes (2:33)
- Additional Promotional Content (3:51) Promos with the LEGO characters, auditions,
- Alleyway Test (0:55) Wyldstyle building motorcycle.
- Deleted Scenes (3:20) Storyboard scenes. Some of the scenes would have taken the story in slightly different routes.
- Featurette: Dream Job: Meet the LEGO Builders (13:28) About the certified LEGO builders.
It's great when you have cool special features for a movie you already dig. There is plenty to see. It's a great movie for the whole family. Even though it doesn't feel like it was that long ago the movie was in theaters, I had no problem watching it again. There's so much to see. For example, in the saloon scene above, just watch Emmet in the background. There's a lot going on throughout the movie and you'll want to keep watching to catch it all.
Own "THE LEGO MOVIE" now on Digital HD and on June 17th on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD 2-Disc Special Edition. It's a visual masterpiece and there are so many moments to make you laugh. If you haven't watched it yet, you need to fix that right away.