Everything is cool when you're part of a team!

It's difficult to know what to say about the Lego Movie without spoiling the surprises or all the best gags. Let's start by saying it's very, very silly. :o)

Emmet is just a regular guy and totally not a hero in any way. In fact, to an outsider his life seems just a little too regular. The evil Lord Business has taken over the city of Bricksburgh, and runs every aspect of people's lives, from music ("Everything is Awesome!") to TV shows ("Where Are My Pants?"). Instructions must always be followed and creativity is outlawed. Only the Master Builders stand against him, and only the Chosen One who finds the Piece of Resistance can save the world.

Yep, there's a very subtle message here that Lego is made to be played with imaginatively, not just kept in its individual sets. Really, though, the plot is just an excuse to link together all the gags and as many different Lego ranges as possible from present (Wild West, Knights' Kingdom) and past (excitable 80's spaceman!).

Along his journey, Emmet encounters the dazzling Wyldstyle, the oh-so-emo Batman, Morgan Freeman as the compulsory wise old mentor, evil robots, a train chase, Cloud Cuckoo Land, a giant mecha pirate, and sharks with frickin' laser beams.

Almost everything on screen is rendered in (CG) Lego, even down to the explosions (awesome!) and the waves on the sea (slightly nausea-inducing). It's all very impressive, and a film you'll need to see several times in order to pick up all the little details and gags, and follow everything that's going on in the background.

The story takes a sudden turn in the final act, which changes things completely. It also gets a bit sappy towards the end, but not so that it spoils the film. You will still come out of it with a big cheesy grin on your face, singing "Everything is Awesome!" (Seriously, that tune will get stuck in your head for days...)

I heard there was a reviewer who said the only part of the film they didn't like was when the lights in the cinema came back up at the end, and they remembered they weren't ten years old. That's a fair assessment :o)

Firefly evening next Saturday

Because it's far too long since I watched any of it, next Saturday (22nd) I will be hosting a big screen Firefly evening, from 5pm. Hope to see you here - please reply to let me know if you are coming.

Schedule:

5:00pm - Serenity (the pilot)
The crew of Serenity is eager to rid themselves of an easily traceable cargo they salvaged from a vessel adrift in space, totally unaware that a passenger has brought an even more dangerous cargo aboard.

6:30pm - Shindig
In order to secure a job transporting cargo off-planet for a client, Mal attends a social event where a dance with Inara leads to him being challenged to a swordfight in defence of her honour.

7:15pm - break for takeaway

8:00pm - Our Mrs Reynolds
After a celebration in which the crew is honoured for ridding a planet of a group of bandits, they return to Serenity to find a woman named Saffron who claims that Mal married her during the festivities.

8:45pm - Jaynestown
When the crew returns to a planet where Jayne participated in a heist gone bad, they're shocked to discover that Jayne's past actions have turned him into a local hero of Robin Hood-like mythic proportions.

9:30pm - Serenity (the movie)
Serenity finds itself caught between the unstoppable military force of the Alliance, the horrific, canabalistic fury of the Reavers, and another danger lurking at the very heart of the spaceship. Mal aims to misbehave...

11:30pm - finish