I loved the original and stayed away too long from "2" because of this review. Finally saw it -- I think it surpasses the original. The imaginative fun is still there, but actual themes to consider are presented, along with a nice plot twist. Maybe Dargis' mind was distracted by all the Legos proving to her that it was just a long advertisement, but how can you NOT love a movie with RBG made from Legos?
5
Manohla, its a LEGO movie, how exactly would you separate the product from the movie when the PRODUCT is what the movie is made up of?! It's in the flipping title! That's like ridiculing a tree for having bark and leaves...If you didn't like the movie, that's one thing, but don't say it's bad because of the immutable facts. You want to go after movies that push products, let's look at 3 that were selling cars. The Matrix Reloaded, everyone drove Cadillac Escalates, Transformers, all autobots were Chevy's. Antman and the Wasp, everyone drove a Hyundai. Try harder next time with your fake outrage.
7
I admire this movie's creators for scattering big words and complex thoughts throughout - much more so than occurs in the average grown-ups' movie which, as often as not, reflects the frequent four-letter word usage and thoughts of the common, everyday man. I still go to the movies to be entertained, as well as be challenged, and I do so quite frequently, spending quite a bit every week, without fail. Thank goodness for Hollywood (and the New York Times) giving me a real reason to live!
It was jarring and demoralizing to read this the day after watching the Mr. Rogers documentary on Public Television. He was horrified by the shilling to children and spoke about it, but now he's gone and no one in the public eye seems to care.
3
@pollyb1- At least children have their parents to protect them. Who will protect the minds of our senior citizens as the tens of thousands of daily ads and pitches targeting us slowly turn our minds to mush? Our mother once closely guarded my brother and me from unwarranted access, but where is she now when we must fight the battle alone? Argh...
Sorry, but I can't buy into this Movie.
Chris Pratt can pull off this Innocent Church Boy Act ala his performance
on the Steve Colbert show, but he belongs to a Church that is actively LGBTQI. I am not asking him to marry a Guy but to accept that Same Sex love can be accepted.
Is that not what Christianity should be about?
Or should we accept that which Roman Emperor Nero dictated and destroy the Other??
He proclaims living "The Joshua Diet".
Let him live the Love of Jesus, who never is quoted as hating or condemning LGBTQI persons.
2
While I usually concur with Ms. Dargis' spot-on reviews, I think her take on this movie is too harsh. If you liked the first Lego Movie, you will like this one, which my teenage son and I both enjoyed.
18
I couldn't agree more. And a central criticism in this review seems to be that because Legos are featured in a Legos movie, that movie is therefore an ad. Was the reviewer expecting Emett to be played by a live action Chris Pratt?
8
@John C. Van Nuys Yes, my kids loved it, and weren't bored at all. Nor was I.
3
My nine year old enjoyed it. That’s all that counts. I sat through it and agree with the review.
I don't know anything about this movie, but Beck has a new song on the soundtrack where he sings about how the best songs always get played during the credits .
10
I'm what you would call an AFOL - Adult Fan of LEGO. Collect 'em, build em. Design custom creations on the computer and buy the necessary parts online, etc. You could say I like LEGO. Such a hobby comes with a certain stigma, since at it's core LEGO is indeed a toy for children. But somehow my AFOL brothers and I solider on.
With that context in mind: I cannot stand the LEGO movies.
2
A bit of a tangent here, but I really can’t get over how Americans pluralize “Lego” as “Legos”. It’s clearly a non countable noun! Imagine saying that you are playing in the “snows” or putting “lettuces” on your sandwich. Even the official company policy to pluralize it is just “Lego”. Remember, it’s not called “The Legos Movie”.
4
I understand why movies like this are made, but I don't understand why the Times would assign anyone to review them.
7
@Civres
This lack of understanding is equivalent to the logic of the review. It's a Lego movie, it uses Legos. It's a newspaper, it reviews. We all spend too much time protesting the mundane while ignoring more important issues of our day.
The pop-up ad for this film occurs endlessly while I’m playing online Scrabble. It’s maddening!
1
Play real Scrabble and that won’t happen.
13