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The song released in connection with The Lego Movie is titled "Everything is Awesome." Unfortunately, that title isn't very accurate when being used to describe the film.
Your average, run-of-the-mill LEGO person, Emmett, is used to living every day just as scheduled. Wake up, work out, go to work at his construction site, then wonder why everyone else is out having fun without him. By chance, Emmett becomes involved in a resistance attempt to thwart the evil Lord Business from sealing off each of the LEGO worlds. Lord Business (Will Ferrell) wants to keep everything routine and doesn't want anyone stepping out of the place where they're supposed to belong.
The resistance is made up Emmett, an inept Batman, Batman's girlfriend Wyldstyle, and a god-like wizard voiced by Morgan Freeman. Working for Lord Business is a police officer (Liam Neeson), who is struggling to balance both good cop and bad cop personalities. The battle of evil control vs. free will and independence ensues, but unfortunately, The Lego Movie is never quite as good as everyone makes it out to be.
Some laughs come at the beginning, but as the minutes go by, the laughs become more and more scarce. There's little to no drama, excitement, or memorable moments. And I know what you're thinking - "AJ, it's a kid's movie." Well, I have two counters to that. 1.) Animated kids movies can cater to children and still be enjoyable for adults if they're really good (see recent releases Frozen and Epic). And the second, well, I'll get to that in a bit.
Not only was the movie rarely a positive experience, it was rather dark and upsetting in some parts. Let's take a look at the cop character. His face is disturbingly erased by Lord Business - a cruel, uncaring villain who is completely unfit for a children's movie. In one scene, Business freezes the cop's kindhearted parents as the cop witnesses, unable to stop them. All the while, Business is smiling and basking in the emotional torment of his henchman. Now that's disturbing.
As promised, here's my second counter to the claim that the only reason I didn't love this is because I'm not a child. I saw this with my nine-year-old cousin, who during the film, leaned over to me and said, "AJ, this isn't that great. It's not as good as I thought it was gonna be." When a kids movie doesn't appeal to kids, that;s saying something. And it's not saying anything good. The sporadic laughs of The Lego Movie and messages of individuality aren't enough to save the day from a mostly inconsistent and unimpressive movie experience.
Rating: 2.5/5
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
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Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a clear attempt of going back to past ideas in order to make money, but to the naked eye, this might not be so obvious. With its sweet, fit-for-family atmosphere, the movie kept my grin constant and my eyes on the screen. But to me, the filmmakers' true intentions were occasionally evident in the film. This was simply a way to get parents and grandparents who watched these characters growing up into the theater with their kids. But, with that said, I enjoyed it.
Mr. Peabody & Sherman centers around genius canine Peabody, who tells us he's obtained various degrees and invented Zumba, planking, and time travel. One day, he adopts abandoned baby Sherman, who soon becomes Peabody's reason for living. On Sherman's first day of school, a jealous girl named Penny bullies Sherman to the point of Sherman biting her. The school board comes in and, seeing Peabody as a bad guardian, threatens to have Sherman removed from his custody.
In the interest of peacemaking, Peabody invites Penny and her family over for dinner. When Sherman shows Peabody's time machine, the WABAC, to Penny, it sparks an adventure across time to rescue Penny, return home, and most importantly, save Mr. Peabody from losing custody of Sherman.
Consistently, the movie failed to be a letdown in any sense of the word. The only reason I come across as a bit unenthusiastic is because I feel that if a tad more effort had gone into the making of this film, it would have been fantastic. Otherwise, the film only benefits from splendid comedic timing and from Ty Burrell's voice work on Mr. Peabody.
Also, I feel compelled to say a few words about Penny, who makes Angelica Pickles from "Rugrats" seem like Mahatma Ghandi. Even though Penny grows a heart towards the end, she's more violent and selfish than probably any other character her age I've ever seen, and watching everyone in the movie bend over backwards to cater to her isn't very uplifting.
Good-natured and lacking any detrimental flaw, Mr. Peabody & Sherman offers enough satisfying entertainment to make you leave the theater smiling. Although it doesn't deliver to its full potential (maybe this would've served better as a reboot to a new TV show), it's quite enjoyable once you can get over Penny's character. It ever-so-slightly breaks the surface of average, but even though there weren't any boring or unnecessary moments, I can't help feel like Mr. Peabody & Sherman could have been so much more worthwhile had a bit more effort gone into it.
Rating: 3/5
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