"...the only thing anyone needs to be special is to believe that you can be. I know that sounds like a cat poster, but it's true. Look at what you did when you believed you were special. You just need to believe it some more."
totally hysterical, visually adventurous, and morally poignant. i really only took on this write up to articulate how cleverly this movie executes its themes. if you wish to avoid spoilers, beware because this whole write up will be full of them and will probably only be digestible if you've seen the movie.
essentially this entire story is a metaphor for a father/son story as well as a figment of the son's imagination. it's fairly abstract in its execution; emmett crosses over to the real world and with the implication that the father's real-world disassembling of the son's creations affects the characters in emmett's world. it's incredibly emotionally powerful with its use of calling back to vitruvious's speech and a general blend of hilarious jokes and thrilling action. not to mention, the catharsis of emmett's newfound master builder skills is exciting and rewarding beyond words.
what's especially impressive to me is the length it goes to for it's great message to really resonate with not only children, but our inner child. you see, its one thing to make a fantasy children's film with a good message, but sometimes the message can go over the head of younger audiences since the action and glamour kinda steals the spotlight. but with paralleling this message to the story of the father and the son, the emotional stakes of the initial story are not only heightened, but the message and moral become all the more resonate and meaningful both in how the son (the child) is endorsed in his rule-breaking creativity and how the father (the adult) is encouraged to rekindle his own rule-breaking creativity. it just works so, so well and it's so insanely clever to me and gives me a whole other perspective on how abstract storytelling in children's films can be harmonious with its moral-instilling intent.
also: the fact that the prophecy is made up and the message is essentially that you just gotta believe that you're the shit in order to become it? genius. actual pure genius. it's the formula of escapist "what if a relatable regular guy like you was the chosen one" flipped on its head in the most delightful way. it's not escapism, its fucking true! you are the chosen one! you ARE the special!!!
anyways, that's the biggest thing i appreciate about the film. the visual splendor of the brick-film homage animation goes without mentioning. love these scenes specifically:
the animation ideas present are not only mesmerizing, but they have an added "wow" in the sense that they invoke the idea of "yaknow... this Could be done with LEGOs". which is cool when you consider the films overall message of evoking creativity! fancy that!
i have a couple of nitpicks in that the presence of indigenous stereotypes in the old west segment of the film is really annoying and disappointing. my interest in the film also fluctuated through most of the second act, especially during the master builder's infiltration of president business's base of operations. the sense of humor kind of loses its sting for most of this part. except for
You guys gotta check out these new sub-woofers I installed in the back, I call them "The Dogs." Listen to 'em bark!
that part rules.
anyways, this is like a perfect children's film and an especially powerful film for adults as well. it's just the perfect recipe for a film that i should wanna give to a child for them to obsess about for months on end. too bad i'll never have a lil runt of my own. that's what cats are for!
FINAL SCORE