‘The LEGO Movie’ Everything is Awesome Edition Blu-ray Review

The LEGO Movie Blu-Ray Review
Emmet, Wyldstyle, and Batman in 'The LEGO Movie' (Photo © 2014 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc)

The LEGO Movie arrives on Blu-ray and DVD jam-packed with extra features in the special “The LEGO Movie Everything is Awesome Edition.” In stores on June 17, 2014, the home video release of one of 2014’s best – and most original – animated movies delivers all the fun and entertainment of watching the film on the big screen but with tons of extra material to dig into after viewing the movie.

Writer/directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street) have created an animated movie loaded with humor and heart, a brilliant piece of satirical storytelling that could have been just a promotional piece to sell LEGOs but instead is loaded with important messages including the importance of creativity and drawing outside the lines (or, in this case, building LEGO items without using the directions).

The movie focuses on an ordinary, generic little LEGO guy named Emmet (Chris Pratt) who’s pulled out of his mundane little world when he is mistaken for ‘The Special’ by Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks). It seems Lord Business (Will Ferrell) wants to use the Kragle to freeze the world, and it’s up to The Special, as prophecized by Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), to pull together the rebels and using the Piece of Resistance to stop Lord Business from destroying the world as the LEGO community knows it.

The entire voice cast is terrific, led by Chris Pratt, who makes audiences root for poor Emmet, who learns everyone, no matter how ordinary, is special in their own way. Banks, Freeman, Charlie Day, and Alison Brie all enthusiastically commit to these characters, but the stand-out among the supporting cast is Will Arnett who out-Batmans even Christian Bale as the steely-voiced superhero who competes with Emmet for Wyldstyle’s affection.

The film itself looks just as crisp and colorful as it did in theaters, with the transfer to Blu-ray losing none of The LEGO Movie‘s vivid color palette.

With hours of extra content to explore, The LEGO Movie Blu-ray’s must-watch extra features include a commentary track with the actors and filmmakers during which the voice cast have so much fun goofing around together that not much about the actual film is discovered. But, no matter, it’s still worth listening to, even if it doesn’t go into great depth about the filmmaking process.

Other bonus features that deserve a look include “Batman’s A True Artist,” an entertaining heavy metal music video featuring the Dark Knight. The “Dream Job: Meet the LEGO Builders” featurette focuses on the actual LEGO builders who get paid for spending their days building fun stuff. Seriously, it’s a real job!

There are also deleted scenes in storyboard form, outtakes featuring real lines from Morgan Freeman, and a behind-the-scenes featurette on bringing LEGOs to life on the screen. Emmet plays host as viewers are treated to a look at everything that went into making The LEGO Movie, from the research to character design to casting the voices.

The extra features also include an “Everything is Awesome” sing-along that you don’t want to watch unless you’re ready to have the song stuck in your head for hours afterward.

GRADE: A (for the film and the bonus features)