When I purchased our tickets to see the Lego Movie this morning, I considered for a moment whether I should write a review of it here once we’d seen it. After all, there aren’t many bigger Lego nerds than me (well, not that I know anyway) so it’s only right that I should share my thoughts, right?

Then I realised that in actual fact there were far more reasons for me NOT to review it. For instance:





I’m not exactly first in the queue. Sadly, despite my Lego-nerd status (or ‘Master Builder’, as I shall hence-forth call myself) I didn’t get invited to any advance screenings or previews, so you’ve probably already read at least 5 different reviews of the film by this point. I’m biased. You all know that I love Lego to pieces (pun intended), so I suspect my review would be viewed as biased by most. Though ironically, being the nerd that I am I was completely prepared to hate the movie – after all, we’ve all seen toys or TV shows from our childhood utterly ruined by rubbish modern-day remakes or adaptations – who was to say this wouldn’t get the same treatment? My reviewing days are behind me. Despite having worked at a movie-magazine publishing company for 5 years, and written many a film review whilst I was there, my reviewing days are long-gone – so I doubt I could write anything particularly eloquent that people would garner much about the film from.

So as you can see, I was fully prepared to watch the film and move on – perhaps sharing my thoughts in a Facebook status or tweet, but nothing more.

Until we saw the film.

Or to be more precise, until we came OUT of the film after the credits, and I thought to myself “I think I’ve got a new favourite movie!”. Yes, it really is THAT good.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I’ve not enjoyed a film that much in years – possibly decades. Despite my sons being their usual fidgety selves, I had what can only be described as an epiphany in that cinema. I now feel changed, both as a Lego fan and a father.

Seriously, you HAVE to see this film. It has everything you need in a film – action, adventure, thrills’n’spills, comedy – buckets of comedy. The characters are great, the storyline is ingenious, there were plenty of twists and surprises which I didn’t see coming.

And it has HEART. So much heart. Seriously – if you’re a parent and you don’t come out of the cinema feeling a little bit more in love with your children, I’ll eat my hat. That’s not to say the non-parents won’t love it as well – but boy, we’re talking a moment like the one at the end of Toy Story 3, where Andy gives the toys away. I was genuinely welling up in a movie about Lego.

Nothing I can say can justify quite how – there’s no other word for it really, and it’s very apt – AWESOME this movie is. I expect I’ll have to see it a dozen more times before I’ve absorbed every little detail, joke and Lego easter-egg in there – and I can’t wait for it to come out on Blu-Ray so I can have that opportunity.

Anyway, I’d write more, but I’ve really got to go and play Lego with my kids now… watch the movie, you’ll understand why.

1 MILLION STARS