Review: "The Lego Movie"

Directors: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Runtime: 100 minutes

By all accounts, The Lego Movie shouldn't work. On the surface, it seems like the evil twin of Pixar's Toy Story franchise: a calculated attempt at cashing in on a name brand without any legitimate cinematic effort. Yet even though there's no doubt that The Lego Movie will help boost sales of the famous toys, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's film still stands tall as its own achievement. Rather than a cheap cash grab, The Lego Movie is a snappy, funny, and utterly delightful work with the right mix of broad appeal and actual cinematic smarts.

Though the story is full of cliches, including the prophecy-filled opening, Lord and Miller's script knows how to embrace and subvert cliches, rather than become weighed down by them. At its core, The Lego Movie is about an ordinary guy (Emmett, voiced by Chris Pratt), getting swept up in an adventure to save the world. Yet rather than settle for saccharine condescension, The Lego Movie has a little more going on under the surface, albeit not at first glance. 

Even without the final act (which I'll leave unspoiled), this is still a constantly engaging, frequently hilarious joyride. The stellar voice cast, which also includes Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell, Alison Brie, and Morgan Freeman, are all perfectly on point with their delivery. Even when confined to the limited expressions of the digitally enhanced Lego figures, these characters really pop. Equally impressive is how Lord and Miller manage to make the film equally enjoyable for all ages, without ever stooping into crude or gross-out territory. Rather than pander, The Lego Movie focuses on a charming, and ultimately touching story about creativity and independence, with just the right touch of subversion.

The animation is just as impressive. The figures all look sleek and polished, yet the movement still has the feel of actual Lego bricks. It's a decision that feels both retro and refreshingly new. Above all, what makes The Lego Movie stand out is that it truly feels like a work of love, rather than a glorified advertisement. There are real characters, a real (albeit traditional) story, and even a brief flash of genuine emotional heft. 

That's not to say that The Lego Movie hits the same highs as the best of the Pixar canon, but it's still and beautifully accomplished work of animation on all fronts. Once the story movies past the purposefully bland introduction, the whole project roars to life, and keeps the jokes and exciting set pieces coming with smart efficiency. Above all else, The Lego Movie is proof that, with the right levels of passion and care, commercial properties can function as their own enjoyable films. It's enough to make you forget that the whole project likely started as nothing more than a glorified commercial designed to make a few extra bucks.

Grade: B+

Review: "Pitch Perfect"

Director: Jason Moore
Runtime: 112 minutes

In the wake of Glee, musicals are something of a commodity again. Whether it's further exploits on the small screen (NBC's Smash), or the upcoming Les Miserables, we've entered a brief period where singing on screen is actually considered acceptable. Yet Pitch Perfect, unlike the above-mentioned properties, had one obstacle: Glee fatigue. It's one thing to have people singing. It's another to have a band of misfits singing covers of popular music. That's Glee's territory, the stuff that has made it an object of adoration and ridicule (sometimes at the same time). Yet thanks to a lively and funny script from 30Rock writer Kay Cannon, and dynamic work from its ensemble, Pitch Perfect hits the sweet spot, despite being an entry in a soon-to-be overcrowded field. 

Rather than a wide-eyed Broadway hopeful, Pitch Perfect's protagonist is Beca, an aspiring music producer entering her freshman year at Barden University. While perusing the campus org booths, she's confronted by Chloe (Brittany Snow) and Aubrey (Anna Camp), the leaders of the Bellas, one of Barden's four a cappella groups. Beca refuses, though of course she eventually winds up in the group. Filling out the Bellas' roster are a gaggle of oddballs, including Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), and the nearly silent Lily (Hana Mae Lee, an absolute scene stealer). With the Bellas' reputation in trouble (the film opens with a disastrous outing at the a cappella nationals competition), Chloe and Aubrey must turn Beca and the other new recruits into a team that can claim victory. Beca also struggles with her possible feelings for Jesse (Skylar Astin), a member of the dominant (and all-male) a cappella group at Barden.

In terms of plot, Pitch Perfect packs no genuine surprises. With many similar movies, this would result in an awkwardly-paced attempt to breathe life into tired story arcs. Yet somehow, Jason Moore's treatment of Cannon's script is surprisingly nimble. Though it runs for nearly two hours, Pitch Perfect utilizes its characters (even the one-note ones) so well that there's never a moment for tedium to take over. Cannon may be best known for her work on a network sitcom, but her writing here takes her 30Rock experience and applies it smoothly to the world of feature films. You'll likely never doubt the story's outcome, but Cannon makes the journey such a fun (and consistently funny) journey that it hardly matters.

Cannon is also lucky that her words are in the hands of such a delightful ensemble. Kendrick makes an appealing lone wolf, and neither the script nor the actress try too hard to make Beca an outsider. Though certain characters are used for repeated jokes, they are given just enough to prevent them from feeling like blunt comedic tools. Wilson, who broke out as Kristen Wiig's oblivious room mate in Bridesmaids, furthers her status as a master of hilarious deadpan. Yet Wilson isn't the only one earning laughs. Lee's Lily, a severe low talker, is used effectively, and the script never wears out her welcome. In addition to the low talking, Lee also gets to deliver a handful of hysterical (and comically dark) non-sequiturs that showcase the best of Cannon's 30Rock roots. As for Snow and Camp, they aren't afforded as much comedic material, but the pair capture their roles perfectly (Camp in particular).

So even though Pitch Perfect succumbs to the temptation to include a gross-out joke (make that one and a half), 95% of it is good, plain, silly fun. Cannon and the cast also manage to never let the comedic energy dip in the last act, despite going through the motions of the "dramatic incident breaks up the group" trope. Pitch Perfect may not register further than skin-deep, but it provides enough nice character interactions and big laughs to stand out. If you've ever been curious about Glee but didn't want to give in to something so hopelessly sincere, Pitch Perfect will allow you to have your musically themed cake and eat it too.

Grade: B

Review: "The Hunger Games"

Many young-adult sci-fi/fantasy novels have reached the big screen over the past few years, with none of them ever seeming to catch fire. Whether it was the beautiful but severely uneven The Golden Compass, or the mild hit that was The Spiderwick Chronicles, so many book series have tried to launch franchises and failed. And as much as it pains me to say that The Golden Compass didn't deserve the franchise launch it was aiming for (if only a more gifted director had been at the helm...*sigh*), it does give me pleasure to say that The Hunger Games, Gary Ross' adaptation of Suzanne Collins' mega-hit YA novel, has the right stuff to (as well as solid enough film making) to launch the franchise that its studio clearly has in mind.

For those who haven't read the book, Collins' novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic future of sorts. We don't know many specifics, simply that at some point 12 districts of what was once the United States rebelled against the government. As punishment, the districts annually offer up one boy and one girl - between 12 and 18 - to compete in a savage survival competition known as The Hunger Games, where there can only be one victor. As the story proper begins, it's time for the 74th Hunger Games, where a young woman named Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and young man named Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are chosen as the tributes from District 12.

And part of what makes The Hunger Games successful is merely Katniss herself. Ross' direction is competent, haunting in spots, but it's his leading lady who must carry the 2 hr 22 minute film, and she most certainly does. She's not surrounded by stylization like recent tough-as-nails young heroines like Kick Ass's Hit Girl or Hanna's titular protagonist, but Katniss still makes her mark, albeit in a more grounded manner. Though there are a few vacant spots in the performance, Lawrence makes a compelling big-budget action film debut, proving she has the skills to be both tough and sympathetic.

This is critical, because even though Ross does any number of things right as director and co-screenwriter, there are also nagging flaws that chip away at the film's armor. I don't quite agree with critics who claim that the film's PG-13 rating has left it sanitized; there's plenty of disturbing content when it comes to teenagers being forced to savagely kill each other without being grotesque or excessive. Where the film makes some missteps is probably more tied to the source material itself, which offers a slightly convenient solution to its otherwise grim story. Granted, the ending of the titular games is thematically appropriate in a sense, given how it uses the story to show the absolute extreme of reality programming and dehumanizing spectacle. At the same time, it feels like an all-too convenient ending to a story that could strengthen itself with a much more dour ending. The film does a wonderful job of setting up the stakes and emotional conflicts that come with the Games in the first hour, but the on-screen exploits are so focused on Katniss (and, to an extent, Peeta), that when it comes to making us feel for other characters, the impact isn't quite what it could be.

On the flip side of the coin, when the film clicks, it really hits home. Some shots of the Capitol, where the rich and privileged reside, are a tad too VFX-laden, yet for the most part they ring true, and avoid feeling like generic upper-class dystopia. The first hour effectively establishes the political side of the games, as the various tributes fight to make an impression and earn favor from the masses watching. And, in the earliest moments of the Games, the violence is appropriately horrifying, without coming off as sensationalized or exploitative. The narrative sags as the Games drag on for over an hour of screen time, however, and the use of an overly shaky camera hinders the power of some of the major confrontations. There's also a surprising amount of grainy footage that throws off the generally sharp and clean look of the images.

So, for all of the strengths on display, The Hunger Games still comes across as an effective, though certainly not revelatory, take on a dehumanizing dystopia. It can feel lightweight when it should really hit home, and moments of cheesiness in the final half hour undermine the narrative's credibility from the earlier portions. Thankfully, Lawrence and the rest of the cast are all compelling on screen, even though few characters get more dimensions since the story completely belongs to Katniss. What's still missing from The Hunger Games' world is a sense of something truly special. The rules of the Games add a unique element to the story, but ultimately it's just a variation on the dystopia genre that doesn't stand out as much as its rabid fanbase would indicate. Harry Potter may have ultimately been a series of boarding school novels set in a hidden, magical world, but J.K. Rowling's details added levels of depth that the novels (and, to varying extents, the films) felt like they really stood in a realm of their own. The Hunger Games may not have wizards or enchantments, but when compared to something like Potter, the missing ingredient becomes obvious in regards to this overall solid piece of work: there's almost no magic to any of it.

Grade: B/B-