February 10, 2017 marks the United States release date of “The Lego Batman Movie” the sequel (or more accurately a spin-off) to the 2014 feature “The Lego Movie” following the adventures of the Batman (voiced by Will Arnett) introduced in the latter picture.
Both “The Lego Batman Movie” and “The Lego Movie” are a delight to watch, and I highly recommend them both for children and adults alike and on a personal note, “The Lego Movie” has become one of my favorite movies in recent years. Following my viewing of “TLBM” (that’s The Lego Batman Movie for short, which I will be referring to it from now on and The Lego Movie will be referred as “TLM” ) a peculiar video appeared on my News-feed. The video was called “Everything Wrong With The LEGO Movie” by a movie-related comedy YouTube channel called CinemaSins.
Now obviously from the title alone, the video would have had an negative opinion on the movie and that in and of Itself is not the problem. I have watched the video and became frustrated with it. Again, not because it was criticism of a movie I enjoyed. In fact I really like to watch or hear criticisms for movies I enjoyed as much as I like hearing its praising. It can put a feature into perspective, that is good criticism can make you show a product from a different point of view.
No, the problem with “Everything Wrong With The LEGO Movie” is that it’s not a good piece of criticism. To articulate why this is the case is very complicated, and one of the hurdles as to why is the video’s format. The way CinemaSins seems to make a video is that they take a feature and chronologically, as events are happening, describe their gripes with the movie. This leaves a very disjointed experience, that is one moment they would talk about the set design in a particular scene, next about acting in another scene after that, then again about set design in a complete different scene, then the score etc.
And so to explain why it’s not a good piece of criticism, I will take a similar approach and go through the entire video and comment on each point they make. This will be divided by parts for an easier read, but before we do so, lets ask our self :
Who is “CinemaSins”?
CinemaSins is a Nashville, Tennessee located movie-related comedy YouTube channel created and run by Jeremy Scott and Chris Atkinson. Their flagship series is “Everything Wrong With…” where they take a movie and point to what they deem as “sins”. As of February 2017, CinemaSins has over 6.5 million subscribers and over 1.3 billion video views making it one of the largest movie related channels on YouTube. Chances are therefor that if you happen to search any recent blockbuster, that one of the first videos to feature after the movies trailer is that films “Everything Wrong With…” episode.
I have seen people describe the series as a review show, similar to Channel Awesome (previously That Guy with the Glasses) and it’s former contributors. Reason being that both of them take a feature and comment on the events happening and crack jokes at the movies expense, however that is actually misleading.
Review shows put a great emphasis on context. For the benefit of the viewer it is amused that he or she or they have not seen the movie the reviewer is talking about. So in most cases the reviewer gives a detailed plot synopsis before sharing their opinion on the movie thus addressing the narrative and issues that come up. Meaning that even if the viewer has not seen the movie the reviewer is talking about, they should be at the end familiar enough with the movie’s structure, tone, plotting etc.
However CinemaSins doesn’t do that, it instead takes the format of “mistake videos”. These videos would go though the movie and, usually in a block of text, point out continuity errors. They assume the viewer’s familiar with the source material which is why they don’t try to contextualize anything. As so huge plot twist will be brought up seemingly out of nowhere, which is even the case in this video.
Because of this, in order to fully contextualize everything, I will give a full plot synopsis for The Lego Movie so if you haven’t seen the movie and don’t wanna be spoiled, now is the chance to turn away and go watch it. So from this moment onward:
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Plot synopsis taken from http://themoviespoiler.com
Deep within a Lego mountain, the wizard Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman) is guarding something when he senses something arriving. The evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) bursts in and fights Vitruvius, blinding him. Lord Business approaches what Vitruvius was guarding, a powerful item known as the Kragle, with which he intends to use for nefarious purposes. Vitruvius warns Lord Business of a prophecy in which a person known as The Special will step forth with an army, using an item known as the Piece of Resistance, and bring an end to his tyranny. Lord Business dismisses this as a made-up story, and he kicks Vitruvius away with his giant robot leg. He leaves with the Kraggle, certain that nobody will stop him.
8 1/2 years later, we meet Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) waking up in his apartment in the Lego city of Bricksburg. He starts off his day just like everybody else by reading the instructions and going by his daily routine, starting with breathing, exercise, showering, and getting dressed before having breakfast with the important people in his life…or in Emmet’s case, his plant. He sees an ad from President Business (his professional persona) representing his company, Octan, and reminding everybody to follow the rules and whispering that they’ll be put to sleep before cheerily reminding everybody about Taco Tuesdays. Emmet briefly hears the bit about putting people to sleep before his, and everybody else’s, favorite sitcom, “Where Are My Pants?”, starts playing, in which the main joke is a guy asking his wife where his pants are, yet Emmet finds this hysterical.
Emmet continues the morning by doing what everybody else is doing. They listen to the same song (“Everything is Awesome!”) and buy the same overpriced coffee ($37!), all content with their lives. Emmet works at a construction company where they all sing the “Everything is Awesome!” song. 5 hours later, they’re still singing it. After work, the other workers make plans to hang out while Emmet tries to get in on the fun, but nobody really notices him. He is holding his instructions, which are then blown out of his hands. He chases after it and catches it when he hears a whoosh noise. A hooded person is coming across the grounds holding a device that is searching for a relic. Emmet calls the person out to report them until she removes her hood to reveal a beautiful woman. Emmet is attracted to her and runs after her as she leaves. He ends up falling down a big hole and sees a block encased in crystal. He goes to touch it and experiences a vision and hears voices before passing out.
Emmet wakes up to be interrogated by Bad Cop/Good Cop (Liam Neeson; his character depends on which face he uses) asking him how he found the Piece of Resistance, which turns out to be the block he found, now stuck to Emmet’s back. Bad Cop believes Emmet is trying to foil Lord Business’s plan to destroy the universe on Taco Tuesday, but Emmet tries to defend himself by is just an ordinary construction worker. Bad Cop shows him videos of the other people Emmet previously interacted with (his co-workers, neighbors, a barista, etc.) who all say that Emmet is so ordinary and generic that they hardly know how to describe him. This deeply upsets Emmet, right before Bad Cop orders the robot guards to take Emmet to the melding chamber to remove the Piece of Resistance. Suddenly, the woman from before bursts in and defeats all of the robots easily. She rescues Emmet and gets him out of there. She introduces herself as Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), one of the many Master Builders in the Lego universe. They come by an alley where Wyldstyle quickly assembles a really cool motorcycle to get them out of there. While the robots chase after them, Wyldstyle tells Emmet that he is The Special as prophesied by Vitruvius, known as the most important and extraordinary being in the universe. Emmet goes with what she says, so she lets him ride the motorcycle while she fights the robots. She manages to assemble the vehicle into an aircraft to head toward a tunnel, at which point Emmet shows how uncertain he is of what to do. Wyldstyle asks him questions like what his favorite restaurant is, his favorite show, and his favorite song, and going by his answers, she realizes Emmet is NOT The Special. They still end up going through the tunnel anyway. Bad Cop misses them and then throws a tantrum.
Emmet and Wyldstyle land in a new Lego world called The Old West. Wyldstyle is disappointed with Emmet, though she tries to explain to him the reasoning behind the quest, primarily how Lord Business is trying to get rid of anything creative, adding that there are other worlds in the universe that Emmet didn’t know of (this includes Lego worlds like Ninjago, Bionicle, etc). She gets herself and Emmet some western-style clothing for them to blend in.
Bad Cop reports to Lord Business in his Octan tower that happens to be on a ridiculously high floor. He is disappointed in Bad Cop for failing to secure Emmet and the Piece of Resistance, threatening to throw him into the abyss that is right under the building. Lord Business shows off other artifacts he claimed, like a giant band-aid, before taking out the Kragle, which turns out to be a tube of Krazy Glue with some letters scratched out. He brings out Bad Cop’s parents (who are also cops) and demonstrated the use of his Kragle device on them, by gluing their feet to a platform. He orders Bad Cop to finish the job, but the Good Cop side keeps refusing to cooperate. Lord Business takes a big q-tip and nail polish remover to wipe off the Good Cop face, forcing Bad Cop to glue his parents completely.
Emmet and Wyldstyle walk into a saloon in their disguises to meet with Vitruvius, who plays the piano there. He brings them upstairs and tells Wyldstyle that she was supposedly the one meant to be The Special, until Emmet found the Piece of Resistance. She argues that Emmet is not even a real Master Builder since he cannot come up with a single creative invention. Vitruvius takes himself and Wyldstyle into Emmet’s mind, which appears very empty. His most imaginative build is the double decker couch (“So everyone can watch TV together and be buddies!”), which both Wyldstyle and Vitruvius find to be useless. After Vitruvius mentions that “The Man Upstairs” chose Emmet to be The Special, Emmet mentions having a vision and seeing a large human-like hand. Vitruvius believes that this means Emmet is meant to be trained in order to save the world, but they are interrupted as Bad Cop and his men have entered the saloon and have been ratted out by someone who claims to have seen Emmet.
The three heroes escape the saloon as they build a vehicle to get themselves away from there. A wheel comes loose as they’re heading over the edge of a cliff. Emmet places the wheel on his head, since it spins, so that Wyldstyle can continue to steer the vehicle away from the edge, while the robots fall over the edge. Their vehicle is destroyed by Bad Cop, chasing them in his own craft. The heroes land on a train, which Bad Cop derails after shooting the tracks with lasers. As they plummet toward a chasm with crocodiles below, Wyldstyle thanks Emmet for saving her, and he admits that the last 15 minutes have been great for him. They are all suddenly saved by none other than Batman (Will Arnett), who also happens to be Wyldstyle’s boyfriend. He catches the heroes in his aircraft before going to wreck Bad Cop’s aircraft, sending him falling to the ground.
Batman leads everyone through the sun, taking them through “Middle Zealand”, before moving onto Cloud Cuckooland. It’s a happy, whimsical place led by Princess Unikitty (Alison Brie). She guides the four to a giant dog head where all the other Master Builders are gathered. They include Superman (Channing Tatum), Green Lantern (Jonah Hill), Wonder Woman (Cobie Smulders), Benny the 1980-something space guy (Charlie Day), Shaquille O’Neal, William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, Cleopatra, Dumbledore, Gandalf, Michelangelo (both the sculptor and the Ninja Turtle), and Milhouse Van Houten. Emmet is presented before them as The Special, but he’s interrupted by a large Master Builder pirate known as Metal Beard (Nick Offerman). He tells the story of how he and some other Master Builders tried to infiltrate Lord Business’s lair before they got defeated and he only made it out with his head and vital organs before rebuilding himself into what he is now. Emmet continues by admitting that he is unqualified to save them, angering everybody. Suddenly, Bad Cop and his forces return to attack all of Cloud Cuckooland. They found the heroes because of a tracker on Emmet’s leg. The heroes escape, along with Unikitty and Benny, building a submarine to take them underwater as they evade Bad Cop. While the Master Builders are at work, Emmet asks what he should be doing. Vitruvius tells him to think for himself, and he gets an idea. They build their sub and get into the ocean. Unikitty watches sadly as her home is destroyed, while the other Master Builders are captured by the villains.
Within the sub, Emmet builds the double decker couch for real, but nobody is pleased with it. The sub then starts to fill up with water before completely breaking apart as the heroes try to save themselves.
The Master Builders are taken to Lord Business’s Think Tank, where they are strapped together to be forced to build things for Lord Business. Bad Cop reports that they lost Emmet and the others again.
The double decker couch is seen floating at sea. Emmet and his friends have hidden beneath the cushions. They are rescued by Metal Beard on his ship. Impressed by Emmet’s creation, the Master Builders turn to Emmet for a new plan. Knowing that Lord Business would expect the heroes to come up with something new, Emmet proposes they do the opposite, and follow the instructions. Although they don’t like that idea, the team realizes they need to work together and stick to a plan. When they need a hyperdrive for their plan, the Millennium Falcon shows up with Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and Lando Calrissian. Batman appears to ditch the group to hang with them, leaving Wyldstyle upset. Emmet tries to console her by saying she’s great and that Batman is crazy to not see that, but he reappears to show he stole the hyperdrive from the Millennium Falcon (leading the Star Wars characters to get eaten by an asteroid worm).
The team succeeds in working together to infiltrate the Octan tower. Benny is assigned to deactivate the shields that contain the Kragle, but he has a hard time doing so. Batman and Unikitty distract Lord Business by making a negotiation as Bruce Wayne and Biznis Kitty. Emmet and Wyldstyle get past the guards by disguising themselves as robots and singing the “Everything is Awesome!” song. Before she goes to take out the other guards, she reveals to Emmet that her real name is Lucy. She parts with him before he and Batman prepare to get to the Kragle. Metal Beard succeeds in deactivating the shields, but before Emmet can attach the Piece of Resistance to the Kragle (it turns out to be a cap to the tube), the robots capture the whole team.
Everybody is brought to the Think Tank. Lord Business mocks Vitruvius for bringing somebody that failed to live up to the prophecy. Vitruvius ends up fighting off the robot guards swiftly and smoothly. He turns to Emmet to say something but Lord Business pops his head off with a penny. Vitruvius then admits to Emmet that the prophecy was made up, leaving Emmet to think that he really is just ordinary. Vitruvius dies, and the other Master Builders are strapped with the other captives. Emmet is tied to a battery as Lord Business pries the Piece of Resistance off his back and throws it out the window into the abyss. He heads off to carry out his evil plan, starting with Bricksburg. The event unfolds on a screen for Emmet to watch while Lord Business leaves the whole tower to be destroyed, even leaving Bad Cop behind.
Lord Business flies over Bricksburg in his aircraft to start off Taco Tuesday, making everybody excited until he starts spraying them all with glue, keeping them unable to move. Emmet watches in horror as this happens. He is then spoken to by Vitruvius, now in a ghostly form. He tells Emmet that despite the prophecy being fake, he is still capable of saving everybody if he believes in himself. With this newfound confidence, Emmet rolls himself with the battery toward the window. He bids farewell to Wyldstyle before falling out with the battery down into the abyss. At the last second, the detonation sequence deactivates. The Master Builders acknowledge Emmet’s sacrifice and mourn him.
Wyldstyle leads the Master Builders to the TV room where they film “Where Are My Pants?” She sends a broadcast out to every world in the Lego universe to tell them about Emmet and how, despite his ordinary appearance, he turned out to be an extraordinary person who inspired them to go above and beyond to succeed. This inspires the remaining citizens of Bricksburg that haven’t been glued to assemble whatever they can to fight back against the robots. The guards come to stop Wyldstyle, but Bad Cop takes them out. He turns his blank face around and scribbles on a crude smiley face, now joining the heroes as they venture forth to stop Lord Business. Benny excitedly builds a spaceship at last after not being able to this whole time, flying it rapidly into the city.
Emmet continues falling through the abyss until he lands somewhere. He is unable to move, but he is still able to think. A human boy, Finn (Jadon Sand), enters to pick Emmet up. Turns out that Finn has been playing with the entire Lego universe to control everything that has happened throughout the adventure. Emmet believes Finn is The Man Upstairs, until someone comes stomping down the stairs. It’s Finn’s father (also played by Will Ferrell). Finn tells his dad about his imaginative scenario with Lord Business’s evil plan, but he scolds Finn for playing with the playsets as he had his own intentions for them. Due to the father’s control, everybody fighting Lord Business’s forces are taken out and glued together. This plays out in the Lego world as the Kragle continues squirting glue, as Finn’s dad uses Krazy Glue to stick everything together. Emmet decides he must get Finn’s attention. He starts moving for a brief bit, making twitchy movements that the father thinks he sees, but Finn definitely notices. Emmet flops off the table, right next to the Piece of Resistance. Finn distracts his dad, giving him a chance to pick Emmet up and send him through a “magic portal” back into the Lego world.
Emmet assembles his own fighting machine to join in the battle. The robots attack him, and Unikitty, unable to keep a positive attitude, unleashes her rage and attacks the robots, giving Emmet a chance to finally confront Lord Business. Before he can shoot Emmet with glue, Emmet holds the Piece of Resistance in his hand, but he tells Lord Business that his greatest weapon is his hand. He offers Lord Business to take it because it is he who is The Special, as is Emmet, and everybody he’s encountered on the adventure. He delivers a speech in which he states that everybody out there is creative and that Lord Business should embrace it. This serves as a parallel to the real world where Finn’s dad realizes he was too hard on his son’s creativity. He hugs his son as Lord Business goes to hug Finn. He sticks the Piece of Resistance onto the Kragle, causing it to explode.
The people of Bricksburg rejoice as Lord Business uses the antidote to unstick everybody, including Bad Cop’s parents (Finn and his dad pour glue remover over their set). Batman acknowledges that Emmet is a true hero, allowing Wyldstyle to be with him as she truly wants. Emmet is regarded as a hero by all. In the real world, Finn’s mother calls him and his dad to dinner. His dad tells Finn that now they can bring his sister in to play. With that, a trio of Duplo alien figures descend into the Lego world, threatening to destroy them. Emmet and his friends look on in surprise, to which he says, “Oh, man.”
Now, without further ado
Let us begin
Nothing’s gonna stop me now.
A Special One with face of yellow
