This is a Lego videogame based on a Lego movie greenlit thanks to the popularity of previous Lego videogames, which are, of course, based on the toy Lego that has been a kid culture since the 1940s. But while most similar examples of corporate synergy would come off as cash-grab consumerism, Lego is, um, connecting its various pieces together incredibly.
The major difference between this Lego game and others is that rather than using a license like Star Wars, Harry Potter or DC and Marvel superheroes, the source material is essentially itself, which works because The Lego Movie is a well-deserving critical and commercial smash.
The basics of puzzle-solving and brick-building remain intact from past Lego games, but there's a joy to playing the film's winning characters, imaginative settings (make that insane, in the case of Cloud Cuckoo Land) and pro-creative, anti-corporate storyline.
The movie/game tells the tale of how a generic minifigure named Emmet (Parks & Recreation's Chris Pratt) becomes mistaken for The Special, a prophesied Neo-like hero who will defeat the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) if he can just pull himself away from drinking overpriced coffee, dancing to the Tegan and Sara and Lonely Island-penned pop song "Everything is Awesome" and watching brainless sitcom Honey, Where's My Pants? Helping him along the way are revolutionary Wild Style (Elizabeth Banks) the wizard Vitruvious (Morgan Freeman), Batman (Will Arnett) and Unikitty (Community/Mad Men's Allison Brie) all of whom are also playable.
The game is intended for fans of the film, and the cutscenes spoil the story for those who haven't seen it yet, but it's not just a rehash, as the levels themselves are expansions of brief cinematic moments, or occasionally revealing off-screen events, that are the very definition of fanservice.
The Lego Movie Videogame may not be as ambitious as the open-world wonder Lego City Undercover or comic-fuelled highpoint Lego Marvel Superheroes, but it's still pretty awesome.
(Travelers Tales/Warner Bros Interactive)The major difference between this Lego game and others is that rather than using a license like Star Wars, Harry Potter or DC and Marvel superheroes, the source material is essentially itself, which works because The Lego Movie is a well-deserving critical and commercial smash.
The basics of puzzle-solving and brick-building remain intact from past Lego games, but there's a joy to playing the film's winning characters, imaginative settings (make that insane, in the case of Cloud Cuckoo Land) and pro-creative, anti-corporate storyline.
The movie/game tells the tale of how a generic minifigure named Emmet (Parks & Recreation's Chris Pratt) becomes mistaken for The Special, a prophesied Neo-like hero who will defeat the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell) if he can just pull himself away from drinking overpriced coffee, dancing to the Tegan and Sara and Lonely Island-penned pop song "Everything is Awesome" and watching brainless sitcom Honey, Where's My Pants? Helping him along the way are revolutionary Wild Style (Elizabeth Banks) the wizard Vitruvious (Morgan Freeman), Batman (Will Arnett) and Unikitty (Community/Mad Men's Allison Brie) all of whom are also playable.
The game is intended for fans of the film, and the cutscenes spoil the story for those who haven't seen it yet, but it's not just a rehash, as the levels themselves are expansions of brief cinematic moments, or occasionally revealing off-screen events, that are the very definition of fanservice.
The Lego Movie Videogame may not be as ambitious as the open-world wonder Lego City Undercover or comic-fuelled highpoint Lego Marvel Superheroes, but it's still pretty awesome.