A good part of our childhood was creating and building objects out of Lego: vehicles we dreamt of driving, buildings and houses we imagined living in, and other random things we could come up with while playing on our bedroom floor. The possibilities of what one can do with those colourful bricks are endless, and we tested every combination possible. The Lego Movie takes those childhood memories and turns them into a reality. An awesome, spectacular reality.

Emmet Brickowoski (Chris Pratt) is a regular, simple Lego man who follows his instructions and does what he’s supposed to do day in and out in the city of Bricksburg. Then he falls into a hole and wakes up with a strange object glued to his back.

The object, he discovers, is the “Piece of Resistance” and it’s needed to stop the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell), the controlling ruler of the Lego universe who will go to great lengths to keep everything perfect. Emmet is joined by a team of “Master Builders” willing to help him on his heroic journey, unless Lord Business catches him first.

There have been many Lego-themed, straight-to-DVD movies, video games, and TV shows, and while some of them are very good (like the video game Lego City Undercover), nothing has come close to capturing the true feeling of playing with Lego as The Lego Movie did. It could be that instead of strictly going the computer animated route, the filmmakers incorporated a traditional stop-motion look and even used real Lego bricks in the making of the film. And it looks absolutely brilliant, especially in 3-D.

Writer-director duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were responsible for the great adaptation of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, infused the script with enough twists and turns to give The Matrix a run for its money. This is not a watered-down kids flick. Yes, kids will love it, but this is a smart, inspired production that goes beyond all expectations of what a movie based on Lego could be.

Towards the end there’s a moment that totally changed the dynamic of the entire film and made us realize we were watching something truly unique. The Lego Movie is a near cinematic masterpiece and we can’t wait to experience it again.

**** out of 5 stars