THE LEGO MOVIE (2014): Everything is Awesome.

When we were kids we'd occasionally break out all of our action figures and playsets, set them all up opposite each other, and arrange a battle royale in which they all strategized and fought against one another.  Batman and the Ninja Turtles were on the same side.  Mario and Luigi, of course, were the Turtles' enemies, because the Brothers are plumbers and the Turtles are usually the ones getting plumbed.  The Ghostbusters sided with the Marios, as both were fighting monsters from another dimension.  The gang from The Nightmare Before Christmas sided with Batman, for obvious reasons.  The Care Bears attempted to remain neutral.

That's kind of what The Lego Movie is like.  It's a vast collection of recognizable characters from different mythologies, all living in the same city and interacting with one another.  Not since Who Framed Roger Rabbit? has there been such a gathering: there's Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Gandalf, Han Solo, both Michelangelos, and many more.  Tons of intercorporate legal haranguing will be necessary before we can get all of the Marvel heroes on the same screen, but here is the entire DC universe joining forces with Shaquille O'Neal, Abraham Lincoln, and William Shakespeare.

I never had the patience for Legos, but I always admired those who did.  They're a unique toy in that they require equal parts creativity and order.  Being able to invent is just as important as being able to follow instructions.  Each piece is tiny but integral.  That's the theme of the movie, too.

The hero, Emmet (Chris Pratt), is your average everyday working man in the town of Bricksburg, though a bit of an outcast and a dunderhead.  When he stumbles upon a strange artifact known as the Piece of Resistance, he becomes a target.  The good guys, led by wizard Vetruvius (a self-spoofing Morgan Freeman) and rebel gal Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), need the piece to defend themselves from the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell), who wants to use the "Kragle" (you'll see) to freeze all of Bricksburg.

The animation, perfectly mimicking stop-motion, is outstanding.  Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, fast becoming the best in their field, fill the screen with constantly dazzling images; each shot is so complex that it may take several viewings to catch every sly gag.  They don't depend heavily on their pop-culture references for laughs; their screenplay is consistently inventive and funny throughout.

The voice cast is spot-on: Pratt is a perfectly dull everyman, and Banks an appropriately standoffish love interest for him.  It's a little jarring at first to hear Ferrell as the bad guy--he doesn't often play heavies--but he does exceptional work here, particularly when his character takes an unexpected turn late in the film.  I won't reveal the actor who provides the voice for "Good Cop/Bad Cop," a policeman whose face literally changes from gentle to severe, but he delivers a performance unlike anything we've ever seen him do.  Will Arnett, as expected, makes for a completely shallow and self-absorbed Batman.

There's an inspiring lesson in the end, championing invention over conformity.  There is, of course, a correct way to assemble Legos, but after a while it's no fun unless you get to create something weird.  That weird thing is The Lego Movie, whose absence in the Best Animated Feature category at this year's Oscars is a travesty.  Few animated films are this creative and clever.  Few will appeal as potently to both kids and adults as it does.

*** 1/2 out of ****