“The Lego Movie” fails to freeze out the success of “Frozen”

Hannah compares apples and oranges when sharing her opinion over two of the most popular movies from the last couple of months.

It’s a commonly accepted fact that children’s movies are never meant only for children. In fact, I’d say it’s pretty rare for any single showing of a new Disney movie to be void of teenagers and adults sans children. With so many good animated movies having come out the past couple months, I’ve found it hard to find the money and time to keep up (especially considering that one of these movies warranted several repeated viewings). However, the internet wouldn’t be the internet without countless debates and opinions thrown about into one big hodge podge of poorly cited arguments and comparisons.

Normally I wouldn’t see any reason to compare the animated hits “The Lego Movie” and “Frozen,” but considering half the internet feels determined to shove these two together, I’ve decided to give my two cents.

“Frozen” was released in November of last year and has since made close to $1 billion worldwide and spent several weeks at the top of the box office stats. This Disney princess movie follows the story of Anna and Elsa, two sisters that were separated due to the latter’s uncontrollable and dangerous ice magic. When Elsa’s powers are revealed to the kingdom, she flees up the North Mountain to hide in isolation where she can not cause any more harm. It is up to Anna, a filthy yet lovable ice harvester, and a snowman in love with summer to save Elsa from herself and show her that love is the most powerful kind of magic there is. For the few people left in the world that haven’t seen this movie yet, I won’t spoil anything major. Just know that there are enough plot twists, masterful songs, and witty dialogue to make this more than just another princess movie.

“The Lego Movie” was more recently released on Feb. 7 and has since made around $100,000,000 in its first two weeks. Its popularity soared as word got out about the clever jokes and cast of fun characters. I went into the theatre expecting a 90 minute commercial, but left pleasantly surprised by how much I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It’s hard to summarize the movie without giving away certain spoilers, but I can say that the script left little down time for the audience to get bored.

Both movies are rated high by audiences and critics alike, but I do believe there is one spot that “Frozen” excels and “The Lego Movie” falls disappointingly short. When watching “The Lego Movie” I felt as if I was watching a parade of jokes and nothing more. Sure, I laughed out loud more than once, but the whole movie left a bit to be desired in terms of plot. The story and characters didn’t intrigue me nearly as much as the dialogue did. I wouldn’t be able to watch that movie multiple times because the humor would eventually get old. Plot and character driven stories are a lot more enjoyable upon multiple viewings, which is why I can proudly proclaim that I have seen “Frozen” approximately 15 times. However, I don’t think I’ll ever spend $8 to see “The Lego Movie” a second time.

I think that part of the reason “The Lego Movie” was such a hit was because so many people expected it to be kind of terrible. The amazement over it stems more from pleasant surprise than from the movie actually being amazing.

That’s not to say that “The Lego Movie” was bad, because it really wasn’t. If you’re looking for a fun Friday night with friends, then by all means go see it. Just don’t go expecting the greatest animated feature since “The Lion King,” and you’ll enjoy yourself much more.