“In creation, God has basically given us a bunch of colorful blocks

            and told us to go play with them in meaningful ways.”

I have seen my future and it is Legos. With a two year old son and baby boy #2 coming in a few weeks, I know that I will probably be stepping on forgotten-legos-in-the-dark for at least the next decade. Of course I welcome this. Legos are nostalgic, vintage, clean fun. I can’t wait to really build something with my boys. And, hey, we only live 5 hours from famed LegoLand, California, so there’s a vacation just waiting to happen.

So my reaction to finding out about the LEGO movie ranged from meh (Oh well, it will probably be terrible) to completely negative (Is there nothing that is safe from Hollywood’s commercial creep!). However, in this case, seeing was believing.

The LEGO movie creates a wonderfully imaginative space that overlaps with our own world in significant ways, yet heralds a creativity that we all long for and yet can’t quite reach. In a word, we call that Redemption. As Christians, we have a responsibility to name and support redemption wherever it may be found.

Here are the redeeming elements of this movie as I see them (Without spoilers!)

1. The message: We are all builders

I won’t reveal all the brilliant ways that the film does this, but at the heart of the message is the compelling idea that we are all creative builders. We don’t all follow the exact same life path, but are free to create beautiful ideas that are our own. The LEGO movie begins by encouraging this creative spirit by throwing out the “rule book.” But, just when you think the entire message of the movie is going to be the cliche “be yourself, and just do what makes you happy,” then it brilliantly incorporates the importance of following rules and working as a team. So it shows the errors of both the mundane communal life and the selfish individualistic life.

Good thing the gospel shields us from both. What we are invited into in the Christian life is a vibrant community, where we live by a code, but where our personhood is celebrated and creativity is encouraged. I’m reminded of Psalm 8.

"Yet you have made [humanity] a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet…"

This dignified and even royal language describes our humanity. We have been given dominion over what God has made. In creation, God has basically given us a bunch of colorful blocks and told us to go play with them in meaningful ways.

2. The artistry

So often, Christian analysis of film is only about the “message.” What we also need to appreciate is the importance of the art-form itself. The animation of the LEGO movie is nothing short of spectacular. There is a kaleidoscope of color and the animators kept everything in Lego-block angles. The detail of the movements will cause you to long for repeated viewings, just so you can catch it all. But you will also want to watch this film repeatedly for the humor. The LEGO movie is laugh-out-loud funny. All different kinds of humor are present: from social commentary to self-deprecation to slapstick. All of these things make sense in a world where God has made his creation beautiful, funny, and “good.”

3. The ending (No Spoilers!)

I won’t tell you what happens, but the place where the LEGO movie takes the audience for the last 20 minutes of the film is incredible. At first it was jarring, even disappointing for me. But I quickly got over that disappointment as I saw the perfection of story unfold before my eyes. Ultimately, what is revealed is a loving Father who cares about his creation and his children. That’s a redemptive theme if I’ve ever seen one.

The Lego movie is a film that brushes up against truth and encourages a view of the world that we can live-into with urgency and creativity.