ironhorse_iv Review of A Lego Brickumentary

A Lego Brickumentary (2014)

Everything was nearly awesome with this Lego documentary.

[6/10 · 23 May 2021]

Although, the film directed by Kief Davidson and Daniel Junge does have some flaws. One such example is the documentary's structure. It was a bit all over the place. Hardly any connecting building blocks. Honestly when the filmmakers introduce the on-screen Lego figure narrator voiced by Jason Bateman, the movie cowritten by Davis Coombe should had starts off by getting all the product placement commercialism with the 2014's Phil Lord & Christopher Miller's animation 'Lego Movie' over with it. Quickly chat about that, along with the model work featured in the live action sequences of that flick, then move on to other brick filmmakers and celebrities talking about their personal connection with the bricks, along with the X-Wing building sequences. Trust me, this structure works better rather than bringing the subject up in the beginning and toward the end. Anyways these sequences should had followed with the retrospective history of the company; which surprisingly was somewhat well done by the documentary. I just wish the filmmakers explain more about the struggles of the company trying to keep the Lego patent after it expire in 1989 and the companies' wars with Mega Bloks and Best Lock. Despite that the history lesson parts were very informative. Also, those parts didn't feel like the directors were part of the corporate shilling. For example, hearing about the company flaws with creating new products like over expensive Technic Fiber Optic Multi Set and the Znap and Primo pieces being too elaborate to be compatible with regular Lego pieces with traditional Lego bricks was very interesting to watch. My only complain about those failed sequences, would had been that the filmmakers didn't go into a deeper dive into that. For example, the movie didn't bother talking about the Lego's ill-faithed attempt to revived an obscure doll line from '79 targeted at young girls nor the early 2000s 'Bionicle' and 'Galidor', action figures line based on a kid's show of the same name. The movie acts like the Danish company have always been focus on one type of toy: the manufacturing of construction sets despite otherwise. Nor does the film talk about the Lego Group being the one of the largest tire manufacturing company in the world due to its unique design for miniatures. Then there is the Legoland argument. While the theme parks are not fully owned by the Lego Group itself; rather, they are owned and operated by the British theme park company Merlin Entertainments. Lego still get a share of the profits. In truth, the downturn of tourism after the attacks on 9/11 was one of the biggest reasons why the company nearly went under in 2003. Another thing, while the documentary acts like the Lego Group only turn a profit by allowing its adult fanbase to help create products for them such as the Lego Creator line. The truth is, that the biggest influence to Lego's grown was the child-based series 'Lego Ninjago' that was produced in-house by ethnographic market research toward kid's interests; along with their wiliness to go into the video game and television market. Despite that the documentary does go into great depths to showcase a lot of what adults have done with the product such as helping solve complex traffic, math and learning problems was really interesting to witness. Most surprisingly for me, was the sequence in which an artist help people cope with the aftermath of the Holocaust by rebuilding historical sites with Lego pieces. Seeing that dark theme here in this G rated movie was very surreal. Although that sequence was somewhat a downer, the film does show more intense but uplifting topics such as hobbyists at a brick con trying to win awards. I always kinda like competitor documentaries. Furthermore, I believe the movie would have work better if there was more focus on Lego CUUSOO winner/Curiosity Mars Rover engineer Stephen Pakbaz. Having the movie end with him kinda works with the whole cheesy Legos in space opening. Overall: While some sequences of this documentary have not aged well over the years such as the positive focus on 'Melting Point' which later backlash where the fans didn't get the 30 minutes stop motion brick film that Indy director Jonathan Vaughan promise on Kickstarter. Still, not quite worth banging your head onto a brick wall to get anger at. The movie in the most part was worth watching on Amazon Prime or any streaming platform where as of this writing, currently stands despite its admittedly cluttered and disorganized niche unfunny nature of being a few bricks short of a full load.