Lego Worlds | |
---|---|
Directed by | Travis Knight |
Produced by | Arianne Sutner Travis Knight |
Written by | Stephany Folsom Chris Butler Travis Knight |
Based on | Lego Construction Toys |
Starring | Justin Timberlake J. K. Simmons Zendaya Samuel L. Jackson Seth Rogen Christina Hendricks Jemaine Clement Trevante Rhodes Awkwafina Catherine Keener |
Music by | Heitor Pereira |
Cinematography | Chris Peterson |
Edited by | Stephen Perkins Tiffany Hillkurtz |
Production companies |
Paramount Animation Nickelodeon Movies Lego System A/S Laika |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date | January 27, 2023 (United Kingdom and United States) |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Countries | United States Denmark |
Language | English |
Budget | $75 million |
Box office | $356 million |
Lego Worlds is a 2023 animated comedy adventure film directed by Travis Knight, who co-wrote with Stephany Folsom and Alicia Kirk, produced by Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon Movies, Lego System A/S, and Laika. It is the first Lego film not to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, and Laika and Nickelodeon's first collaborative project. The film stars Justin Timberlake, J. K. Simmons, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Seth Rogen, Christina Hendricks, Jemaine Clement, Trevante Rhodes, Awkwafina, and Catherine Keener. In the film, a LEGO minifigure named Matthew Greenwood dreams of becoming the Super Builder who was destined to disarm Tiger Tuesday, a destructive weapon created by the president, a egotistical fire wizard named Lord Ludicrous, who intends to destroy all Super Builders and keep everything his way.
Lego Worlds was released in the United Kingdom and the United States on January 27, 2023 by Paramount Pictures, after facing several delays from a December 2021 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received positive reviews and grossed $356 million worldwide upon release, becoming the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in history. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. A sequel, Lego Worlds 2, was released on December 22, 2027. A prequel centered on the character SkullSword was released on August 29, 2025.
Plot[]
Mythothium, the leader of the Super Builders, fails to stop his nemesis Lord Ludicrous, a fire wizard and the president of Brick Island, from obtaining a destructive weapon called the T.I.G.E.R, and begins the Statement, a legend of a Super Builder bold enough to vanquish Ludicrous, destroy the weapon, and save Brick Island with a piece called the White.
Years later, in Lego City, a teenager named Matthew Greenwood dreams of becoming a SuperBuilder. One day, he finds the Gold and wakes up in the custody of the police. Their chief, Office Laura, is about to execute him for breaking ranks, since Super Builders are illegal, but a Super Builder named Riley Miley rescues him. Matthew and Riley Miley escape through a tunnel to Ancient Egypt. Seeing who clumsy Matthew is, Riley Miley initially lashes out at him for ruining the Statement. As they walk through the Egyptian town, Riley Miley reveals that Ludicrous was once a Super Builder named Fred, but after being neglected by the other SuperBuilders due to his element of fire being dangerous, he lost his temper and illegalized them for causing chaos. They eventually meet up with Mythothium at a pyramid. Matthew agrees to train, but the training is interfered with by Laura (who is secretly in a league with Ludicrous) and her police force, who chase the trio to a portal to Sky House, the SuperBuilder hideout, where they escape.
At Sky House, Matthew befriends SkullSword, a pirate made of bones, Sonic the Hedgehog, Leopard God Warrior, a leopard-like warrior, Camille, a quirky airplane-loving woman who is obsessed with building airplanes, MineMech, a space miner robot, and the hideout's creator, Snow Rabbit. At a meeting under the Duck, the crowd of SuperBuilders, unimpressed with Matthew, view him as a weak numskull and refuse to fight Ludicrous. Suddenly, Laura and the police force burst in and arrest the Super Builders, and Sky House is dismantled and sinks beneath the sea, though Matthew, Riley Miley, Mythothium, SkullSword, Snow Rabbit, Sonic, Leopard, MineMech, and Camille escape by building a giant submarine.
As the submarine travels through the ocean toward the office tower, Matthew devises a plan to infiltrate Ludicrous' headquarters and disarm the T.I.G.E.R. During the time, Matthew learns that Riley Miley's real name was Tina. The plan almost succeeds until the Super Builders are captured and imprisoned. Ludicrous fatefully stabs Mythothious, throws the White into an abyss, and sets his headquarters to self-destruct, leaving everyone to die, including Laura, while heading out to destroy Brick Island on Tiger Tuesday. Mythothious reveals he made up the Statement as she dies, but after learning from him in his ghost form that believing is what makes on the Best, Matthew escapes by falling into the abyss, saving his friends. Inspired by Matthew's sacrifice, the Super Builders sneak into the studio room, and Tina convinces the citizens of Brick Island to have whatever creativity they have and build whatever they want against Ludicrous. Chief Laura comes to help, having finally realized how much the Super Builders meant to Brick Island.
After falling, Matthew finds himself in the real world, where the events of his life are being played out in a basement by a girl named Mexie, on her father's Lego set. Her dad admonishes his daughter for making hodgepodges out of his Legos without permission and grounds her for a week. Desperate to save his friends, Matthew gets the attention of Mexie, who distracts her father long enough to return Matthew and the White back to Brick Island. Matthew possesses the ability of a Super Builder and confronts Ludicrous. In Brick Island, Matthew explains that it is not necessary to label Super Builders criminals, while in the real world, Mexie tells her dad, who looks at her creations and see she has based Ludicrous on him, that he is special and can change. Having a change of heart, the dad reconciles with his daughter, which plays out as Ludicrous reforming and putting the white on the weapon, destroying it and saving Brick Island.
In Brick Island, Matthew is praised as a hero, reunites with his friends, and starts a relationship with Tina, while Ludicrous goes back to going by Fred. In the real world, the father realizes how much Lego toys meant to Mexie and allows her to play with the toys, also allowing her brother to play as well.
Cast[]
- Justin Timberlake as Matthew Greenwood, a clumsy but good-hearted teenager who wants to become a Super Builder. Throughout most of the film, Matthew is commonly referred to as "the Best" by other characters.
- J. K. Simmons as Lord Ludicrous, an egotistical and pompous fire wizard who is the president of Brick Island and secretly plots to destroy it and is the one who illegalized Super Builders after being neglected by them.
- Zendaya as Riley Miley, a tough-as-nails Super Builder and Matthew's love interest who is later revealed to be Sia.
- Samuel L. Jackson as Mythothious, the guru of the Super Builders who chooses Matthew as "the Best" and his potential successor.
- Seth Rogen as SkullSword, a pirate made of bones who is a Super Builder.
- Jemaine Clement as Leopard God Warrior, a leopard-like warrior who is a Super Builder.
- Christina Hendricks as Snow Rabbit, a white rabbit who is a Super Builder and the creator of Sky House.
- Awkwafina as Camille, a woman who loves building airplanes and is a Super Builder.
- Trevante Rhodes as MineMech, a space miner with a metallic body and is a SuperBuilder.
- Catherine Keener as Laura, the chief of the Brick City Police Department who initially despises Super Builders, but eventually takes a liking to them at the end of the film.
Reception[]
Box office[]
Lego Worlds opened on January 27, 2023 and was projected to gross $95 million from theaters in its opening weekend. Grossing $192 million in its opening weekend, it has grossed $190 million domestically in North America and $166 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $356 million worldwide, against a budget of $75 million. Although Paramount estimated a performance below projections, the studio was impressed by the film's successful box office numbers. It is the highest-grossing Laika film and the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film.
Critical response[]
Lego Worlds received a largely positive reception from critics and audiences, leading to it being the best-reviewed film based on the Lego toy line not released by Warner Bros. Pictures. On the website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 80% approval rating based on 273 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Despite a weak and familiar plot, Lego Worlds is a dazzling stop-motion Lego adventure that marks the successful beginning of the partnership between Lego, Nickelodeon, and Laika". On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, it was reported that the film has a score of 68 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.