I’m pretty sure everybody on the planet collectively rolled their eyes when they first heard that there was going to be a Lego Movie. The idea just seemed so cheap at the time, everyone thought it would just be some big cash grab to sell toys. People could not have been more wrong, 2011’s "The Lego Movie" changed the game for modern animated films. "The Lego Movie" is funny, heartwarming and simply good. The writing from Phil Lord and Chris Miller (known for 21 and 22 Jump Street, Last Man on Earth, and Clone High) is full of trope subversions, genre-specific jokes, and references that can be appreciated by people of all ages. The success of "The Lego Movie" opened the door to franchise potential. I hope in a few years we can look at Warner Bros. Animation and give them credit for creating an animated franchise that could rival the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks. There's so much potential in a franchise like this and it's evident in each movie.

"The Lego Movie" tells a solid story about destiny, friendship, teamwork, imagination, originality, and uniqueness. In addition to being straight-up hilarious, "The Lego Movie" has some serious heart and emotion in the last half hour. I distinctly remember walking into the movie theater to see this with my siblings and not being that excited for it. Some of the trailers had a few funny lines but what animated movie doesn’t trick the audience with a solid joke in the trailer only to leave them bored for the rest of the movie? (I’m looking at you "Secret Life of Pets!") "The Lego Movie" is so innovative and smart that people of all ages were having a good time in the theater.

The animation is absolutely beautiful to look at, most people would swear that it’s all stop-motion with Legos. It’s really just computer generated but everything moves in a way like stop-motion. "The Lego Movie" follows Emmet, an ordinary run-of-the-mill construction worker who soon discovers that he is the chosen one of an ancient prophecy. The villain’s plot in this is pretty hilarious, the master plan is to obtain a device called “The Kragle” (really just a tube of Krazy Glue with some letters faded away) and stick all the Lego characters together so that nobody could create new things and leave everything the way it is.

The voice cast in "The Lego Movie" is out of this world: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Nick Offerman, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, and Channing Tatum. My personal favorite performance in this ensemble is Liam Neeson playing Good Cop/Bad Cop. A serious actor like Liam Neeson being given the opportunity to just have some fun is gold and makes for some really funny scenes with Chris Pratt and Will Ferrell's characters.

What makes "The Lego Movie" work so well is the heart put into the writing. Anyone can make a simple adventure revolving around Lego characters, but Phil Lord and Chris Miller made a movie ABOUT Legos and possessing the potential to create. They made a movie about being innovated and determined in the face of oppression. I don’t want to spoil the twist near the end of the movie just in case anyone reading this has not seen it, it’s too good of a scene. This twist near the end really drives the message of the movie home and legitimately almost had me in tears.

The dialogue is smart and funny with background jokes that could easily be missed the first time. "The Lego Movie" has great re-watch value, but who wouldn’t want to see it more than once anyway? The animation is phenomenal, the writing is great, and the characters are interesting and relatable. I don’t know what else an animated movie needs! A song? "The Lego Movie" has you covered, the theme of Emmet’s world is a typical pop song titled “Everything is AWESOME!!” which is beloved by everyone in town. Even the song in this movie plays a role once the plot starts moving, every bit of dialogue and every set piece helps tell the story and set the scene. Don’t be put off by what you THINK "The Lego Movie" will be and just watch it. I’ve had plenty of friends who voiced distaste for the movie, but once they sat down and actually watched it they came out loving it and appreciating all the charm and effort put into this concept.

Earlier this year, "The Lego Batman Movie" was released in theaters and you can bet I was first one in line opening night. Not only did I love "The Lego Movie" and the portrayal of Batman in it, but I’m also a ginormous Batman fan! Batman is easily my favorite comic-book character and I was extremely interested to see how a Batman movie would play out in a kid-friendly, Lego format.

"'The Lego Batman Movie" tackles all the aspects of what makes Batman...Batman. The movie hits on all the themes and emotions that this character deals with regularly which has been portrayed in many of his live-action movies (which they reference a LOT.) The story centers around Batman trying to find joy in his life. Working all alone, Batman spends nights fighting criminals on the streets and then watching romantic comedies by himself in his mansion. Seeing a character like Batman hum to himself while waiting for his microwaved food to be finished is so much funnier than you’d think it would be. The movie establishes that Batman is not happy with his current state of affairs, and every day he realizes that he misses having a family.

Joining the cast along Will Arnett is Michael Cera as Robin, Zach Galifianakis as The Joker, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Siri, Mariah Carey and Conan O’Brien. I was pretty skeptical when I heard Zach Galifianakis from "The Hangover" movies was going to be playing the classic character The Joker. The Joker is such an iconic character that it’s hard to follow the groundbreaking past performances in this parody. Parody might be the wrong word to use here, the movie isn’t making fun of Batman... quite the opposite. There is a true love for the character here, it’s a tribute to all things Batman. There are countless references to old Batman movies and television shows that are there to honor the source material rather than rip on it.

The movie explores Batman as a father figure which I thought was a really interesting take on this character. Robin refers to Batman as his dad the whole movie much to Batman’s dismay. Dealing with a father figure of his own, his butler Alfred, Batman learns to grow up and take responsibility for those around him in his life.

"The Lego Batman Movie" has great jokes about the vast rogues gallery in Batman lore. If you don’t believe these obscure villains exist, then just listen to Joker in the movie: “Probably worth the Google.” The movie is more about The Joker and his relationship with Batman rather than the other villains. There are two important relationships in "The Lego Batman Movie," the first is the father-son relationship with Batman and Robin and the other relationship is a love-hate one with the Joker. They use “I hate you” in the same way regular people would say “I love you.” Lots of innuendos are suggested in the dialogue between The Joker and Batman that may fly over a child’s heads but leaves their parents or older siblings laughing.

I really want the Lego movie franchise to live on, it has such a unique style of storytelling and blends in humor and emotion perfectly in any situation. Hopefully, the official sequel to "The Lego Movie" which is still in production, can breathe some more life into the franchise.