What do Batman, Superman, Gandalf and Wonder Woman have in common?

Nothing, until The Lego Movie came into awesome existence.

Emmet is a Lego dude who works, a little unsurprisingly, in construction.

Every morning before heading out to build something new in Legotown, Emmet tries to work out how he can be more popular with his fellow construction workers.

He even takes advice from all these President Business approved instruction manuals lying around his defiantly non-duplo flat.

President Business is, well, he’s the President of Legotown as well as a constant source of inspiration for Emmet.

As long as he doesn’t think about just why that is for longer than a moment or three.

But no matter how hard he tries to fit in with his fellow constructing folk, Emmet just doesn’t get it right.

I guess some people are just built differently, even when you follow the instructions.

So it’s no surprise when Emmet gets in a tangle as he clocks out of work, taking a left while his other working Lego Joe’s hang a right.

And as he does, Emmet stumbles upon a girl who’s different to anyone else he’s ever seen before in his nine to five Lego life.

She even has a pink streak in her dark hair that she can toss from side to side in slow motion, and Emmet can’t help but get distracted.

Which is pretty much a microcosm of every boy meets girl story you’ll ever see on the big screen.

So begins Emmet’s mystical journey towards the secret heart of darkness that looms over the fair inhabitants of Legotown, and fulfilling his destiny as the special.

Or something.

I’ll be honest, when I first heard about The Lego Movie last year, I laughed out loud at what a terrible idea this was for a film.

Well, I’m still laughing out loud, but the joke’s on me as it’s the funniest film I’ve seen in years.

Following in the now hallowed footsteps of family friendly films such as The Incredibles and Toy Story, The Lego Movie takes these as a jumping off point before surpassing both with its perfect blend of wit and ingenuity.

That’s the thing about Lego, there just aren’t any boundaries; whatever you can imagine you can build.

Co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have taken the same approach to their new film.

The script is razor sharp, playing out a simple main storyline that kids can enjoy whilst satirising everything from capitalism to sheep like ambivalence we modern folk tend to have for this crumbling planet we’re slowly destroying.

Then there’s most every Lego shaped superhero you can think of being sent up for our viewing pleasure, from batman to superman via Wonder Woman and the Harlem Globetrotters.

Well, they’re kind of like superheroes to me.

There’s even a reference to Charles Bukowski crowbarred in here, or at the very least something that sounded close enough to Bukowski so I can pretend that they referenced the great writer.

Either one works for me.

Did I mention the amazing stop motion animation that is actually awesome, especially when Emmet’s adventures takes our hero to the ocean and we watch Lego shaped waves lap at the screen.

And if that doesn’t sound exciting enough for you, there’s even a cute cat slash unicorn who lives in a cloud called Unikitty.

Seriously, what more could you want from a film?

The vocal talents of Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett and many more you say?

Done.

We’ll even throw in the Millennium Falcon for good measure.

So now you know what all of those iconic superheroes have in common, but there’s one other thing you might not know yet.

That The Lego Movie sure ain’t no common film.

Jonathan Campbell