Lego Movie As An Apocalyptic Narrative

The Lego Movie as an Apocalyptic Narrative The Lego Movie is an adventurous animated film that follows the protagonist, Emmet Brickowski. Emmett is a completely ordinary LEGO mini-figure who always follows the rules. He then becomes mistakenly identified as the Special – an extraordinary being and the key to saving world. He finds himself being drafted into a fellowship of strangers who are on a mission to stop an evil tyrant’s, Lord Business, plans to conquer the world using his super weapon, “Kragle”. The only thing capable of stopping the “Kragle” is the Piece of Resistance. Emmet comes across the Piece of Resistance when he investigates a woman at his construction site after hours. He is immediately captured by Lord Business’ lieutenant,
Bad Cop. From there the woman at the construction site, Wyldstyle, rescues Emmet and takes him to wizard, Vitruvius. Vitruvius dubs them “Master Builders” which means that they are capable of building anything very quickly and without a manual. The story of Emmet in The Lego Movie is extremely similar to the Book of Revelation written by John as they both include ultimate conflict between good and evil, fellowship of friends, and the use of mythic language.
When asked about Revelation, most people make a direct comparison to the apocalypse and the end of the world.
So they tend to jump to narrative comparisons such as The Walking Dead or The Road. There is more to Revelation than mass destruction and solitude. John writes to the seven churches in Asia Minor in order to reveal their situation. He addresses each church individually based on their circumstances. There are two churches in particular that are being subject to persecution: Smyrna and Philadelphia. These two churches face similar situations to Emmet, Wyldstyle and the fellowship of friends. Smyrna and Philadelphia are both being punished for what they believe in, yet they are both remaining loyal to the word of God. John writes to them, “I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (3:8-10). In The Lego Movie, Emmet and Wyldstyle have to stay loyal to each other even when Emmet cannot tap into his creative side. They also have to trust each other as they are being tested against evil. When Vitruvius’ ghost tells Emmet that even though the prophecy isn’t real, he can still save the world. The true friendship is shown when Emmet ties himself to the self-destruct mechanism’s battery and sacrifices himself by throwing himself over the edge of the universe in
order to save his friends. During the climax of The Lego Movie, Emmet and his allies are captured and imprisoned. Then Vitruvius attempts to fight back. Unfortunately, he is killed and admits that the prophecy was made up. This leaves Emmet and his companions without their role model and the man who has been guiding them through their journey. This situation is congruent with the story in Revelation about the pregnant woman who fights against the dragon, “So when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle, so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time” (12:13-15). This women was given a chance from the good to escape the evil. The same case is evident in Emmet’s life. When Emmet and his allies are captured and imprisoned by Lord Business, he throws the Piece of Resistance over the edge of the universe. Emmet could have given up and accepted defeat, but instead he believed in the good of the world. His selfless act of jumping over the universe to retrieve the Piece of Resistance inspired the Master Builders to escape. This leads the LEGO people across the universe building their own creative weapons. With their newly created weapons, they charge against Lord Business and the evil. The Lego Movie shows the powers of good versus evil as they fight to stop each other’s plans. The Book of Revelation is a very different book compared to other books in the Bible in relation to the imagery used.
There are a lot of monsters portrayed that are destructive to the seven churches and the citizens of Asia Minor. In Chapter 13 verses 1 and 2, the First Beast is described as, “… having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” which represents Rome and the Roman power. Rome is influenced under Satan which makes the beast evil in the eyes of society. The second beast that rose out of the earth was similar to the first beast as it “exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast” (13:12). These figments of evil are beasts that wreak havoc on the world just like in The Lego Movie when Lord Business creates flying ships with Micro-Managers on board to track down and capture all of the Master Builders. The fact that the whole movie is about LEGOs and their journey to save the universe is absurd all on its own but the addition of these unrealistic characters adds to the
madness. The Lego Movie and the Book of Revelation share many characteristics of apocalyptic narration as they both involve the fellowship of friends, the ultimate battle between good versus evil, and mythical creatures and imagery. These components add up to create captivating stories about the complete destruction of the world that grabbed the attention of mankind all throughout history because of its unlikeliness to actually occur and the absurdity in nature. As humans we can choose how we see the world around us, which means we have can decipher the actions around us however we please. Our friendships are built on our interactions with others, this leads to a collaborative universe. We also have the opportunity to put faith in God to distinguish the conflict between good and evil. Together, we can determine what it means to be human and believe that God is there to protect us from the evil that resides within us.