10 Brilliant Movies With A Terrible Concept

1. The LEGO Movie

The Lego Movie Emmet Batman
Warner Bros.

The Concept: The Emoji Movie - a terrible cash-grab made only to capitalise on the popularity of a product - is what everyone thought The Lego Movie would be.

After all, the idea is basically nothing. It's a movie about LEGO - so what? Where's the emotional hook, where are the memorable characters, and how can a children's toy be turned into an engaging onscreen story?

The Movie: Nobody expected The LEGO Movie to amount to anything, but it absolutely delivered the goods, and then some.

Funny, creative and with a genuinely heartwarming message about the importance of family and inclusiveness, it was easily the best animated movie of 2014, and its absence from the following year's Oscar nominations is widely regarded as one of the biggest snubs in the history of the awards show.

It's also universally entertaining, and it really does have something for everyone. Kids can sit back and enjoy all the zany characters and creative visual gags, while adults can soak up all the pop-culture references and surprisingly witty satire (why do we pay so much for a cup of coffee?).

"Everything Is Awesome" could not be a more fitting title for the movie's theme song.

Any other great movies that sounded like bad ideas? Let us know in the comments section!

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.