10 Great Movies That Prove Blockbusters Don't Have To Be Dumb

7. The LEGO Movie

In 2014, the last movie anyone expected to turn out to be any good was The LEGO Movie - the title alone seemed to make it painfully obvious that this would be a predictably shallow, bland corporate movie tie-in for a product which has no conceivable narrative function. Against all the odds, The LEGO Movie turned out to be pretty damn good by anyone's standards. The lack of narrative potential for a toy which has no backstory turned out to be a huge help rather than a hindrance, allowing the filmmakers to use the endless possibilities of LEGO bricks to build an equally imaginative universe, while the film retained a cheeky, irreverent attitude towards the very corporate blandness many feared it would itself exhibit. It is fair to say that this commentary on creativity left a bitter taste in some critics' mouths, who saw it as hypocritical for a film about a toy which rakes in countless millions a year in profits to berate - albeit subtly - corporations similar to itself. Still, it's impossible to deny that The LEGO Movie is a whole lot of fun full of witty humour and knowing references of a higher calibre than many other animated movies aimed at kids.