Seriously, don’t read this until after seeing the movie, okay? Okay. 

The Lego Movie is pretty great from the start, but it’s the ending that gives it added resonance and makes it more than just an entertaining diversion. Pulling back the curtain to show the real-world inspiration for the events in the Lego world is a clever touch, but to reveal the whole struggle as part of a larger struggle between the collector dad (Will Ferrell) and Finn (Jadon Sand), a kid who just wants to play, adds a layer of poignance that the film might not otherwise have had. Up to that point, it’s possible to quibble with the way the film moves at such a breakneck pace that, once in a while, it becomes hard to keep up. But of course it moves that fast: Finn knows he’s running out of time. It could have been heavy-handed, but it’s so sweetly played it adds a moving element to an already terrific film.