A LEGO Brickumentary - C+

Rated G, 95 minutes

LEGO's can be awesome as demonstrated in the somewhat fascinating, playful new documentary "A LEGO Brickumentary," which explores the global phenomenon LEGO's have become since they were first introduced in Denmark in 1958, though you have to really, really love them to genuinely appreciate it. LEGO bricks are being used educationally, therapeutically, and have provided a universal system for human creativity and our innate desire "to build." "Brickumentary" delves into the extraordinary impact of the LEGO brick, its massive global fan base, and the innovative uses for it that has sprung up around the world. Entertaining and often fun but often feeling like an extended infomercial for LEGO's themselves, "A LEGO Brickumentary" is a modestly delightful but somewhat annoying look at the toy company 400 million bricks strong since its inception. Written by Daniel Junge and Kief Davidson and narrated by Jason Bateman in animated LEGO form, after the popularity of the huge animated film "The LEGO Movie" (which was mostly CGI, as LEGO enthusiasts in the film gladly point out yet something most people already knew) this would come as no surprise, though not the first to look at the LEGO company, see the 2012 animated Danish short "The LEGO Story" for more, but this explores the fascination with LEGO's over the last 50 years. There are LEGO conventions across the globe such as LEGO Con and Brickfair where LEGO geeks gather to inspire and show off their work; there are legitimate LEGO artists such as Nathan Sawaya who display their sublime work; there are huge displays of LEGO's, including my favorite, the largest LEGO display ever, a full-scale replica of a Star Wars X-Wing Fighter, not to mention LEGO Adult Fan Alice Finch's impressive replica of the city of Rivendell from the "Lord of the Rings" films (she later built an even more impressive replica of the Hogwarts castle from the "Harry Potter" movies, not seen in this documentary but you can find online), such a tremendous feat she won best in show honors at the nationwide LEGO convention several years in a row; LEGO's are even being used in therapeutic situations with autistic children, something the film only skims the surface on. Heck, LEGO enthusiasts even have their own language, including the most common, AFOL's or Adult Fans of Legos and LUG's, or Lego User Groups, and the LEGO company has become increasingly interactive to encourage building new ideas and developing new LEGO sets. All of this is mildly interesting, though if you don't love LEGO's, much of it might be lost on you (the huge LEGO X-Wing fighter is still sorta cool though). On that note, "A LEGO Brickumentary," featuring slightly annoying, overdone narration from Bateman, will appeal mainly to LEGO geeks and toy lovers who enjoy spending all that time putting together the pieces, while the rest of us will appreciate the finished product.