"We build on each other."
From Universal Pictures home video, LEGO: The Adventures of Clutch Powers is the LEGO Group's first feature-length animated movie besides the four BIONICLE movies, and the first to feature the classic LEGO minifigs living in a world made of LEGO bricks.
The plot of the movie deals with Clutch Powers, the best LEGO Explorer in the universe. He is assigned a team, to his chagrin, to investigate a possible prison break on another planet. It turns out three evil prisoners (the ONLY prisoners, as a matter of fact) have escaped, and are now wreaking havoc. While Clutch wants to pursue 'Omega', believing the villain to have information as to the whereabouts of his missing father, he and his team are instead assigned to the medieval world of Ashlar.
There, they must stop Mallock the Malign, an evil wizard who was defeated and imprisoned by the now-deceased king. He has now returned and seeks the Golden Sword which was used to defeat him before. To make matters worse, Prince Varen, the king's son, is inexperienced in battle and can't wield the sword properly. Thus, it falls to our heroes to train the prince and defeat Mallock.
But how can they do that when they can't work together themselves?
Not to be confused with The LEGO Movie, the company's first theatrical release with a Hollywood budget.
This movie contains examples of:
- The Ace: Clutch. He has unparalleled skills as a miner, explorer, stunt driver, builder of useful things and catcher of crooks - although he does occasionally walk straight into a gaping crevice while trying to be badass, and he can't keep his team under control for most of the movie. His father was his Always Someone Better.
- Action Prologue: Clutch vs. the rock monster at the beginning.
- And the team's adventure on the prison planet.
- All Trolls Are Different: Hogar the troll seems mean, but is actually working to protect the young prince.
- Always with You: Varen does this to snap Clutch out of Mallock's second temptation.Mallock: Give me the sword or you'll never see your father again!
Clutch: He's alive?
Varen: Clutch, he's right here. He's always with you.
Clutch: [destroys Mallock's crystal ball] I already found him! - And the Adventure Continues: The film ends with the team going on another adventure to catch the next criminal.
- Arc Words: "We build on each other."
- Armor-Piercing Response: While Brick, Bernie and Peg are arguing after failing to defeat Mallock the first time, Peg lets Brick know how reckless he's been during the mission.Peg: At least we got away!
Brick: That makes you happy? Running away?! I knew I couldn't trust you!
Peg: Well we know we can trust you to wreck everything!
[Peg leaves, leaving Brick feeling terrible] - Awesome Moment of Crowning: Prince Varen being crowned king.
- Badass Boast: Prince Varen does this after he defeats Mallock.Varen: That's King Varen. And you're under arrest.
- Berserk Button: Don't refer to Lego pieces as Buffy Speak while you're talking to Bernie.
- Big Bad: Mallock the Malign.
- Built with LEGO: D'ur!
- Character Development: Almost all the good guys go through this.
- Chekhov's Gun: Varen dropping the Golden Sword before going off to face Mallock.
- Come to Gawk: After being captured, Clutch theorizes that the reason why Mallock doesn't kill them is because he wants to display them like trophies.
- Deadly Euphemism: Losing your creation spark.
- Dem Bones: Mallock has an army of Lego Skeletons at his disposal... which is weird, because we get a good look inside Bernie's torso when he loses his legs, and it's pretty clear that Lego Minifigs don't HAVE skeletons...
- Despair Event Horizon: Clutch and the Prince have been captured, and the good guys' army has been routed. Everyone is on the verge of giving up. Then something happens.
- Didn't Think This Through: Skelly and Bones' plan to trap Clutch involves building a cage and tying a chain around a poorly built figure of a person. When Clutch sees the bait, the face looks like it's poorly drawn by paint that's still wet. So Clutch just draws the person a new face and runs off, much to Skelly's disappointment. Then Bones falls in love with the person because of its face, and when Skelly tries to stop him, he ends up in the cage himself!
- Dogged Nice Guy: Bernie.
- Flaming Sword: The Golden Sword becomes one during Prince Varen's fight with Mallock.
- Friend to All Living Things: Peg is this, even taming a fire-breathing dragon.
- Gasshole
- Brick burps three times when they're in the shuttle, saying that is was onions, garlic, and a tase burrito platter.
- After Hogar eats Clutch to escape Skelly and Bones and hiding on the other side of a fake wall, Clutch begins to move around in Hogar's stomach. Hogar burps loud and strong twice before vomiting Clutch out. Then, when Clutch disgustedly asks if everyone had the burrito platter like Brick did, Hogar burps again in Clutch's face, confirming he did with extra garlic.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Omega, one of the prisoners that escapes and may be behind the disappearance of Clutch's father.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: Played for Laughs when Bernie ends up being cut in two, quoting this line near-verbatim.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The king of Ashlar performed one of these to imprison Mallock, losing his creation spark in the process.
- Human Aliens: While minifigures, half of the inhabitants of Ashlar, such as Prince Varen and Mallock, technically count as these.
- Hurricane of Puns: Skelly and Bones spew a lot of these as they watch the two armies fight.
- I Work Alone: Clutch's catchphrase, and the title of the opening song.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Brick and Clutch, to an extent.
- LEGO Body Parts: Yes, characters can detach and reattach their body parts without any injury and feel fine. However, in this film at least, it is only demonstrated a few brief times.
- Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: It's pretty convenient how the bad guys keep leaving piles of bricks around for Clutch and his friends to build with.
- MacGuffin: The Golden Sword.
- Medieval Stasis: Ashlar. Lampshaded earlier when the HQ viewscreen marks the planet's "time continuum" as "Medieval Throwback"
- Minion with an F in Evil: Skelly and Bones, Mallock's two skeleton henchmen. They're like a Lego Skeleton version of Spike and Whitey.
- Monster Is a Mommy: The film opens with Clutch mining for power crystals, where he tries to escape from a giant rock monster guarding a giant crystal he's collected. Only after it's revealed the crystal is actually its baby does he return it.
- Never Say "Die": Rather than dying, your "creation spark is extinguished". They do say "alive", though, and Skelly does say at one point "we're dying to know" (although that may be because he and his friend are skeletons).
- Noodle Incident: When Brick asks Kjeld why Clutch is the team leader, he responds with "Because he didn't blow up a whole city block on his last mission."
- Overly Prepared Gag: Skelly and Bones give a rambling description of the knight that attacked them, eventually culminating in their conclusion "It was a dark and stormy knight."
- Parental Bonus: Kids likely won't get the reference to Bat Masterson in Brick Masterson's name.
- Product Placement: Of course. City and Space are there, but Castle gets the most spotlight.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The Watch Commander gives one to the team when the prisoners steal their ship.Watch Commander: What kind of rescue team are you supposed to be? Thanks to your bickering and squabbling, the three most vicious criminals in the galaxy are on the loose! Do you have any idea what a disaster this is? By now, they're already in hiding, plotting their next move and stuff.
Clutch: Which is?
Watch Commander: To unite all the forces of evil in the known universe! Duh!
(Beat)
Peg: Would this be the right time to say we're sorry? - Rock Beats Laser: Clutch considers using a racecar or a spaceship to escape the rock monster before deciding on... a catapult.
- Sequel Hook: In the beginning, three evil prisoners are released from the Prison Planet. Clutch and friends spend the rest of the movie tracking down only one, the wizard, with their boss telling them that 'Omega will have to wait'.
- Shout-Out:
- The Indiana Jones series gets referenced quite a bit:
- For example, there's a clear reference to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in that Clutch's Disappeared Dad left behind a diary with clues.
- Heck, hiding the Jonesian inspiration in general for the main character was obviously not one of the producers' goals!
- Clutch's torso is the exact same as the one of Indiana Jones in his LEGO sets.
- As Skelly and Bones are chasing Clutch, Hogar attempts a Jedi Mind Trick on the two:Hogar: This is not the man you are looking for...
(Skelly and Bones briefly enter a trance, before quickly snapping out of it.)
Skelly: Yeah it is.
Hogar: Darn! (turns to face the camera) That never works for me!
- The Indiana Jones series gets referenced quite a bit:
- "Shut Up" Kiss: Peg to Bernie.
- Single-Biome Planet: Or rather, single theme; Ashlar is the Castle-themed planet, the prison planet X4 is the Space Police/Mars Mission-themed planet, and so on.
- Sugar Apocalypse: D'awwww, look at the LEGO people! Now watch the evil wizard wreak havoc with an army of skeletons!
- The Final Temptation: Mallock tempts Clutch with images of his father. The first time, it works. The second time it doesn't.
- There Was a Door: Twice in succession: A terrified, wailing goblin runs through the wall of the tower fleeing from an angry Mallock....directly next to a door. Mallock uses magic to repair the hole...only for Skelly and Bones to punch through coming out to meet Mallock. Through the same space.Mallock: This whole place is going to pieces.
- Those Two Guys: Skelly and Bones.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Brick and Bernie.
- World-Healing Wave: This happens to Ashlar after the wizard is defeated and put back into prison, killing all the skeletons and solidifying the lava.
