“The LEGO Movie” is the first no-brainer movie-going recommendation since last summer’s “Pacific Rim”—a film so brimming with wit, heart and visual inventiveness that it stands as the best movie of the year so far (by far) and one of the best family comedies since Judd Apatow raunched up the field with “40-Year-Old Virgin” nine years ago.

Just go see this movie.

Chris Pratt (“Parks and Recreation”) stars as the voice of Emmet, a construction worker in the LEGO metropolis of Bricksburg, who is perfectly content to “follow the instructions,” which allows him to live a uniform existence along his fellow Bricksburgians. It’s the exuberant earnestness with which Emmet takes on his role as the Special after he is unwittingly swept up in a resistance movement of Master Builders who seek to reclaim the LEGO universe from micro-managing President Business that turns out to be one of the film’s most wonderful aspects (one of the winning sequences showcases Emmet’s ingenuity as a Master Builder with the double-decker couch, which is just what it sounds like).

Based on the creative bankruptcy of other toy-based movie adaptations (Hasbro’s “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe” series, not to mention “Battleship”), there’s a gross misconception that “The LEGO Movie” is little else than 90-minute product-placement-a-thon meant to appeal to anything with eyes and opposable thumbs between the ages of 8 and 14. It is not cynicism that drives me to say, yes, it is that, absolutely. It is also, however, so much more.

The film’s success stems from its irrepressible commitment to convey a true and affecting message about the drawbacks of conformity by virtue of a runaway creative vision of the extensive LEGO universe. This formula, equal parts pitch-perfect satirical depiction of modern life and gleefully frenzied fever dream, helps “The LEGO Movie” make the most of its daunting franchise-crossing licenses (Will Arnett’s Batman could very well enter the pantheon of most-memorable onscreen Batmen while a cameo from the crew of the Millennium Falcon contributes to one of the film’s biggest laughs).

The result is a film that endeavors to delight its audience using a voice that’s wholly its own. On these terms, “The LEGO Movie” is a knockout.

★★★★★

amaenche@mavs.coloradomesa.edu