Review - The Adventures of Clutch Powers

EDIT: Winner is -A! Please contact me with your details!

Gabriel, although only four, is already completely obsessed with LEGOs.  They are his favorite and most wished-for toy.  Luckily for him, we got a chance to review The Adventures of Clutch Powers! Whee!

Synopsis:

For the first time ever, see the creative world of LEGO come to life in the all-new feature-length DVD movie.
Meet Clutch Powers, the best builder and explorer in the LEGO universe as he heads off on his most dangerous mission yet. Join Clutch and his team of LEGO experts as their adventure leads them from LEGO City to the Space Police prison planet to the medieval world of Ashlar where they must help the rightful heir to the King’s throne find the courage to regain the kingdom from the evil wizard Mallock the Malign.
Their brick-building skills will be put to the ultimate test as they face off against Mallock's skeleton army. Get ready for an action-packed adventure like nothing you have ever seen before, The Adventures of Clutch Powers!

Gabriel used his freakish New Stuff Detection Skills to find this DVD in my purse, before I had even opened the package.  That was probably three weeks ago.  It's the only movie he's been interested in watching since.  He sometimes quotes the movie while he's playing with his LEGOs independently.  From the kid perspective?  Clearly positive reviews.

Something I liked about is that because the set and characters are LEGOs, Gabriel is often inspired to build while he's watching, so I don't feel quite so much like he's just vegging out in front of the TV.  Yet he remains engaged, which I appreciate, because I typically use our nightly movie to get some stuff around the house taken care of without worrying about my son dismantling the vacuum (which, for the record, has happened. Twice).  I also liked how they incorporated the fact the characters are LEGOs into the plot.  They trade hair, build things together, discuss brick types, etc.

Many scenes begin with a pile of bricks that the characters have to use to build something.  The underlying theme with all of this is teamwork.  There is some fighting.  I wasn't bothered by it because LEGOs fighting doesn't exactly involve blood and violence, more like smashing plastic pieces.  

This is a movie for LEGO fans.  If your kid doesn't 'get' or care about LEGOs?  S/he probably won't care much about this movie.  Since Gabey is a nut for anything you can build, this movie holds a lot of appeal for us.

You should be aware that the movie is built of the LEGO empire.  There will be sets that your kid doesn't have, sets that they want.  Gabriel doesn't have particularly high expectations for me to go rushing off to the toy store, because I don't.  But if you're worried about commercialization and the impact it has on your child, etc, this aspect is something to examine.  We are already a bought and paid for family of LEGO Devotees, so this aspect wasn't something that I was worried about. 

I have used this film as an excellent opportunity to discuss advertising and marketing.  It's actually helped Gabriel understand that we don't get whatever we see on TV.  Since we don't have traditional TV (just the DVD player), we don't get a lot of advertisements filtering through our home, and this really hasn't come up too much for us.

Overall, this movie is appropriate, keeps my son occupied for it's entire duration, and captures his imagination.  Thumbs up from both of us.

Giveaway:  I have a copy of LEGO: The Adventures of Clutch Powers on DVD to giveaway! Yay!

How to Enter:  Sometime between now and Sunday, March 21st, at oh, say....midnightish?  Leave me a comment below letting me who the DVD would be for.

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DVD website and information here.
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I received this DVD free of charge with the understanding that I would share my thoughts on my blog.  My opinions are my own, and have not been purchased by anyone.