The more LEGO movies, including a sequel, a pair of LEGO Batman films, a movie about Ninjago, and more. Even though the LEGO franchise has expanded its subject matter, one thing has stayed the same: its animation.

Now, however, there are three live-action LEGO movies in the works. There are currently very few details about the films, and not even their titles are public knowledge yet. However, three directors have been attached to the movies: Jake Kasdan (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), and Joe Cornish (Attack the Block). All three of the directors have scripts at varying levels of completion, but what isn't clear yet is how each of the films will be created in live-action. To me, live-action LEGO sounds like an oxymoron, and it makes no sense at all.

Live-Action Lego Movies Don't Make Any Sense

There's No Easy Way To Put LEGO Into Live-Action

I actually thought LEGO might have been pulling a prank when I first heard about the live-action films, because the idea of seeing plastic toys in anything other than animation sounded so completely ridiculous. I don't know how a live-action LEGO movie would even work; every LEGO minifigure is extremely stylized and distinctly non-human, and even the environments and settings have a look that can't be replicated in the real world. The only way I could see LEGO moving away from animation is if the franchise started using stop-motion, but even that is a far cry from "live-action."

What makes LEGO's live-action decision even stranger is one of the franchise's most recent films: Piece by Piece, a biopic about Pharrell Williams animated in the classic LEGO style. Pharrell himself specifically requested the movie be animated in LEGO style because he saw the world in a more colorful and imaginative way than live-action would be able to represent. I'm inclined to agree with Pharrell: LEGO should be much more magical than the real world is, and I think live-action would completely undermine that. Live-action wouldn't just undermine the magic of LEGO movies, it would also undermine everything there is to love about the franchise.

Live-Action Would Ruin Everything I Love About Lego Movies

LEGO Movies Benefit From Their Quirky Animation & Unique Jokes

There are a lot of things I really love about LEGO movies. I think they're exceptionally creative, incredibly funny, and a great option for family movie night. I particularly love the way each LEGO movie truly feels like it couldn't be told in any other format than animation. From the characters building vehicles and weapons or the gags about minifigure anatomy, like Bad Cop/Good Cop in the original film, LEGO needs to be animated. Without animation, LEGO would lose all the things that make the franchise unique and all the things I love about it.

Why Focusing On Live-Action Could Ruin The Lego Movie Franchise

LEGO Is Betting A Lot On Live-Action Movies, To The Detriment Of Its Regular Animation

Making a live-action LEGO movie is bad enough on its own, but the plan to make three live-action LEGO movies at the same time seems like a monumental mistake. This is almost as confusing to me as the decision to make the films live-action. LEGO must have known that making a live-action movie would be a massive risk, so I'm stumped as to why they would give three live-action films the green light at the same time instead of experimenting with one to see how well it did. It seems like an incredibly shortsighted decision that's bound to blow up in their faces.

If the first of LEGO's live-action movies fails to turn a profit, the franchise will still have two more movies to deal with. Even if those remaining two films aren't finished, by the time the first one is done, LEGO will have sunk a considerable amount of time, money, and effort into a doomed experiment. LEGO is also clearly giving most, if not all, of its attention to live-action films, which means the safer, classic style of animation is taking a back seat. That means the LEGO movies in the animated style I love won't be a priority for a while, which is a real shame.

I would love to be wrong, but for now, I'm convinced LEGO is making a catastrophic mistake with live-action movies.

There is a possibility that I'm wrong, and I would like nothing more than to have to eat crow. I was initially skeptical of The LEGO Movie, as I thought it was a childish cash-grab, and I was very happy to be wrong about that. Since then, I've come to love the LEGO movies, and I, unfortunately, don't think I'm wrong about the decision to make live-action entries in the franchise. Again, I would love to be wrong, but for now, I'm convinced LEGO is making a catastrophic mistake with live-action movies.