Took my kids to see the Lego Movie on Sunday.  Had to go to 3 theatres (long story) to find one that wasn't sold out...

At the theatre we went to, we were one of the first in and got good seats.  The pre-trailers advertisements (the 15 minutes prior to the showing time) had a number of Lego associated products.  I don't remember seeing advertisements that matched a movie before.

I will start this by saying that I brought my 4 and 8 yr old daughters and my 10 and 15 yr old sons.  My 8 and 10 year olds play with Legos currently, and my 15 year old quit a few years ago.  My 4 year old will play with them just to play with the other kids.  I myself played with Legos as a kid too.

The Movie:

WOW!  Thats the short version.

I am not going to talk plot or particular scenes.

Going in to most well done kids animated movies, you can expect that a certain amount of the movie is aimed at the kids and a certain amount will be there for adults to enjoy.  The Lego Movie nails this.  Almost every scene has equal parts for both generations to enjoy.  The animation was about as good as I could really imagine.  Even though it is all CGI, they used a fake stop motion film look to make the animation look like real Legos.  The effect is pretty impressive, as it reels you into thinking that they are doing all of this with real Legos.

Like most family movies, the plot is easy to follow and the characters are simple.  This actually gives the viewer time to appreciate the time and effort that went into getting all of the Lego sets they managed to fit into the movie.  The voice actors they picked were perfect for each character.  Of course, the kids could care less about the actors, but the adults will appreciate them for sure. 

The Lego Movie is the best animated movie I have seen in years.  Take the time to go see it, as it is well worth the time and money.

Initially I wrote this movie off as an extended commercial and expected it to be as bad as all the other animated movies that have been releasing lately, but I have been hearing way too many good things about it now to not give it a chance.

I thought it looked bad in the trailers, and it has Will Farrel in it (I seemed to have developed an allergic reaction against him since the slow motion shirtless scene in Land of the Lost. ) But I keep hearing how great it is from people that I respect - so I really want to see it!

Plus, I hear 'Fox News' people are hating on it. So that's probably good too.

Lego was probably my favorite toy as a kid.  Although my 'working model' of the Wave Motion Gun didn't have much punch.  (I made a Lego air compressor, with the safety latch door and everything.)

I'm planning to take the kids soon. Next weekend I guess, though it's not listed yet. During the week the earliest is 7pm, too late for a 4 year old.

About half way through the movie, my 4 yr old was getting a little restless.  The movie treats kids with respect that they are not stupid.  But, they do a lot of jokes and plot action that requires that they "get it" to keep up.  My 4 yr old daughter still seemed to like it, but not as much as the other kids.

Did you go to a 3D or 2D version? I'm wondering if it will hold his attention better with the 3D gimmick, or maybe it's more tiring. Do the glasses even fit 4 year olds?

He loves the lego games, and will sit through wreck it ralph from start to finish (at home anyway) so I'm hoping he'll enjoy it to the end.

This movie actually changed my perception of the human race. Not kidding.

What's holding me back is that the plot summary seems incredibly stupid.

Seeing as how your 4 yr old is a boy, he might get into it a little more.  My daughter is more into My Little Pony. 

As far as the 3D glasses go, they don't fit well.  But if it's a movie they like, they keep them on.  I recommend bringing something to wipe the glasses clean though.  My daughter touches them a lot and they get so fingerprinted up, I can't imagine trying to watch through them.  I don't bother with the 3D anymore because of it.

I guess I never read the plot summary.  But I can tell you that there aren't many animated movies that have deep plots that can be accessible to the masses.  The movie does have some minor plot twists, but nothing that will surprise you if you have seen enough movies.

Like I mentioned in the OP, the movie really isn't about the great plot(not to me anyway).  It is more about the characters/voice actors and the incredible use the animation to sell you on the story.  This isn't the best movie ever, just a very clever well made movie.  It seems that it is hard to find that in almost any movie now a days.