Basic story: well, there is this repressive government that in typical marxist/neo-marxist fare is actually beholden to big business. This accounts for the leader's name: President Business. Folks are repressed (i.e., they are restricted in a bunch of different ways) but more frequently they are self-regulating (aka subject to false consciousness). The humdrum nature of life under authoritarianism should be familiar (e.g., cue Neo in the Matrix or the lead character of the graphic novel Nil: The World Beyond Belief). The lead character follows/falls for some cute subversive (cue the White Rabbit and Trinity from the Matrix) who gets him on the Dictator's most wanted list). Off they go to find the rest of the "merry men" (aka Robin Hood).
The chase scenes are marvelous. The creativity in displaying how things are created and destroyed is endless but if you were into the Green Lantern comic as a kid, this was pretty standard fare. The revolution has it's zealots (the Morgan Freeman/Yoda like character), it's hesitants (the Batman/C3PO like character) and the unexpected hero that chimes in just at the right time (the Unikitty/Han Solo like character). They suffer some setbacks as all films of Pop Struggle in America do. And, just when you think the challengers might fall, the one (Emmet - the plain everyMAN) realizes that they he is the one and in typical one-like/christ/savior like fashion he comes to the fore, showing everyone that they to have a role to play in the revolution or, reform, as it were.
Some called this film "subversive" and "subversive genius". If the revolution failed, that would be subversive. If Emmet took over and then became a dictator, that would be subversive. If Emmet literally joined the other rebels to become mega-dissident that would have been subversive. Emmet even side steps the true creative genius - the lead female character (like Harry Potter over Hermoine). Challengers generally win in American Pop Struggle. Indeed, it defines the genre. Men freu
Film: American in origin (2014). Film information.