The LEGO Movie has had critical, commercial and consumer success, since its release last month.

It topped the first half-term weekend box office nationally, taking over £8m in its first week. Unsurprisingly, having grossed over $200m globally in a matter of weeks, Warner Bros. has already set a date for a sequel. But where exactly does the genius lie within the film: Warner Bros.’s acquisition of an unstoppably successful brand; LEGO’s diversification into the movie business, in what is effectively a 100 minute commercial; or a razor-sharp and critically astute piece of cinema masquerading as a kids’ toy?

The LEGO Movie tells the story of Emmet Brickowski, an everyman who is launched into a conflict between the master builders and President Business, a menacing tyrant who hopes to glue the whole world together. With settings ranging from the Wild West to Robot Pirate ships and a cast of characters including Unicorn Kittens, Superman and Batman (in some respects far superior to Christian Bale’s Dark Knight), it is one of the most creative and inspiring films released in recent years.

The animation, rendered by the Australian company Roadshow Entertainment, is dynamic (especially in 3D) and appropriately colourful: any one frame seems filled with almost every colour on the spectrum, with the figures’ yellows managing to remain just the right side of garish. Overall, it far surpasses your average animated film, breaking into the upper circle usually reserved for Pixar and Dreamworks offerings.

The Lego Group, a family-owned company founded in Billund, Denmark in 1932, was valued at $14.6 billion in 2012, making it the most valuable toy manufacturer in the world. Seven Lego sets are sold every second, and there are an estimated 86 Lego bricks for every single person in the world. After licensing Star Wars sets in 1999, they have since produced Batman, Toy Story, Harry Potter, Spongebob Squarepants, Lord of the Rings and now even The Simpsons sets. They have also diversified into a range of video games, including popular Star Wars and Harry Potter renditions.

Unsurprisingly, the film was accompanied by 13 new Lego sets and a video game. Many have argued that the film, therefore, is the largest product-placement in history. It’s definitely easy to see how it is nothing more than an extended advert for Lego: it may be entertaining, but it’s only there in the first place for commercial gain. Moreover, diverse use of social media and viral advertising made it hard to escape the presence of the film, be it through an ITV ad break remade entirely in Lego, Jeremy Paxman briefly transforming into a yellow mini figure on Newsnight, or the ‘blooper reel’ released online that quickly circulated on Twitter.

Thankfully, though, the writers didn’t go down the line of Transformers or G.I. Joe and try to show their brand as something that it isn’t. The makers of the film know that the little plastic bricks are a toy and, accordingly, play with them in unique and versatile ways.

There is certainly depth to Emmet’s adventure, though. Will Ferrel’s President Business is undoubtedly a manifestation (perhaps somewhat ironically) of the capitalist corporate empires that seem to rule so much of the world. But there’s far more than this, including celebrations of anarchy and randomness, which have had various political and sociological interpretations. A personal favourite was the inclusion of Michelangelo, rendered perfectly in yellow plastic, as one of the so-called Master Builders. Although most famous for his sculptures and frescoes, Michelangelo was also a prolific and innovative Mannerist architect, making his inclusion (along with Vitruvius’, the influential Roman writer) a subtle allusion to the architectural and experimental basis for the product.

Above all else, the LEGO Movie celebrates childhood. Without wanting to spoil the ending (I thoroughly hope that many of you will one day see this film), the surprising twist is a (rather less subtle) manifestation of this movie’s central theme of the power of toys and the fun they bring to us all: they have the ability to bring people together and create inter-generational bonds that last. Whether or not it is intended as a mere marketing ploy is irrelevant. It is fun, filled to the brim with thoughtful charm, and brings back memories of a simpler time of plastic bricks and imagination.