I saw the movie this past weekend, and my take is about the same as the article author’s. It seemed the Lego people were always saying what a “great guy” Mr. Business was and they were very conformist in a creepy kind of way. It did remind me of 1984.
Did you people not stay till the end. President business was the kid’s authoritarian father. It’s how the 10 year old kid saw his dad, not how he understood capitalism.
Two quick points. First, crony-capitalism is not the same as free markets. Free markets (in the form of individual creativity and initiative) are what Emmet called for (more or less, not overtly of course) in the end. Second, the Lego city was run as a hyper-regulated society. Overall it was an anti-fascist film and a perfect symbol of the state our country is in today.