The anticipated sequel to The LEGO Movie is finally in theaters and it is safe to say the wait was worth it. On paper this is the type of film that shouldn’t work but Phil Lord and Chris Miller came along in 2014 and surprised us all with a pop culture triumph filled with a fun story and so much heart. Seriously, I was unprepared for the emotional journey a film that is a big product placement was going to deliver such an emotional pull at the heart strings.
This time around nothing has changed as we enter the world Lord and Miller wrote for The LEGO Movie 2:The Second Part picking right up after the events of the first movie. While, Lord & Miller didn’t direct this time around that was Mike Mitchell the duo where the writers and set us up to find our characters Emmet (Chris Pratt) still extremely plucky and thinking “Everything is Awesome” despite Wyldstyle/Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) and the rest of the lego world accepting the new world they are about to live in which is a post-apocalyptic world thats a clear reference to Mad Max and the dystopian world of those films as well as The Matrix and other R rated favorites. How did we get from everything is awesome to everything is not awesome? It happens when invaders from outer space show up wrecking everything faster than it can be rebuilt. This leads to a battle to defeat the invaders and restore harmony to the LEGO world while also finding Emmet having to grow up and save his friends Lucy, Batman (Will Arnett) and others who have been kidnaped by the evil Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi voiced by a terrific Tiffany Haddish. This journey also brings us one of the best moments in the film when Emmet bumps into Rex Dangervest also voiced by Pratt. This is a hyper version of Chris Pratt as Rex who is a raptor trainer, space fighting, cowboy, first baseman and the list of Pratt characters goes on and on.
The one issue with this movie is that we are in on the twist of the first film this time around. Spoiler if you skipped the first film but we find out that Finn is actually playing with his fathers LEGO set in a cameo appearance from Will Ferrell. This time around though the antagonist is no longer his father who was obsessive over the way his LEGO set looked, but now it is his little sister, Bianca. Lord & Miller are aware that we know the world we are watching is designed by the real actors playing with the toys. Granted maybe they don’t handle the jumps from LEGO to the real world as well as the first movie does but that doesn’t make The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part a bad film. In fact the duo is still able to craft a story that once again mixes pop culture and a little heart tug or two.
The set up of Finn and Bianca’s relationship is what drives this story. Finn now older than the first film wants a more edgy society full of brooding while Bianca still a kid wants bright colors and more creativity. It’s clear Finn is telling the portion of the story for the older audience as the characters start dealing with the idea of meaning in this world. On the other hand Bianca represents the younger audience with creativity and imagination. The music is just as catchy if not more so this time around with tunes like “Catchy Song” that is sure to replace “Everything is Awesome” this year.
While it has it’s moments of slight fumbles it never gets held down, the jokes are flying at rapid speeds you might miss some, its as much as fun as it’s predecessor, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is a nice addition to the LEGO film franchise and is clearly one of the first great animation films we have gotten in 2019.
4 1/2 out of 5
-Nick
