I’m going to start the review of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part by spoiling The Lego Movie, so you’ve been warned. As you know, the joy of The Lego Movie was its revelation that the story ran two parallel tracks: the Lego-world adventure of Emmet and Wildstyle and the real-world story of Finn and his Dad. Its reveal hit M-Knight levels of amazement and integrated brilliantly with the overall story bringing depth to the typical Lego kid-flick that we’ve grown accustomed through its long line of straight-to-DVD films of the past.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part had a huge challenge to face, since the reveal of the reveal; it needed to find a way to top that revelatory moment. A feat even M. Knight Shyamalan struggled to repeat…ever. With Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returning as writers and new director Mike Mitchell, the team starts merely with the conceit that the two worlds exist with Dad’s (Will Farrell) warning at the end of the first film to Finn (Jadon Sand) that since he can play with Dad’s Legos, so can his little sister Bianca (Brooklynn Prince). And thus starts the apocalyptic destruction of Finn’s Bricksburg at the hands of his sister’s Duplo-invaders.
“…leaving Emmet behind to mount a rescue mission. Wildstyle and friends are taken to the Sis-star System…”
Cut several years into the future to the wasteland known as Apocalypseburg. Emmet (Chris Pratt) returns, but instead of an optimistic man-child set against a world that could care less about him, Emmet is an optimistic “Special” comedically juxtaposed against the hardened citizens of the desert city. Emmet and Wildstyle (Elizabeth Banks) are still a couple. Wildstyle broods about her hopeless surroundings as Emmet builds a cute little house for the two. As Wildstyle wishes Emmet was darker like her, Emmet tries to act dark and the best he can manage is a dark dream he had of the Ourmomageddon.
Soon, our gang is invaded by a spacewoman known as General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz), who kidnaps Wildstyle, Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman), and Benny (Charlie Day), while leaving Emmet behind to mount a rescue mission. Wildstyle and friends are taken to the Sis-star System, where they are introduced to Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) and her plan to forcibly marry Batman in a glorious wedding ceremony. Meanwhile, Emmet’s rescue mission is not going well, and he finds help with the very heroic Rex Dangervest (Chris Pratt).
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part succeeds in two fundamental ways as a sequel. The first is recapturing everything we loved from the first film including its fast-paced one-liners; the charm from its original characters especially Emmet, Wildstyle, and Batman; clever puns; crazy awesome Lego animation; and just the oddest songs with the help of a Mark Mothersbaugh soundtrack.
“…not as good as the first, but comes pretty damn close…”
Secondly, The Lego Movie 2 succeeds in doing something different from the first. Knowing that It can’t provide the huge reveal from the first film, it still manages to pull off a big twist in the plotline and tie it to a heartfelt story about family between Finn and Bianca and the newly introduced mother (Maya Rudolph). Clearly, this twist could not be the home run you got in the first, but it’s a stand-up triple nonetheless. Lastly, there’s a fantastic three-quel ending and just leave it at that.
In the final analysis, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is not as good as the first, but comes pretty damn close and is another example of a well-executed sequel. As cliched as it sounds, yes, this is a film for the kiddies, yet suitable for adults.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) Directed by Mike Mitchell. Written by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller. Starring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Maya Rudolph, Jadon Sand, Brooklyn Prince.
8.5 out of 10 stars
