Movie Review: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Mike Mitchell.

Written by: Michelle Morgan and Dominic Russo and Phil Lord & Christopher Miller and Matthew Fogel and Raphael Bob-Waksberg.

Starring: Chris Pratt (Emmet Brickowski / Rex Dangervest), Elizabeth Banks (Wyldstyle / Lucy), Will Arnett (Batman), Tiffany Haddish (Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi), Stephanie Beatriz (General Mayhem / Sweet Mayhem), Alison Brie (Unikitty / Ultrakatty), Nick Offerman (MetalBeard), Charlie Day (Benny), Maya Rudolph (Mom), Will Ferrell (President Business / Dad), Jadon Sand (Finn), Brooklynn Prince (Bianca), Channing Tatum (Superman), Jonah Hill (Green Lantern), Richard Ayoade (Ice Cream Cone), Ben Schwartz (Banarnar), Noel Fielding (Balthazar), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Cobie Smulders (Wonder Woman), Ike Barinholtz (Lex Luthor), Ralph Fiennes (Alfred Pennyworth), Will Forte (Abraham Lincoln), Jimmy O. Yang (Enthusiastic Zebra), Jorma Taccone (Larry Poppins), Bruce Willis (Bruce Willis), Gary Payton (Gary Payton), Sheryl Swoopes (Sheryl Swoopes).

 

The problem that comes with making a sequel to a genuinely original and innovative film like The Lego Movie is that it’s impossible to do the same thing and be original and innovative. The twist at the end of the original Lego movie – that the story we were just told was all invented by a child playing with the toys his domineering dad didn’t want him to play with worked wonders – because it allowed the film to be as goofy as it wanted to be, but still end up being quietly moving in those final scenes. Unlike M. Night Shyamalan the makers of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part don’t try and pull the rug out from under you again in a more convoluted way – but cop to the story telling dynamics fairly early. The two worlds colliding in this movie are the Lego worlds of the boy from the last film, and his little sister (nice to see the talented Brooklynn Prince from The Florida Project in another role). The fights they are having are the same type of fights all people have with their older and younger siblings. And for the most part, this all works just fine. The animation is still fun, and has some tricks up its sleeve – even if we’ve now seen three other Lego movies (or, if you’re like me, with kids – a couple dozen, since they churn out direct to VOD superhero Lego movies a few times a year). The jokes still fly fast and furious, with a good mixture of smart stupid jokes for the adults, and juvenile humor for the kids (which is still amusing to me). And the songs are still insanely catchy. And the storytelling premise works. It just cannot quite have the same impact this time around.

 

So basically the story now is that the heroes from out last film – Emmet (Chris Pratt) and Wildstyle (Elizabeth Banks) are now stuck in a post-apocalyptic, Mad Max style hellscape, where everyone and everything has been “grim and serious” – except of course for Emmett, who is still the same happy-go-lucky dope from the first film. Occasionally, their world is attacked by aliens – and one such alien comes down and appears unbeatable. This ship takes Wildstyle, Batman, Unikitty, Metelbeard and Benny with her to her world. Emmet sets off to try and save them – and gets the help of Rex Dangervest (also Chris Pratt) – a time travelling bad boy, who wants Emmett to be tougher – to become a Master Breaker, not a Master Builder. The biggest addition to the cast is Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi, a shape shifting creation voiced by Tiffany Haddish doing what she does, who is the leader of the new world the others are brought to – and immediately sings a song about how not evil she is (never a good sign).

 

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is consistently entertaining from beginning to end. Sure, there are a few jokes that don’t land – but as with much of Miller and Lord’s work (they aren’t directing this one, like they did last time – but they did co-write it with others), the film is so packed with jokes that some are going to fall flat. I did like that they genuinely did try and create two differing worlds – and while you could argue that for the most part those worlds break down far too neatly done gender lines, it is used to make the two worlds different. And the film does have an interest is breaking down some gender norms in other ways – as the female characters here are given far more dimension and complexity than they normally are in animated adventures where the star is a boy.

 

In short, The Lego Movie 2 is a satisfying sequel in that it manages to repeat a lot about what made the first film so much fun but has enough different things in it that it doesn’t feel like its completely on repeat. Yes, the sticky part of the first movie – that it was a crass commercial exercise in part designed to sell toys, that also decried that sort of greed – is still there, but less pronounced since the film has a different message this time (but I kind of liked the inherent contradiction in the first film). Rare is the sequel like The Godfather Part II or The Road Warrior (or hell, Mad Max Fury Road) that actually comes along and builds something even greater out of the original. Most sequels, if we’re lucky, are like The Lego Movie 2 – entertaining riffs on what was done before. And this film gets that better than most.