The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Review
PG: Mild action and some rude humor
Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Animation Group, Lego System A/S, Lord Miller Productions, Vertigo Entertainment
1 Hr and 47 Minutes
Dir: Mike Mitchell | Writers: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Maya Rudolph, Brooklynn Prince, Jadon Sand, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Margot Robbie, Ike Barinholtz, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Will Forte
For a little while now there has been a huge over-saturation problem with LEGO Movies and we’ve become a bit fatigued by them. The previous LEGO property film, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, was utterly mediocre and followed the same theme all LEGO Movies do, which is daddy issues. So from the get go The LEGO Movie 2 was not really boding well especially since the trailers never really sold the film. But thankfully, this is still in the hands of masterminds Phil Lord and Chris Miller who can just do no wrong at this point.
THE LEGO® MOVIE 2™ picks up five years after the first movie ended and brings back all the beloved characters from the first film. Emmet, Lucy, Batman™, and Unikitty™ are in for an even more action-packed adventure that will test the limits of Emmet’s master-building ability and eternal positivity. Their beloved Bricksburg is in ruins after a devastating attack of the LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space and the very existence of play is at stake! The battle to restore harmony will take the friends to faraway, unexplored worlds in a strange galaxy… Will everything be awesome once more or will creativity fade with the passing of time?
As expected, the animation is incredible. What I love about each LEGO film so far is that each film has a very distinctive look in its art design. With each LEGO movie, you’re transported to a new world that has a unique look, from the backgrounds to the building architecture. The LEGO Movie 2 continues that by being the most colorful and vibrant film in the entire franchise to date. It’s needless to say that the animation team went all out with this, for the level of creativity within the new settings that are explored are visually stunning throughout. Since this is set primarily in the “Systar System,” aka the perspective of the human Finn’s little sister, her worlds are mostly pink and glittery, which is really up director Mike Mitchell’s alley. If you recognize that name, that’s probably because he served as the director of the 2016 Dreamworks movie Trolls which specialized in having a unique art design that’s bright, colorful, and full of glitter. So, for the most part, all of his stylish vision from his previous feature is applied here and works contextually for the story. The character designs of the new characters are so beautifully animated, particularly Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi. Since her character can form herself into anything she wants, her shape shifting movement is consistently impressive.
Besides that, the film is also a quasi musical featuring several musical sequences. Although it might catch one off guard at first considering most of the songs are performed by Tiffany Haddish, the sequences are creative, bombastic, and beautiful to look at and it’s all thanks to Mitchell’s direction. Plus, some of the new music is pretty catchy and funny. There’s a literal brainwashing song called “Catchy Song” and it’s one of the funniest laughs out of the entire film.
It’s as if Lord and Miller kidnapped Mitchell from Dreamworks, took the Trolls dolls out of his hands, replaced them with LEGOs and said, “Now do what you did with that, with THESE!” If you’re fearful that the film won’t capture that same spark because Lord and Miller aren’t in the directors chair won’t be disappointed because Mitchell is a director who knows how to craft worlds. Besides, THEY WROTE THE SCREENPLAY!
Don’t doubt for a second that this is not a Lord and Miller movie because all of the same humor that was present in the first installment returns in the most refreshing ways imaginable. Because the first film, albeit all LEGO Movies, revolved around a theme of daddy issues, the story the dynamic duo pens for this is new, heartwarming, and as clever as *insert any Lord/Miller movie here because they’re all so damn smart.* I’m at the point now where I believe that Phil Lord and Chris Miller have the Midas touch because everything either one of them touches turns into gold. For a majority of the movie, the jokes are consistent and funny as hell while diving into complex places with the characters. Even the meta jokes hit harder and make you question: how did this even get past the studio?
For a movie based on a toy property, these LEGOs have to be the most complex set of characters in animation history. Emmet might as well be the LEGO Charlie Brown, for he has a heart of gold but is a blockhead (figuratively and literally). The arc he goes through this time around is pretty bold. Instead of just having a story set on the relationship between siblings, there is commentary on toxic masculinity that no animated movie has delved into before and it makes for a smart and meaningful message.
The film doesn't hide the fact that this is all a metaphor for the real world relationship of Finn and his sister, but it evokes your curiosity of the bigger picture message surrounding them and it’s a wonderful one all families (especially ones with siblings) should see.
While I am giving this movie a ton of praise, the film starts off pretty rough. Most aspects of the first 15 minutes fall into the realm of sequelitis. Since this is the the fourth overall LEGO movie, you spend some time playing the game of what WB property can we make fun of this time around and in the first act, it’s Mad Max. The film actively makes fun of those tropes of apocalypse action movies. While it’s fun and all at first, it’s really worrisome because it’s just playing the same tricks as all the other films.
There are one too many callbacks to the first movie that start off funny but immediately become repetitive. Some of the jokes don’t land, and the ones that do stem from name drops. Even cameos that makes no sense occur and some are pretty niche. In the first movie, there is a hilarious Shaq cameo. Here you get... Sheryl Swoopes and Gary Payton.
Most of the first act is weak. The film doesn’t quite have the energetic, frenetic pacing of its predecessor and the first act is pretty slow. But once the film gets out of the basement (literally) and into the “Systar System” everything kicks into high gear or, might I say, everything becomes awesome (again).
As the film progresses, the jokes get better. They play around with new creative art styles and the overall message with the human characters gets smarter. Hell, there’s even a cameo that is unexpected but so side-splittingly funny.
Dazzlingly animated, consistently hysterical, and even more heartwarming, The LEGO Movie 2 retains all of the brilliance that made the original film special by providing a meaningful story that everyone will enjoy.
Rating: 4/5 | 89%
Now, where do I sign up for Phil Lord and Chris Miller to be my overlords?
