Movie Review: The Lego Movie 2 - The Second Part

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun, laughs, Legos

Cons: None for me

The Bottom Line:

Delightful sequel

Builds well on what we enjoyed

More laughs, fun, Legos

Building an Awesome Sequel

It’s been five years since The Lego Movie assembled in theaters.  Kind of hard to believe, isn’t it?  And, while we’ve seen some other Lego movies, we haven’t gotten an official sequel until now.  The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is different than the first, but I really enjoyed it.

Just like it’s been five years for us, it’s been five years for the characters.  After repeated Duplo alien attacks, the world has gone from awesome to apocalyptic.  Lucy (voiced by Elizabeth Banks) has improved her brooding side as a result, but Emmet (Chris Pratt) is still as happy go lucky as ever.

Things change, however, when an alien comes and kidnaps Lucy and four others.  With only Emmet willing to go off and rescue them, will he be able to save everyone?

One reason the first movie was so perfect was that it included the various worlds that Lego has created over the years.  It hit that nostalgia button perfectly for so many of us grown up kids.  This movie doesn’t do that.  Instead, it becomes a rescue mission that doesn’t quite work the other worlds in.  It’s still fun, but it’s more about the characters and less about the Lego worlds.

Of course, another reason this first movie was so successful was all the jokes, and this one still has all of those.  I laughed multiple times over the course of the film.  There are lots of pop culture jokes, some that will definitely fly over kid’s heads (and the film even notes that).  And there are jokes that everyone in the audience will get.  I’ll admit, I think I was laughing more than the audience I saw the movie in the theater with, but I completely enjoyed myself.

Knowing the conceit of the first movie (MINOR SPOILER FOR FIRST MOVIE WARNING: what we are watching is all part of some kid’s imagination/real life coming together), it was fairly easy to figure out where this movie was going early on.  I didn’t mind because I had fun getting there.  And the moral of the movie once again was fantastic.  Knowing the conceit beforehand also helped me accept it when it showed up here since that was really my only problem with the first movie.

The computer animation isn’t going to blow you away here, but it doesn’t have to.  This movie is about a world of plastic blocks, so the animation fits it perfectly.  It’s fun and they create some great site gags to go with the funny dialogue.  There is a lot happening, and I’m sure there are jokes I missed.

The voice acting is all great.  The actors get out of the way and let their voices and the animation tell us a fabulous story.

And did I mention the songs?  They are fun, but they will get stuck in your head.  Yes, we get “Everything is Awesome,” but there is a twist on the song in this movie and there are another couple of equally dangerous catchy songs that was extremely funny.

If you enjoyed the original, you’ll enjoy The Lego Movie 2.  It’s built with the same humor and fun as the first one.