The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) review - Movie Thoughts (Chapter 48) 💫

 Hello everyone,

As I am coming to the end of this project, I thought I would throw in a really fun one. I think a lot of people were really surprised by how good the first Lego Movie was, and then subsequent spin-offs like Lego Batman and Lego Ninjago also tickled people's fancies. This franchise has such a wacky charm, and I hadn't got around to finally watching the sequel to determine whether everything is still awesome....

(**disclaimer: the following thoughts are 100% my opinion, you do not have to agree with them - film is inherently subjective and everyone's perspective is valid! Also, there are probably spoilers in the following, read at your own risk. Now onto some thoughts....**)

Source: IMDB

When a first installment is so brilliant as a cohesive package, the riskiest move a studio or creative team could take would be to revisit it. Diving back into a successful world means you have the usual expectations dialled up to 50. There’s further to fall if the sequel sucks. So the question of whether the oddly charming Lego Movie world needed a non-spin-off sequel was a really risky question; the answer being no but what exploded from the Lord/Miller hivemind was still extremely enjoyable. Five years after the events of the first part, Emmet (Chris Pratt) and the gang are in trouble again and required a rescue from the mysterious planet of Duplon with the help of newcomer Rick Dangervest. Everything was just as ridiculous and silly, but also cleverly quippy and charismatic enough to be engaging.

Christopher Miller and Phil Lord have once again created a self-aware pop culture masterpiece with their screenplay based on a story by Lord, Miller and Matthew Fogel. Dripping in familiar and hilarious pop culture references again with warm, sentimental overtones; there was always a laugh or a smile to be had. Despite straying into overt exposition that slowed the pace down towards the end, the plot felt cohesive enough to hold together as a concept. Mike Mitchell’s direction followed in the same vein of the franchise’s predecessor with fun, dynamic and saturated visual spectacle full of life, friendship and family.

However, it was so jampacked with ideas and stuff that it felt a little long in the end. The wit can be draining and the 1 hour 41 minute running time lost a degree of compact punch with some of the heavy exposition passages. This sucked a lot of the steam out of the climax of the film, and even loosened the pace up to where audiences could potentially disengage completely. Its plot got messy in places and didn’t quite hold together as well as the poignant simplicity of the original Lego Movie. Despite the heavy-handed heartfelt nature of some moments, the journey and the banter were the real heroes of this story.

Part of this installment’s charms also came from the absolute whimsicality of certain concepts. From adorably destructive Duplo aliens, exploding love hearts and a galactic dragonfly to fabulous word-play involving the storage bin and the ‘Sistar’ system; there was fabulous absurdity everywhere. The notion of brainwashing through catchy pop and the introduction of not evil Queen Whatever Wannabe (Tiffany Haddish) and her sassy and amazing musical numbers added another level of colourful enjoyment.

Perhaps the most infamous ingredient of this franchise’s success that has also been elevated to new heights was the visuals. Visibly saturated full of colour, detail and artistry, there is so much for audiences to explore in each frame; to the point where it would take multiple rewatches to fully experience the true depth of pop culture easter eggs. The animation style once again brilliantly captured the scope, fun and edges of Lego whilst being expressive and mouldable into different shapes. This was truly celebrated with a beast of a credits sequence from master animators Animal Logic, alongside the catchy ‘Super Cool’ by Beck ft. Robyn and The Lonely Island.

The outrageous musical sequences stole the show this time around as well. Alongside the welcome return of the infamous ‘Everything is Awesome’ through a techno, auto-tuned remix, there were some truly brilliant new tunes to bop along to. Mark Mothersbaugh’s music was dynamic and atmospherically over the top, and Jon Lajoie’s original songs were nuggets of complete genius. Queen Whatever Wannabe’s rendition of ‘I’m Just Not Into Gotham City Guys’ was a particular powerhouse slice of musical gold with hilarious visuals and super smart lyrics.

Pratt’s Emmet was surprisingly great, and whilst Haddish was a royal scene-stealer as Wannabe the talented supporting cast did a fabulous job of making sure every moment had both energy and personality. New character Dangervest was the only bland note with a frustrating character arc and a serious case of unlikability.

An animated comedy extravaganza that was oodles and oodles of fun, colour, glitter and almost every pop culture reference you could possibly imagine, The Lego Movie 2 was a solid addition to the popular franchise. With a well-rounded talented team of creatives behind the scenes once again, there were plenty of chances to showcase their quirky and loveable talents with an enjoyable world of characters. Whilst it wasn’t necessarily awesome, it was still really, really great.

8/10, 4 STARS

Thanks for reading,

Love and multi-coloured bricks of all shapes and sizes, Emily 💫