You could easily interpret The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part as a kid-friendly metaphor for remaining optimistic in a more complicated world, certainly given the changes both within and outside pop culture that occurred since the first film was released in 2014 to become a surprise hit.
That movie was hailed as a strong example of how a story crafted around a toy property could be genuinely entertaining and smart, and even though this 2019 entry isn’t as groundbreaking as its predecessor, it’s a very endearing and kindhearted tale that has the usual level of wit and cartoon excitement you’d expect from the LEGO franchise.
Directed by Mike Mitchell, the new movie brings us back to the adventures of master builders Emmett Brickowski (Chris Pratt) and Lucy, a.k.a Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), and their friend’s plight against another Lego-owned property- an invasion of Duplo blocks, as was hinted at the end of the prior entry.
The Duplos causes so much havoc they wind up converting the happy Bricksburg town into “Apocalypseburg” a Mad Max Fury Road-influenced brave new world where all the Lego toys are toughened and battle-hardened. Even the normally jovial Unikitty (Alison Bree) has undergone a grittier makeover to “Ultrakitty”, transforming into a fierce fighting tiger-robot.
Tenacious in his optimism, Emmett still believes everything can still be awesome. He refuses to let his new grim reality affect his upbeat attitude, going so far as to construct a dream house for him and Lucy. Even while haunted by sinister visions of a looming catastrophe known as “Our Mon-Ageddon”, he can’t quite get the hang of deep, brooding thoughts the way Wyldstyle has.
His plans are interrupted when the leader of the Duplos, shape-shifter Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) sends out her henchwoman General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) to abduct Emmett’s friends to the “Systar System”. There, the queen- who insists in a flashy musical number she doesn’t have a hidden sinister motive- plans to marry Batman (Will Arnett) for unity between the Legos and Duplos.
As Emmett gives chase in his house-converted starcruiser, he aligns himself with the dashing action hero Rex Dangervest (Chris Pratt, parodying some of his more notable roles), and the two set out to rescue the other Master Builders from the Queen’s grasp.
Haddish delivers an especially fun performance as Watevra, having some nice chemistry with Arnett’s Batman who’s as enjoyably self-absorbed and clueless as ever. While this film isn’t a musical, she has another entertaining number with Batman, while her hench-vampire Balthazar (The Mighty Boosh’s Noel Fielding) blasts an earworm literally called “Catchy Song” to seduce the other Master Builders.
Much like the other Lego movies, there’s not only that same style of self-deprecation but plenty of off-the-wall cartoon mayhem. The script that was co-written by Spider-Verse’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller deals in kid-friendly humor that won’t insult the audience’s intelligence.
And of course, there are the expected cameos from Warner Bros-owned properties, like various DC superheroes (whether you want to count Ruth Bader-Ginsburg and Bruce Willis among them is up to you). It’s all rendered with a sharp color scheme that makes the Duplo’s Lisa Frank-ish glittery aesthetic stand out, along with the apocalyptic Bricksburg that’s more oddly cute than it is threatening.
After people were taken aback by how witty and sharp a film about Legos could be, there’s nothing especially shocking about The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, but it still hits all the right notes to be another enjoyable tale with our blocky heroes. Similar to the 2014 entry, the toys’ adventures are an allegory for LEGO enthusiast Finn’s (Jadon Sand) imagination, this time with a slightly different dynamic.
What keeps things especially interesting are how the ideas are layered. Lucy’s and Emmett have fun bit contrasting character arcs, with WyldStyle struggling with her inner optimistic child against her harder public persona and Emmett trying to harden himself up.
The usual themes of creativity and imagination are still on display- except they’re laced within a story about how to properly resolve conflicts, as well as the dangers of excessive optimism, being too pessimistic, and finding a comfortable attitude in-between. I’ll gladly recommend it to fans of the franchise, or families who are looking for a film that will keep everyone’s interest. If you’d had the chance to see it, share your thoughts as always at Official_FAN on Twitter!