The film even ended on a funny sequel baiting note, with the arrival of the Duplo Block invaders. And five years later, with the release of the sequel to The LEGO Movie, the second film to the original first film, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, that invasion comes full circle as the second half of that two-part circle. But... is it as awesome as the first? Is it as cool when we're part of the team? I can't say that, but it's still a funny and inspired film nonetheless.
It's been five years since Taco Tuesday, and the citizens of Bricksburg have fallen into a gritty post-apocalypse of apocalyptic grittiness, brought on by the destruction of invaders from the Sistar System. During an attack, several of the Master Builders (including Elizabeth Banks' Lucy, Will Arnett's Batman, and Alision Brie's Unikitty) are kidnapped by the Sistar invaders (led by Tiffany Haddish's Queen Whatevra Wanabi). Hoping to prove himself as more than the soft and naïve guy he is, the Special Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) ventures out on a mission to rescue his friends, soon joined by the tough and charismatic Rex Dangervest (also Pratt), and take down the certainly sinister evildoings of the Sistar people.
This sequel wastes no time getting back into the swing of things with its humor, picking up directly where the original film left off, before cutting ahead in time to Bricksburg's drastic transformation. The world of the LEGO people has quickly turned into an apocalyptic Mad Max wasteland, characters like Unikitty have taken on new identities and brooding redesigns, and no one dares to build anything shiny and new lest the invaders destroy it. It's clear that what this sequel intends to do is upend and satirize sequels that go bigger and grittier with their follow-up stories, similar to how children who were probably ten when they watched The LEGO Movie, have developed harder tastes aging into their teens, all with that signature flare that only LEGO can bring. The touch of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (here serving as writers and producers) is still very much felt through this film, with Mike Mitchell taking over as director, and making a seamless transition between films.
But there's also a bit more on its mind than humor this time, seeing its characters continue to evolve in new and humorous ways, and boy does this movie have a lot of characters. But starting with the most special of all is Emmet. While everyone else around him has adapted and grown a harder edge to the harsh world surrounding them, Emmet has managed to remain his lovable, childlike self, blissfully humming "Everything is Awesome" while the rest of the world keeps evolving. Lucy/Wildstyle sees this as a weakness to his character, as he appears to have grown carelessly naïve to the dangers of the new world, a belief not unfounded given it's that soft nature that generates the main conflict of the film. In some ways, it feels like a pointed commentary on the disparagement of perceived "snowflake" individuals, and the notion of them being unprepared for the real world, when childishness and boundless optimism become misconstrued as flawed, and I think plenty of people, including myself when I was watching it, can relate to that judgmental eye being cast.
And a huge part of Emmet's likability, beyond his writing, comes from the effortless enthusiasm of Chris Pratt's voiceover, as he feels like he is really enjoying himself here. Even more so given that he performs a dual role in this sequel, also here as space adventurer Rex Dangervest, an obvious spoof of Pratt's most popular blockbuster roles, specifically Star-Lord and Owen Grady. And beyond that surface value gimmick, there is a lot of mileage to this character. He steals the show in every scene he's in, with Pratt giving it his cocky and charismatic all. Every scene with this character is a riot, playing off of Emmet's childish nature superbly, and some of most inspired gags of the film (including one hilariously convoluted backstory) come as a result of him, as you can just see Pratt gnawing on the scenery all around him.
Other characters aren't always as well-showcased, especially given the amount of characters they have to bring back from the original film. Lucy gets given the lion's share of individual screentime, continuing to dwell in her goth-phase brooding, and earning some genuine emotional resonance. But the other master builders who stole the show in the prior film tend to become decorative. While Unikitty's early appearance in the film's opening action scene is great, Metalbeard and Benny don't get the room to stand out beyond the occasional chuckle. This is even more pronounced for Batman, understandable given his recent spin-off movie (which receives only the briefest of references), and he does still share in one of the comedic highlights, but the film doesn't make great use of his potential beyond being a central plot device. This is to say nothing of new characters and countless cameos (look out for one in an air vent), and after a while, it feels like the sequel's attempts to toss in everything including the kitchen sink does drag the movie a bit.
But still keeping true to the original film is the consistent stream of humor throughout. While maybe not a patch on the original film's humor (I was waiting for that next "SPACESHIP!!!"), it still packs a ton of laughs into its tightly wound 100 minutes, flourishing with cute visual gags and in-jokes, and clever wordplay and meta-sensibilities (even if it leans on the latter a bit too much at times). One of my favorite recurring gags had to be the crew of Rex's spaceship, comprised entirely of Jurassic World's raptors, basically serving as anthropomorphic animal sidekicks, complete with screeches translated into hysterical subtitles. I was in stitches every time these creatures took center stage. The humor also takes other great forms, with the intentionally jerky and finger-worn animation from Animal Logic becoming a star yet again, best exemplified by Tiffany Haddish's shapeshifting queen, and the outlandish forms she takes.
But beyond that humor, also returning is the big beating heart of the original film. In case you haven't seen that film, I won't ruin its big revelation at the end, but if you have seen it, you know to expect something similar this go around, with a resolution just as heartwarming and affecting as before. Without giving much away, whereas the original film celebrated creative individualism, this seeks to continue that, but with a greater sense of the connection to come from that expression, with those LEGO blocks serving as more than neat showcases of inventive building, but serving as a metaphorical bridge between the people constructing it. It's not that awesome (something that it even cheekily acknowledges), but The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is still a worthy continuation of its predecessor, a thoroughly enjoyable all-ages film wearing its boundless enthusiasm proudly on its sleeve, and an early bright spot for the new year. I AM SO PUMPED UP!
**** / *****
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