The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

I got roped into seeing this with my friend and our kids, and I went in with a bad attitude prepared to hate it. I think I actually liked it more than the kids!! It's really funny, well written for the kids to enjoy but also a lot of adult jokes in there with a great cast. Really recommend.

I was sceptical that a sequel to The LEGO Movie could be pulled off, given that movie's twists and turns in the final act. But Lord & Miller's script pulls it off again. It doesn't have the same surprise, but it retains the heart and love of the product that makes it go beyond a "toy commercial" in to a true heartwarming, entertaining, and most of all, funny movie with a great theme embedded in it. It doesn't quite reach the heights of the predecessor, but it comes so very, very close. It'll be hard not to find something or someone to love in this movie.

Actually the first lego movie and the lego batman movie are quite awesome, with interesting dialogues and original stories. Yet, this lego Movie 2 essentially kills the lego franchise. The screenplay is chaotic. The singing and dancing are merely noisy. The subplots are just irrelevant. The structure is very loose. The plot does not have any sense of credibility. I hoped that it could have become thrilling at some point, but it never did. There is neither anything new nor anything intriguing in the screenplay.

Personally, I didn't go see this movie with very high expectations. Because, whilst the first Lego Movie could work with the fact that the audience wasn't aware of the origins of the movie's story (this origin being a child's imagination), this movie had to work with an audience aware of this origin. The movie accepts this and integrates scene's with real actors in the movie. This, luckily, isn't done to an extend where it would be annoying and distracting from the story being portrayed with Lego bricks. It does, however, try to replace the reveal of the first movie, with another reveal. Sadly, this reveal isn't even close to being on the same level as the reveal of the first movie. It turns out to be a bit cliché, which I felt a bit disappointed about. Once again, the filmmakers have some great references to other franchises. These references make for some great laughs. The jokes in this movie are simple and not too hard to understand, but aren't childish. This makes the movie a fun ride for child, teenager and adult. As a standalone movie, I feel it lacks world- and character-building. The movie throws characters at you, without (re-)explaining their origins to you. I feel like you are expected to have seen the first movie, because of this. This movie overall does a really good job for people looking for a fun ride. It is far from a bad movie, but there were some possibility's for it to be a better one.

I loved the first "LEGO Movie" and really liked "The LEGO Batman Movie." I was skeptical about seeing this one since the trailers looked far inferior to both of those (and would not have paid full price to see it in theaters,) but attended an advance screening. While it's not as good as either of those two films, it's still a really enjoyable sequel for those who like this franchise. The voice cast is excellent, and the film's pop culture references are (surprisingly) for the most part just as fresh and clever as in the first film. The voice cast is great again, especially Chris Pratt as Emmett.

The film picks up right where "The LEGO Movie" left off, as Duplo (larger-size LEGOs intended for very small children) aliens invade Bricksburg. While the film's plot ends up being all over the place by the end, viewers just roll with it and enjoy the ride, since this franchise relishes in its own self-aware and sometimes absurd (in a good way) nature. Despite this, the film always feels properly paced and never drags. The animation is great, although it doesn't feel quite as unique as when the first movie came out. However, given the overexposure of the LEGO brand over the past five years, that is to be expected. Despite these positive elements, the film has a few notable weak spots: a glaring cliché mobilized into an attempt at a plot twist, and less clever writing than in the first movie or in "The LEGO Batman Movie" (although there are still plenty of witty laughs for both kids and adults.) While I don't think anyone who disliked the first film would care for it, this is an entertaining film that exceeded my expectations for it. Recommended to those who like the franchise. 7/10