by Charles Kirkland
The world of Lego continues to expand as Lord and Miller return Lucy and Emmet and company back in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.
Five years after the end of the first movie, the landscape of the worlds has been decimated. The many different lands have been replaced by one single wasteland, Apocalypseburg because the alien Duplo invaders destroy anything that is bright and shiny. While everyone has become grim and dark, an easy transition for Wyldstyle/Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Emmet (Chris Pratt) holds firmly onto his happy-go-lucky, everything-is-awesome world.
When General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) comes from the Systar System and kidnaps Wyldstyle, Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Allison Brie), Benny (Charlie Day) and Metalbeard (Nick Offerman) for Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) matrimonial ceremony, Emmet must find what’s special about him to save them and their world from the coming Ohmompocalypse.
As we found out in the first movie, the Lego world of Emmet and company was the play world of Finn (Jason Sand) as he reacted to the world his father created. At the end of the first movie, Finn’s sister Bianca is given permission to play and the result has been the destruction portrayed. Finn and Bianca’s battle have not only caused the wasteland but have caused the impending Ohmompocalypse because Mom (Maya Rudolph) has threatened to have the children stop playing and put their Legos into storage if they can’t get along.
After five years, comedic genius writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (22 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) return to the place where they left off. Lego 2 picks up immediately where the last movie left off. In more ways than one. The jokes are the same. (The Green Lantern jokes are still there!) The timing is the same. Everything is…familiar, not awesome. You can’t fault them though. The movie works. It’s funny where it needs to be and has great core themes. Yet the movie lacks the originality that made the first movie a classic.
Music is a priority in this film with the song “Everything Is Awesome” making a comeback in a remix. A new song simply called “Catchy Song” by Dillion Francis featuring T-Pain and That Girl Lay Lay tries a little too hard to take the place of the infectious song of
Tongue firmly in cheek, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is very entertaining. It never takes itself too seriously which is great for the children and has enough smart pop culture references to keep the adults interested as well. Rated PG for some rude humor, Lego 2 is a worthy sequel that doesn’t try to elevate itself but stays in the same groove set by the original. It’s not awesome but it is fun for all.
Grade: B-