On Saturday, January 26, I was lucky enough to catch an early screening of The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part. The movie will actually only hit theaters on February 8, 2019. So, to get to see it (and now review it) almost two weeks in advance is a real treat for me! As many of you have probably guessed, I have been really looking forward to this film, and have had a countdown going in my sidebar here at True North Bricks for months already. In short, the movie did not disappoint.
The LEGO® Movie 2 picks up pretty much where the LEGO® Movie left off. So, you get to see the final scene from the first film, and the arrival of the invaders from Planet Duplo. After a few quick scenes, we are taken a few years into the future where Bricksburg has been destroyed, and all that remains in its place is Apocalypseburg. It doesn’t take long for trouble to arrive again in the form of General Mayhem from the Systar System, who abducts Emmet’s friends, sending Emmet on a quest to save them from Mayhem and Queen Whatevra Wa’Nabi.
The movie features many familiar characters from the previous LEGO® Movie, like Emmet, Lucy, Batman, Benny, Metalbeard, and Unikitty. You also get cameos from Lord Business, Larry the Barista, Superman (still voiced by Channing Tatum), Green Lantern (still voiced by Jonah Hill), Gandalf, and Mrs. Scratchen-Post among many others. I loved that Wonder Woman showed up again, but this time, she was apparently voiced by Gal Gadot. Likewise, Aquaman makes an appearance, and is voiced by Jason Momoa, as does Harley Quinn (voiced by Margot Robbie). Bruce Willis also appears as a Minifigure version of himself (voiced by Bruce Willis, of course).
The movie makes light fun of many things as well. Most notably, the new character of Rex Dangervest (who is also voiced by Chris Pratt) mocks many of Pratt’s major roles over the last few years. He is, after all, a “galaxy-defending, archaeologist, cowboy, raptor trainer”. There is a jab in the film as well about the lack of Marvel characters. No heroes remain in Apocalypseburg since the Justice League mysteriously vanished in the Systar System, and “Marvel is not answering [their] calls”. A couple of my favorites were the joke about fLEGO (fake LEGO) with the “unlicensed Larry Poppins” Minifigure, and the mockery of teenage vampires.
The LEGO Movie 2 strays from the formula of the original a little bit in that there is a lot more of the human backstory added in. This didn’t really bother me as it played out in sync with the LEGO® story arc very well. In essence, you are looking at the story of the relationship between siblings. The day-to-day lives of the kids mirror events that occur in their clashing, imaginary LEGO® worlds. It was put together in a fairly clever way that resembles the thought processes and development of young minds.
Of course, a sequel to The LEGO® Movie would not be complete without an overly pop-y tune that will certainly ring in your head for days to come… Viewers be warned, the chorus of this song is quite literally “This song’s gonna get stuck inside your head”. You also get a remake of “Everything is Awesome”. Amusingly, the end credits rolled to a song about how great the end credits of movies are.
Overall, I had a great time watching The LEGO Movie 2. It is a fun, family film with loads of laughs for parents and kids a like. I will probably have to watch it again just to catch all of the little pop-culture references in it. And, in all honesty, I think it is worth at least another run through just for fun.
Until next time,
-Tom
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