EVERYTHING IS... pretty mediocre, I suppose. 2014 saw one of the most original, funny, and heartfelt animated films of recent years and this sequel works exactly the way a sequel should: bringing back fan favorites and not being as good as the first. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is an entertaining, family-friendly adventure that does not contain nearly the same amount of creativity or risk-taking of its predecessor. This movie plays a lot of its choices safe, which makes it a lot less satisfying than the first film's abundance of adult humor. Even though this film has a lot of good aspects backing its story and an absolutely loaded voice cast, it does not exactly live up to the hype that many were expecting.
Five years after the events of The Lego Movie, Emmet, Wyldstyle, and the rest of their plastic crew are living in Apocalypseburg, a hardened society that formed after the Duplo invaders attacked. While Emmet attempts to toughen up like Wyldstyle wants for him to, a new, intergalactic threat comes and kidnaps Emmet's friends. To prove himself, he sets out to save them from these new enemies and learns the true meaning of friendship and being yourself along the way (as if audiences weren't already getting that message pounded into their heads from every animated film of the past decade). The writing in this movie is what sets apart this franchise from anything that Disney, Dreamworks, or anyone else could think of making. As hilarious and self-aware as the first film was, I simply did not feel that with this new installment. Many of this film's jokes and characters behaved the exact same way as the first one and did not seem to provide anything new in terms of humor or even story. As amusing as it is for a company like Warner Bros. to make fun of themselves through comic book references or licensing issues or whining about not getting called back by Marvel, I feel like this subgenre of comedy has been exhausted at this point. This is why I feel like The Lego Batman Movie worked so well; it embraced the world that was already built and created something entirely new out of it. The recycling of jokes and over-reliance on Will Arnett's Batman to carry every scene in this addition to the franchise was quite a dull experience. Even though Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's influence is easily seen, I would have really liked to have seen some new writers freshen up these characters and this new story.
There is nothing extraordinarily bad about this film, but rather just disappointing. Despite this sequel's mediocrity, I still enjoyed many things about. The voice cast once again nails their characters and brings so much life to these inanimate pieces of plastic. Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Nick Offerman, Tiffany Haddish, Will Arnett, and Alison Brie are incredibly perfect in their roles and the level of talent that they all bring with their voice acting is incomparable. Especially Chris Pratt, as he practically voices two different versions of himself throughout this film. One of the most hilarious and self-aware parts of this film that I enjoyed was the inclusion of Rex Dangervest and how he was an amalgam of every part that Pratt has previously played (with the sad exclusion of the lovable Andy Dwyer). He and his arc turned out to be one of the most enjoyable parts of this whole narrative. The humor in this film still manages to have its quick and witty timing, which of course gives this world its trademark spunk and the soundtrack is once again catchy pop that will indeed get stuck inside your head. As annoying as the catchy song for this movie may seem, I'm actually impressed with how clever and well-utilized the music has been throughout this franchise.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is a fun film that children will definitely enjoy a whole lot more than any other audience. Thankfully, the whole cast brings their same energy and the story is filled with the same amount of nostalgia and pop culture references. Despite not being as mass-appealing as the first installment, this semi-worthy sequel still manages to provide an exciting watch at the theaters.
My Rating: ★★★
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