Believe it or not, it has been a whopping five years since Phil Lord and Chris Miller's The LEGO Movie took Hollywood by storm, confirming that the guys who turned an adaptation of 21 Jump Street into an R-rated smash were no fluke. And a lot has happened since that film hit theaters.
In the half-decade between releases, both the LEGO franchise and the career(s) of Lord and Miller continued to push full steam ahead. Warner Bros. released both LEGO Batman and LEGO Ninjago movies in 2017, while the filmmaking duo produced the groundbreaking Into the Spider-Verse and were unceremoniously fired from Solo: A Star Wars Story. In a hilarious twist, their careers may be in better shape now than they were before Kathleen Kennedy made that decision- Lord and Miller will seemingly have carte blanche on projects for the foreseeable future. A couple of upstart directors are Hollywood power players and a disastrous idea birthed a powerhouse franchise- who would have guessed?
But if careers and franchise maneuvers have evolved rapidly, the real world hellscape we find ourselves in is also unavoidable. In The Second Part, Emmet (Chris Pratt), Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), and their friends return to the big screen in a world where everything..... well, just kinda sucks. Director Mike Mitchell picks up literally seconds after the conclusion of the 2014 film, where invaders from the planet Duplo have landed in the center of Bricksburg. Emmet tries to reason with these new visitors, but it's useless- Duplo wreaks havoc on their wonderful city, sending Bricksburg into a Mad Max-esque dystopia.
Years later, everything is grim and serious and horrible (sound familiar?). Batman (Will Arnett) wears armor from Fury Road, Unikitty (Alison Brie) is perpetually angry, and good luck getting many smiles out of MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) or Benny (Charlie Day). The only one to remain tirelessly optimistic is Emmet, who still listens to pop tunes and dreams of buying a house for Lucy. The cheery construction worker's post-apocalyptic comfort will be shaken when an alien craft flown by General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) lands in Bricksburg, taking all of Emmet's friends captive for a wedding to an alien queen (Tiffany Haddish).
From here, things get even stranger. Emmet makes a trip to the Systar System, colliding with Rex Dangervest (also Chris Pratt) and his team of highly trained raptors (Dangervest as a character is modeled on Pratt's career). And the alien queen, named Watevra Wa'Nabi, may or may not be evil. And there's musical numbers. It gets wild.
If you've grown wary of the LEGO franchise's distinctly manic style and unique self-referential impulse, nothing in this sequel will suddenly change your mind. The frantic nature of Lord and Miller's screenplay presents a bit of a challenge this time around, especially since we've seen so much of it before. Like all sequels to great movies, the surprise factor is completely out of the picture, and you're left trying to put something new and invigorating on the table (this same challenge will be in play whenever the first Into the Spider-Verse sequel arrives). We know the basic logistics of the LEGO world, and we're well aware that everyone basically knows they're in a movie. But now what?
The first act, a sharp contrast between an apocalyptic Trumpian nightmare and Emmet's always-look-on-the-bright-side approach, delivers on expectations for the most part. Batman references his own solo movie (which is strange, considering the film ignores many of those events), the Duplo cliff-hanger is resolved, the frenetic action begins- we know the drill. Unfortunately, director Mitchell and Lord and Miller stumble a bit when it comes to putting the actual story in motion, partially because it seems the creative team has less faith in the narrative this time around. The original film was a fairly bold and original reinvention of the archetypal hero's journey tale, but the sequel seems to be an amalgamation of a few different stories, all of which are struggling for dominance during a rocky second act.
After nearly going the way of a sequel like Ralph Breaks the Internet (the theme of a hero's own insecurities nearly taking him down continues here), LEGO Movie 2 gains its footing in a finale that puts many of its strange inconsistencies in crystal clear focus. Lord and Miller are incredibly talented at going from over-the-top comic bliss to unexpected pathos in the blink of an eye, and their empathetic switcheroo in The Second Part is genius. It's a twist that serves both the human element of the story and Emmet's own journey, which is complicated through time travel, alternate dimensions, and a whole lot of ambitious stuff that nobody exactly expects in a LEGO Movie sequel. In a way, I should have seen it coming after the constant surprises of the original. But creating strange emotions out of familiar elements is what Lord and Miller do best- none of us are ever really prepared.
The rocky journey makes The Second Part a significant step down from its predecessor, but did anyone really expect this to come close to that masterpiece? Emmet and Lucy's return to the big screen is still sweet and memorable, delivering the unexpected swirl of heart and humor that made Lord and Miller famous in the first place. Even if the middling box office represents the end of the series, this hotly anticipated sequel sends the LEGO saga out on a high note.
Plus, there's a new scene in the credits by The Lonely Island- and it's actually about the end credits. It's the funniest part of the movie. And that's saying something.
THE FINAL GRADE: B (7.4/10)
Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
In the half-decade between releases, both the LEGO franchise and the career(s) of Lord and Miller continued to push full steam ahead. Warner Bros. released both LEGO Batman and LEGO Ninjago movies in 2017, while the filmmaking duo produced the groundbreaking Into the Spider-Verse and were unceremoniously fired from Solo: A Star Wars Story. In a hilarious twist, their careers may be in better shape now than they were before Kathleen Kennedy made that decision- Lord and Miller will seemingly have carte blanche on projects for the foreseeable future. A couple of upstart directors are Hollywood power players and a disastrous idea birthed a powerhouse franchise- who would have guessed?
But if careers and franchise maneuvers have evolved rapidly, the real world hellscape we find ourselves in is also unavoidable. In The Second Part, Emmet (Chris Pratt), Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), and their friends return to the big screen in a world where everything..... well, just kinda sucks. Director Mike Mitchell picks up literally seconds after the conclusion of the 2014 film, where invaders from the planet Duplo have landed in the center of Bricksburg. Emmet tries to reason with these new visitors, but it's useless- Duplo wreaks havoc on their wonderful city, sending Bricksburg into a Mad Max-esque dystopia.
Years later, everything is grim and serious and horrible (sound familiar?). Batman (Will Arnett) wears armor from Fury Road, Unikitty (Alison Brie) is perpetually angry, and good luck getting many smiles out of MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) or Benny (Charlie Day). The only one to remain tirelessly optimistic is Emmet, who still listens to pop tunes and dreams of buying a house for Lucy. The cheery construction worker's post-apocalyptic comfort will be shaken when an alien craft flown by General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) lands in Bricksburg, taking all of Emmet's friends captive for a wedding to an alien queen (Tiffany Haddish).
From here, things get even stranger. Emmet makes a trip to the Systar System, colliding with Rex Dangervest (also Chris Pratt) and his team of highly trained raptors (Dangervest as a character is modeled on Pratt's career). And the alien queen, named Watevra Wa'Nabi, may or may not be evil. And there's musical numbers. It gets wild.
If you've grown wary of the LEGO franchise's distinctly manic style and unique self-referential impulse, nothing in this sequel will suddenly change your mind. The frantic nature of Lord and Miller's screenplay presents a bit of a challenge this time around, especially since we've seen so much of it before. Like all sequels to great movies, the surprise factor is completely out of the picture, and you're left trying to put something new and invigorating on the table (this same challenge will be in play whenever the first Into the Spider-Verse sequel arrives). We know the basic logistics of the LEGO world, and we're well aware that everyone basically knows they're in a movie. But now what?
The first act, a sharp contrast between an apocalyptic Trumpian nightmare and Emmet's always-look-on-the-bright-side approach, delivers on expectations for the most part. Batman references his own solo movie (which is strange, considering the film ignores many of those events), the Duplo cliff-hanger is resolved, the frenetic action begins- we know the drill. Unfortunately, director Mitchell and Lord and Miller stumble a bit when it comes to putting the actual story in motion, partially because it seems the creative team has less faith in the narrative this time around. The original film was a fairly bold and original reinvention of the archetypal hero's journey tale, but the sequel seems to be an amalgamation of a few different stories, all of which are struggling for dominance during a rocky second act.
After nearly going the way of a sequel like Ralph Breaks the Internet (the theme of a hero's own insecurities nearly taking him down continues here), LEGO Movie 2 gains its footing in a finale that puts many of its strange inconsistencies in crystal clear focus. Lord and Miller are incredibly talented at going from over-the-top comic bliss to unexpected pathos in the blink of an eye, and their empathetic switcheroo in The Second Part is genius. It's a twist that serves both the human element of the story and Emmet's own journey, which is complicated through time travel, alternate dimensions, and a whole lot of ambitious stuff that nobody exactly expects in a LEGO Movie sequel. In a way, I should have seen it coming after the constant surprises of the original. But creating strange emotions out of familiar elements is what Lord and Miller do best- none of us are ever really prepared.
The rocky journey makes The Second Part a significant step down from its predecessor, but did anyone really expect this to come close to that masterpiece? Emmet and Lucy's return to the big screen is still sweet and memorable, delivering the unexpected swirl of heart and humor that made Lord and Miller famous in the first place. Even if the middling box office represents the end of the series, this hotly anticipated sequel sends the LEGO saga out on a high note.
Plus, there's a new scene in the credits by The Lonely Island- and it's actually about the end credits. It's the funniest part of the movie. And that's saying something.
THE FINAL GRADE: B (7.4/10)
Images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
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