The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Confirms that Everything is Awesome
Written by: Zane Brumley
Writers Phil Lord and Chris Miller hit it out of the park again with The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. This sequel manages to set itself apart from the previous iteration while poking fun at what made the last movie a success. The self-aware humor in the film makes the plot easy to follow and wacky enough to keep everyone interested. This animated feature finds itself building bridges between boys and girls as well as younger and older siblings. Viewers will find that it has a lot of heart and communicates a solid message about sharing, friendship, and growing up.
RED ALERT! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Taking place 5 years after the first film, The Lego Movie 2 focuses on Emmet (Chris Pratt) as he struggles to adjust to the new post-apocalyptic Lego world. Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) and the other friends from the previous film are whisked away to the Systar System for a mysterious wedding. Emmet is left behind and decides to go after his friends. Much of the plot revolves around Emmet’s need for growth and the desire to subvert “Armamageddon,” a cataclysmic event that Emmet dreams about.
Many of the side characters in the previous film take a backseat while everything seems to equally focus on Emmet and Lucy. The film seems to make serious effort to include girls, more so than the first movie. The female-aimed Lego properties make appearances and the world isn’t completely taking place in Finn’s imagination anymore. Now, Finn’s sister, Bianca, takes charge at certain points.
The shifts between Finn and Bianca’s imagination are jarring, purposefully so, as they demonstrate the different dynamics and levels of maturity between the two characters. This creates the central conflict between Bianca’s wish for the siblings to play together, while Finn thinks he’s too old for her level of play. In the Lego world, this struggle is personified through Emmett’s growing up and through Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi’s (Tiffany Haddish) wedding to Batman.
Through some utterly insane time-travel shenanigans, Emmet meets a hardened future version of himself known as Rex Dangervest. Rex seems to be a collage of Chris Pratt’s most well-known roles such as Star-Lord, Burt Macklin, and Owen Grady. After Emmet realizes what’s going on, he no longer wants to be like Rex, which leads to Rex disappearing, similar to Marty McFly in Back to the Future.
Lucy is revealed to have come from a cheery background when her hair is revealed to be pink and blue, not black. It’s revealed that she had lied to everyone in order to create her angst-filled, brooding persona. She learns to accept her past and even makes friends with General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz), the head of the Systar System Army.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is a fantastic blast of a film. The humor, the heart, and the absolute craziness is just as fun as the previous iteration. It’s been reported that the film isn’t doing so well at the box office, but I wouldn’t think that has to do with the quality of the movie. I would theorize it having to do with the marketing on the film. This film checkmarks a lot of boxes on my list of what makes a great blockbuster: Chris Pratt, self-aware humor, fun action, catchy music. I highly recommend this film to anyone that needs a good laugh and a wacky adventure.
