The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (the title seems redundant, isn’t
it?) is the sequel to the surprise animated hit of 2014. It follows the events of the first film –
which, if you can remember, ended with the father (Will Ferrell) deciding to
also allow his daughter Bianca (Brooklyn Prince) to play with his LEGO
collection along with his son Finn (Jadon Sand), resulting to Duplo aliens
invading the LEGO world. Five years
later, due to the aliens’ regular attacks, the LEGO world has transformed into a
Mad Max-like post-apocalyptic wasteland
in which everyone has become hardened and gritty – everyone except for Emmet
Brickowski (Chris Pratt) that is, who remains as jolly and sanguine as ever. When Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will
Arnett), and his other friends are abducted and taken by the aliens to their mysterious,
bizarre homeworld, Emmet must gives pursuit to not only rescue them, but also
prevent an impending cataclysmic event known as “Armamageddon.”
The film succeeds in being a
worthwhile followup to the original. But
as far as its place in the franchise is concerned, it’s just third place
– sandwiched between The Lego Ninjago Movie below, and The Lego Batman Movie
above.
As a sequel, it no longer has the
advantage of surprising through a meta-narrative angle. The audience is already aware that such a
feature is in place. The script does
make an attempt to surprise with a major plot twist that is designed to make you look at the story differently. But in
general, the narrative is predictable (I even managed to guess the final twist about Lucy’s past).
Moreover, I just couldn’t totally
buy into this plot twist. It did mostly
make sense, but it still left me with some uneasiness. This twist is intended to make the other side
sympathetic, and is supposedly enough to retroactively justify – or, at least,
rationalize – certain unsettling deeds or characteristics shown earlier in the
movie. However, it didn’t completely sit
well with me, as it felt to me like an “ends justify the means” thing. Nevertheless, I admit that the narrative outcome
of which still gave me the feels.
I was also a bit disappointed
with the amount and quality of cameos. It
felt like they already used up all of the great cameos available to them in The Lego Movie. The laughs and thrills that I got from seeing
Lego versions of IPs are significantly less this time around. Actually, there were only three that gave me
a pleased tingle: Velma (but I’d rather see a new Lego Scooby-Doo movie), Bruce Willis (but this was spoiled already
by the trailers), and DCEU Aquaman (voiced by Jason Momoa himself! I now want a sequel to the Lego Aquaman movie, wherein the
eponymous character had undergone a makeover, transforming into Momoa’s DCEU
version. I can imagine the jokes regarding his change of
appearance are going to be gold!).
In the end, I enjoyed The Lego Movie 2. It’s a funny, delightful, heartwarming
animated film that will appeal to audiences of all ages.
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