Everything is slightly less awesome in 'The Lego Movie 2'
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part can't help that The Lego Movie already exists.
So maybe it's not really this film's fault that it can't generate the same surprise and wonder that its predecessor did, or that it had much higher expectations to live up to. There's probably nothing to be done about the fact that the premise feels a little less fresh, the jokes a little more familiar.
All the same, it's hard not to feel a tiny bit disappointed by The Second Part. Don't get me wrong. It's a solid sequel — sweet and funny, with lots of crowdpleasing moments featuring your favorite characters, and another heartwarming real-world message to boot.
It's just no Lego Movie, and perhaps it shouldn't have tried to be.
The Second Part shines brightest when it's introducing entirely new elements into the mix. Where the original stuck with classic Lego bricks, the sequel incorporates the Duplo and Lego Friends lines to build the Systar System, a pastel- and jewel-toned confection of a universe where buildings look like wedding cakes and seemingly everything (and everyone) is dusted with glitter.
Okay, so everything's not quite as awesome as it used to be. But sometimes, pretty good is still good enough.
It's presided over by the shapeshifting Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi who, for all her strenuous insistences that she is "the least evil queen in history," just seems off somehow. Voiced by Tiffany Haddish, whose comic intensity is perfectly suited for the role, she gets a a lot of the best lines and all the best songs. Just wait 'til you see how she tries to win over Lego Batman.
Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi and her forces have spent the past five years invading Bricksburg, with enough success that Bricksburg has now transformed into a Mad Max-ish wasteland called Apocalypseburg. (The Second Part is refreshing in portraying "girly" things as badass, without resorting to Strong Female Character or Femme Fatale stereotypes.) "We grew up," growls Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) in one of her epic brooding sessions. "We built a grittier, cooler, more mature society."
Well, most of the Bricksburgers did. Emmet (Chris Pratt) remains the same old Emmet, a "total Hufflepuff" whose sunny disposition and optimistic worldview are out of place in this uglier new world. Much of The Second Part details his journey to become the man he thinks he's supposed to become, as represented by Rex Dangervest — also voiced by Chris Pratt, and falling more on the Owen from Jurassic World end of his movie-character spectrum.
Most of the rest of The Second Part follows Lucy as she continues fighting the good fight against the Systar System, in a storyline that seems designed to address criticism of Lucy's role in The Lego Movie ("You did all the work, and the hapless male took all the credit!" a character points out) but mostly just has her treading water until Emmet resurfaces and the endgame plot mechanics kick in.
As with The Lego Movie, all this animated action is paralleling a live-action narrative, involving the same family from the first film. And lest you forget, The Second Part keeps flashing back to the "real world." At some point, it begins to distract from the emotions of the animated storyline, rather than enhance them.
Still, The Second Part's heart remains in the right place, and that counts for a lot. The ultimate message is one growing kids (and maybe especially boys) need to hear, even if the path to that message gets a little convoluted. The characters are still pleasant to be around, even if we don't get to explore them as deeply as we did in the last film, and their meta jokes are still funny, even if we've heard a lot of them before.
Okay, so everything's not quite as awesome as it used to be. But sometimes, pretty good is still good enough.
