|

Lego Movie 2

My wife is a Lego fanatic. Like seriously. She just bought this. That’s 2300 pieces. TWENTY THREE HUNDRED PIECES! Anyway, all that to say that we don’t miss Lego movies. And the fact that we had to watch this one on Saturday instead of Thursday felt like a betrayal of everything that matters in life. But we finally got to it, and now the question becomes — is everything still awesome?

Technically, no, but that’s by design since the movie starts in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. All the old favorites are back – Emmet, Wyldstyle, Unikitty, Metalbeard, Batman, and Benny. They’ve adapted to their new Mad Max lifestyle, and scrape through life on grit and determination. Except for Emmet who is, well, Emmet.

Lego Movie 2 pulls in all the old jokes and charm of the first one, deftly going through emotional beats and jokes. It’s theme is strangely similar to that of Wreck-It Ralph 2; about accepting those you love for who they are and not trying to control or change them. I don’t know if that’s due to zeitgeist or corporate espionage.

The first movie had a twist ending that brought in some live action humans, but this movie relies on it too heavily, in my opinion, seemingly on a quest to remind you what’s going on in the real world more often than you care to know. It just doesn’t matter that Legos are toys in the context of this movie. Other than setting up the framework of why Legoland is being rocked to its core, I think the movie could have done without most of the human parts.

There’s a lot of music. It’s almost a musical, and most of the music is pretty hilarious, though nothing is nearly as catchy as Everything is Awesome, despite the fact that they wrote a song that they unabashedly admit is meant to get stuck in your head (they failed, because I can’t sing any part of that song as I write this). Still, though, the music does add to the movie, helping to move the plot along when it needs it.

Lego Movie 2 is good. Just not amazing. While the first was a refreshing jolt of energy and manic humor, this one leans too heavily on what’s come before and thus feels old hat. But if you like Legos, or want to watch a kids movie that won’t put you to sleep, you can’t go wrong with Lego Movie 2.

Rating: 4 stars
Should you watch it? Maybe
Should you take your kids? Absolutely
What you should watch first: Lego Movie, Lego Batman (optional)

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.