Everything isn't awesome with Lego Movie 2, but it's still pretty good

Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) and Emmet (Chris Pratt) in Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Image courtesy Warner Bros.

What is moderately miraculous about the Lego Movie franchise is its ability to find quality despite being a blatant piece of toy marketing. The first movie, the Batman spin-off, and the new one – The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part – are all entertaining and fun, often cleverly written and with at least a modicum of feels to go with it. Lego Movie 2 retains the franchise's commitment to entertain audiences and shift a little merchandise in the process, although its method of entertaining comes at the expense of some of its heart.

Lego Movie 2 picks up right where the original left off, with the introduction of the toddler-based Duplo toys as they invade Bricksburg. Jump ahead five years and Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) are surviving in a prototypical Mad-Maxian wasteland, trying to stay out of the sights of the odd alien creatures. That is, until the powerful General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) kidnaps Lucy, Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) and Benny (Charlie Day) and take them to meet Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (Tiffany Haddish). Fearing for his friends' safety, as well as a prophecy documenting the end of the world, Emmet races off to save them, getting help from the dashing Rex Dangervest (Pratt again) and his crew of raptors along the way.

And, yes, the raptors – who are a comedic highlight – are a direct reference to Pratt's role in the Jurassic World franchise. This is a small taste of Lego Movie 2's general sense of humor, a machine-gun mentality to target as many jokes as possible and see what hits. The example above is one of the stronger references, as the movie never explicitly links Pratt to Jurassic World; the suggested implication is much, much funnier. Most of the references land thanks to the writing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Lord and Miller, who helmed the first movie, take full advantage of Lego's deep reservoir of franchises to toss in jokes subtle and broad. If a Lego version of Sheryl Swoopes exists, give her a line in the movie. If Bruce Willis has a few minutes to spare, let him have a line or two and see what happens. But the real target of Lego Movie 2 is, well, the Lego Movie franchise. The film goes out of its way to mock itself, making fun of everything from character motivations to Everything is Awesome!!! Even the numerous musical numbers exist less to advance the plot and more to outline how an infectious tune is far more notable than a good lyric. The existence of the movie is a joke to Lord and Miller, and they stretch that joke about as far as they can without shattering the film completely.

The ability to consistently tell a good joke is Lego Movie 2's strength... and the source of its weakness. There are so many jokes, so many things to make fun of, the film never develops the strong emotional resonance it seeks. The movie's tone is too silly and self-aware to take any of the action or consequences too seriously. So when the film introduces the real-life consequences to the plastic shenanigans, the emotional punch is weaker than intended. Which is pretty odd considering how well Lord and Miller connect the real-world action to the Lego adventure. It's written so well, almost immaculately structured that the emotional payoff comes very close to working despite the tonal discrepancy. But the feels they go for never quite arrive as they did in the first film, undercut by the plethora of meta jokes. It's really, really difficult to be sarcastic and sincere simultaneously, and LEGO Movie 2 isn't the first film to miss the mark.

This isn't to say Lego Movie 2 doesn't have a heart; rather, there is nary a mean bone in this movie's body. Like Steven Universe, the enemies are less evil than misunderstood, making a peaceful resolution to the film's conflict logical and satisfying. The emphasis on fun ensures the movie is never boring; something is always happening, and it's often joyous and exciting. Given its predecessor and the talent driving its creation, Lego Movie 2 isn't quite as great as it could be, but it is pretty gosh darn awesome for a movie about building blocks.

Review: Four out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

 

Rating: PG

Run time: 106 minutes

Genre: Animated

tl;dr

What Worked: Sense of humor, writing.

What Fell Short: It gets a little too meta.

What To Watch As Well: The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie