The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

The LEGO Movie was a wonderful expression of the power of imagination and reinforced the idea of play and for adults to embrace their inner child once again. Not only did it embrace creativity with its wholesome story, but it also turned out to be one of the funniest animated movies of 2014. After two spin-offs, The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Emmet and Lucy are finally back with The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. It’s not as creative as the first film and has much of the same humor, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s just not as imaginative and is a little too heavy-handed in its message rather than embracing its fun roots.

Master Builders Emmet (Chris Pratt) and Lucy (Elizabeth Banks) might have saved Bricksburg from total destruction at the hands Lord Business, but a new invasion by Duplo aliens has now turned to city into a post-apocalyptic wasteland named Apocalypseburg. These new invaders are attracted to everything cute so all the citizens have become more hardened and gritty, except for Emmet, who still likes to think that everything is awesome. But when the mysterious General Sweet Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) comes and kidnaps all of the city’s heroes, Emmett finds himself left behind, and it’s up to him to save the day...again.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part gets off to a great start with plenty of humor that is very reminiscent of the original. It’s one rapid fire joke after another, and for the most part they all land incredibly well so be prepared for non-stop laughter. It’s funny for both kids and adults alike and will often go meta for that extra laugh. The addition of Duplo blocks adds some character to the building blocks and opens the story up for some different humor, although that’s where things start to break apart.

Right from the start, The LEGO Movie 2 hammers home the idea of playing well with others. The entire film revolves around this message; in the human world a now older Finn struggles to play nicely with his younger sister Bianca. Unlike the first film, there’s nothing subtle about what it’s trying to do. Bianca is the “invader” to Finn’s world, and he’s doing everything he can to “save” the city. It’s all very blatant, and I feel that they put more emphasis on tying everything into the real world than just telling an entertaining story.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is still a good film, but it’s nowhere near as fun or creative as the first part. The humor is funny and the songs are catchy, but the film itself gets too caught up in its own message.