THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART – Review

“Toyland, Toyland…”I know, Christmas was seven weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have some fun at the multiplex with some of our favorite playtime pals. The studios have been raiding the toy chest in search of film franchises for decades, from Raggedy Ann and Andy (originally a cartoon short from the Fleischers) to the cult favorite CLUE in the 1980s (trivia question staple: it had three endings). Now with longtime movie series based on GI JOE and TRANSFORMERS, toys have become as much a source material as comic books and TV shows (which were the initial “springboards” in the 80s for Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and countless others). But could these product-spawned flicks actually be witty and (gasp) satirical, even entertaining to adults? Pixar certainly tested the waters with their first hit feature back in 1995 TOY STORY (which included kid superstars like Mr. Potato Head and Barbie alongside original characters). Jump ahead 20 years and some great comedy talents garnered big laughs from lil’ plastic building blocks. It was a surprise smash, so after two spin-offs, we’re finally getting a true sequel with THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART (just be careful where you step…yeooowch).

Yes, it’s five years later and all seems to be going great for Emmet Brickowski (voice of Chris Pratt) and pals in Bricksburg. But then the destructive Duplo invaders from the Systar (?) System arrive. Despite the efforts of Lucy Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and her ex, Batman (Will Arnett) the town is transformed into the dusty dirty “heck-scape” of Apocalyseburg. Emmitt’s still his cheery ole’ self until another Systar denizen named Captain Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) cruises in to scoop up Lucy, Batman, Unikitty, Benny, and Metalbeard in her spaceship and whisks them away to meet her boss, Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish). Luckily Emmett is able to turn his dream cottage into his own star cruiser and blasts off to infinity and…no, wrong toy. When his star trek proves too deadly, Brick is rescued by a true galactic good guy, Rex Dangervest, the coolest cat in the cosmos (trained raptors fly his ship). The two team up to stop the destruction of the universe (the “our-mom-ageddon” which would banish them to the limbo region of “Stor-age”) which will be triggered by the swiftly approaching marriage of the Queen and Batman. But are the residents of Systar “un-evil”? And will Lucy finally come to terms with her “sparkly” former life? Most puzzling of all, why is the Dark Knight finally ready to “settle down”? Gosh, what’ll happen to Alfred?

The good news is that the intricate colorful designs and character work are still there, despite the changing of directors, from the team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who still contributed this script with a story assist from Matthew Fogel) to Mike (TROLLS) Mitchell. Because of the returning writing duo, there are still a lot of funny throwaway bits of dialogue (especially the subtitling of the raptors) along with some very sly pop culture gags (“Marvel’s not returning our calls”). And Emmett is still a wide-eyed (big dots really) cheerfull oblivious goof. So why does the film feel…off? For one thing, the Lego world seems a lot smaller. The first adventure involved a near-endless gathering of pop icons from Star Wars to the classic Universal monsters (guessing the licensing contracts took up several file cabinets if they’re still a “thing”). But now, aside from a roll call of time-traveling devices, we’re limited to the Warner home team (though that still includes the DC heroes, the Wizard of Oz, and a Tolkien spellcaster). Perhaps this is because the real world intrudes into the main story too too much. Yes, last time we got a Will Ferrell finale, while this time his home pops up throughout and stops the story flow in its tracks. Luckily another SNL vet cameos as Will’s wife, and earns a few decent laughs, but do we need to see toys lost and gathering dust in multiple sequences? The stakes are raised by other planet’s threats, but it’s not as interesting a “hero’s journey” as in the original. Emmett and Lucy from that get plenty of screen time in this sequel, while their buddies Unikitty and Benny have little to do, as does Batman (maybe because of his solo spin-off) who is easily manipulated, though as a result of one of the film’s best musical numbers, “Gotham Guys” (much better than the “Awesome” wannabee “Catchy Song”). The rampaging Duplos who speak like toddlers is amusing, but most of the new characters barely register, aside from the Queen. Haddish brings a lot of energy to her which matches her ever-changing red, orange, and magenta form (within seconds she’s a horse, a flower, and crazy chart). Rex is a lot of fun, but his “big reveal” doesn’t really go anywhere. Though just over 100 minutes, this film feels well over 2 hours as the jumbled third act finally grinds the story to a cluttered messy halt. Though this contains many of the first flick’s winking wit, families may find that THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART just feels “played out”.

3 Out of 5