The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Is As Intelligent As You’d Expect

Emmet and Lucy are back in The LEGO Movie 2

LEGO is one of those companies that never gets old. It’s fun for kids and a little awe-inspiring for adults; sometimes painful for both. After all, who didn’t grow up with a set (or dozens) of LEGO pieces tucked away in a little corner of the room?

Needless to say, the movie franchise was set for success when The Lego Movie premiered back in 2014. You target all possible generations, throw in some beloved Hollywood actors as voice talents—et voilà! You hit $469.1 million in the box office. And with this type of money coming in, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part was inevitable.

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The LEGO Movie 2 sees the people of Bricksburg (now pretty much Icksburg) as they come face to face with a new threat: LEGO DUPLO invaders from outer space. These aliens come in, wreck what’s left of the city and demand a leader representative to take back on the pretense of creating harmony between the two worlds.

So General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) takes Batman (Will Arnett), Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Unikitty (Alison Brie) and Benny (Charlie Day) to the ruler of the Systar System, Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) to make harmony happen. Of course, Emmet (Chris Pratt) tries to rescue them—with the help of Rex Dangervest, a rugged traveler who Emmet meets on his way to his friends.

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The pop culture references are ??

Being self-aware is clearly still a trend, with The LEGO Movie 2 characters throwing in punchline after punchline that hurt themselves, each other or the franchises that they’re tied to. To be honest, you won’t pick up on everything, not unless you’re a pop culture whiz whose knowledge spans decades upon decades of material. Nevertheless, you’ll find yourself smiling, shrugging or outright laughing at how the movie makes fun of itself.

Evidently, it doesn’t matter what generation you were born into as anyone can relate at one point or another. I watched the film with my 9-year-old niece and she was thrilled to see Unikitty on screen. On the other hand, there was a hulking middle-aged man chuckling out loud whenever a Batman-of-Batmans-past reference was made. And when the film called out Marvel for its lack of participation, the whole theater was cheering.

Guess you can have it all sometimes.

That monster twist

In The Lego Movie, it is revealed that all the situations were but a simulation of the LEGO play happening in the mind of Finn (Jason Sand). Coming off from this, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part does exactly the same, with little sister Bianca (Brooklyn Prince) as the sole controller of the conflict-inducing Duplo-block characters. It’s a fun addition that reveals sibling rivalry in a refreshing new light, although definitely not the twist anymore.

Instead, this second chapter focuses on character building. When Lucy mentions that Emmet is weak, shy and definitely not a warrior, he looks at himself and tries to change. Lucy’s dark hair washes off into a candy-colored mane and she’s forced to hide a part of herself. Batman, the ever-bachelor, must face the very real possibility of love (again). Then there’s Rex Dangervest, who is a little too eager to teach Emmet his ways and yet unwilling to completely unmask his past.

It’s good versus evil, color versus black, light versus dark—but not exactly in the sense that you’d expect. Or rather, not exactly in the people you’d expect.

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A success not in all aspects, but a success nonetheless

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is not without its fair share of misses. Sometimes it tries it too hard to be funny; other times the pacing is a little off (read: slow). The songs are upbeat and smart, but not as LSS-worthy as they outright claim to be. But what film can’t be corrected in hindsight?

The thing to remember is that when the good gets going in the LEGO world, it definitely comes on hard. So let the first 40 or so minutes lay down the groundwork that needs to be laid—and enjoy the brick ride that follows.

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The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part premieres on February 13, 2019. Not exactly your standard Valentine’s Day Movie, but who needs another romcom on hearts day anyway?

Art Macky Arquilla