The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is currently playing at AMC Assembly Row 12

By Michael LoPilato

Everything is still awesome in this world of talking toy bricks. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is playful, colorful, hilarious, and has a lot of heart to boot. Screenwriters Phil Lord and Christopher Miller continue their animated movie magic, and present a near perfect continuation of their hit, The LEGO Movie, of five years past.

The story follows Finn (Jadon Sand), as the human boy who is controlling, and playing with, the LEGO characters. Since the events of the first movie, he has started to grow up. On top of that, his sister Bianca (Brooklynn Prince) has joined the fray, with her larger LEGO DUPLO blocks. There is friction between Finn and Bianca, and thus, there is mayhem and disaster in the LEGO world.

The adorable and colorful DUPLO blocks are laying waste to everything in sight in Bricksburg. The heroes Emmet (Chris Pratt), Wyldstyle/Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman), and Benny (Charlie Day) don’t know what to do and cannot seem to stop the invaders from destroying their home faster than they can build it back up. This leads to them building Apocalypseburg, a perfect and often hilarious ode to the Mad Max film series.

The whole band is in top form throughout, with consistent one-liners to appease both the children and older audience of the film. This goes especially for Will Arnett’s character of Batman, who continues his hilarity from the first LEGO Movie installment, as well as his stand-alone film The LEGO Batman Movie. He is unwavering in his pop-culture references that will make adults, and batman fans alike, grin from ear to ear.

New characters added to the story, including Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi (Tiffany Haddish), General Mayhem/Sweet Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz), Rex Dangervest (also voiced by Chris Pratt), and a cameo from Maya Rudolph playing the mother, all bring their genuine comedic brilliance to the film. This goes double for Tiffany Haddish, as she has such a talent for making you laugh, and it doesn’t seem to falter when her character is animated. She also has a couple musical numbers that really add to her voice acting presence.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part doesn’t stray from what has worked in the past. I know people are going to feel tired out from the formula that LEGO has with its movies, since it really hasn’t differed in any of its releases. They pelt you with joke after joke, full of pop-culture references for the adults, as well as colorful, and physical humor for the kids. There is catchy pop music (one of which is almost assured to get stuck in your head), and vibrant colors throughout that are mostly entertaining, however, admittedly, it can be exhausting at times.

For me personally, the formula doesn’t get old, if the story is worth watching. Unlike its most recent predecessor, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, this film has the humor, but adds the emotions that are the cornerstone of successful animated movies. It is always interesting, and you genuinely want to know how it is going to end up, both in the LEGO world with Emmet and Wyldstyle, and the real world with Finn and Bianca.

The jokes are consistently funny and self-aware, which lends to the charm that this film brings. The animation is incredible yet again, the colors are full of life and eye-catching, the actors are having fun, and the music is truly catchy. All these elements combined make The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part a movie that will have adults and their little ones smiling on their way out of the theater.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part: 4/5