Movie Review: "The Lego Movie 2" Is Infectious (in the Good Way)

Everything is (almost but not quite) as awesome as it was the first time around.

Chris Pratt is objectively the least of all the Hollywood Chrisses. He can rest easy knowing that he’ll always have the amiable, good-natured Lego Movies for us to love him in (at least until we get a Parks and Recreation reunion).

In The Lego Movie: Part 2, Pratt once again voices Emmet, the puppy-dog enthusiastic everyblock in the Lego playworld of teenager Finn (Jadon Sand). He also plays new character Rex Dangervest, a bro-block with expertise in raptor training, galaxy guarding and shedding baby fat, à la Pratt in real life. He’s not exactly pulling the same kind of double duty as Lupita Nyong’o in Us, but when it comes to putting his two least problematic public-facing personas forward, he does fine.

Since the events of The Lego Movie in 2014—and yes, five years was too long to wait—Emmett’s hometown has been overrun by alien invaders from the Systar System. What that means, in the real world, is that Finn’s sister (Brooklynn Prince from The Florida Project) has been interfering with his Lego, and their constant fighting has left his once-cheerful environment a dystopian hellscape. (Though mostly animated, the film occasionally cuts to live-action to show the kids tinkering with their toys.) Even Emmet comes to understand the gravity of the situation when Systar's General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) swoops in and kidnaps his pals Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), Unkitty (Alison Brie), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman), Benny (Charlie Day) and our precious Batman (Arnett, still the best thing about this series). Emmet teams up with cool friend Rex to rescue them from malleable Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (excellent addition Tiffany Haddish) who says she wants a truce between their worlds, which she reiterates by singing a song explaining how not-evil she is. It is not convincing.

Ah, the songs. Not only does Oscar-nominated Class D jingle "Everything Is Awesome" get another guernsey here (in remixed and reprised forms), songwriters Jon Lajoie, Beck, The Lonely Island and more chip in with additional earworms, including one literally called "Catchy Song". Of course, what are The Lego Movies if not parables about the weaponisation of pop music, and just as "Everything Is Awesome" was actually a cutting bit of satire, the new tunes here play a similarly, sinisterly infectious role. (The best of them all is Queen Watevra’s ode to Batman, "Gotham City Guys", which simply slaps in the traditional sense.)

Original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are credited with the screenplay, with Mike Mitchell (of Trolls and… Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo?) at the helm this time around. Lord and Miller, who made the 21 Jump Street films and then got fired off Solo, only to win an Oscar for producing Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, continue to keep their filmography blemish-free. This new effort may not be as uniquely fresh or subversive as the first, especially given how the initial flick was all about encouraging developmentally-attested babymen to grow up for goodness sake. This sequel takes a backwards step to focus on more family friendly themes like 'let your sister play Lego too' and 'don’t grow up too quickly'! However, if you really look for it, there’s the idea that your alien neighbours aren’t so different when you get to know them, which is warm and fuzzy and appreciated.

Ultimately, you’re here for the adrenaline spike that only these flicks can provide, and as I wrote for The Lego Batman Movie, these are the only pictures I love that also give me a stress headache. It’s colourful and ingeniously animated, with great jokes for young and old (including a brilliant Bruce Willis cameo and an unlikely shout-out to Elliott Smith). Ignoring the rare misstep of The Lego Ninjago Movie, I think it’s time to trust this franchise with a Justice League spin-off, starring Arnett, Channing Tatum as Superman, Jonah Hill as Green Lantern and Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman. Funnily enough, Jason Momoa is the only live-action DC hero who gets to play his animated avatar here, Aquaman, and he seems to be loving every second. Same.

3.5/5

In Australian cinemas now. Rated PG for mild themes and animated violence.