Built for laughs

Taking some cues from Mad Max: Fury Road—and the Book of Revelations—The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is another healthy dose of family-friendly fun at which both kids and parents should laugh heartily.

One of my favorite movie-going experiences is to hear an adult blast out laughing and then their kid follow suit. Either the kid is, indeed, in on the film’s joke, or he/she just wants to be like Mom or Dad. Either way, it’s a lot of fun and really cute, and this movie produces these kinds of reactions throughout.

Part two picks up five years after the end of the first movie, and our hero Emmet (Chris Pratt) is happily buying coffee in Apocalypseburg, a devastated LEGO-land of sullen tones and broken dreams where master builder Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) has taken to dramatic narration at all times as things in their world have turned from awesome to bleak. The culprits are aliens called Duplos, invading forces that are at once undeniably adorable and unabashedly destructive.

It’s a crazed world where Batman (Will Arnett) gets engaged to Queen Waterva Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish), leader of the Duplo, and Emmett winds up running with a Kurt Russell-type antihero named Rex Dangervest, who is suspiciously like him (and who is also voiced by Pratt).

I won’t reveal all the reasons for the craziness—take the kids and find out for yourself.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller do not return as directors, but they do produce and contribute to the screenplay. Directorial duties go to Mike Mitchell, whose illustrious career has included a slew of animated films (such as Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and Shrek Forever After) as well as a handful of comedies (e.g., Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo). While this is easily Mitchell’s best directorial effort, some of the charm and zest of the original is lost in the transfer of the reins. The movie feels a bit repetitive in places, and some of the action is too fast to be fully taken in.

Flaws aside, it’s still a lot of fun, especially when Arnett’s cranky Batman is at the forefront. There’s also a slightly dark underbelly at play here, and it’s fun to see a kid’s flick that doesn’t totally play it safe. As mentioned before, there’s plenty here for adults to appreciate. There are some great gags involving raptors and a terrific small role for an iconic action hero who spends a lot of time in air ducts.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part has a feeling of finality to it, as if these characters in this story arc are being closed out. But there are other LEGO films already in development—a sequel to LEGO Batman as well as a racing-movie parody called The Billion Brick Race—so even if Emmet and company are done, you can bet LEGO movies will continue stacking up.