The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Charlie Day, Nick Offerman
Director: Mike Mitchell
In the 5 years since Duplo invaded Bricksburg, the world transformed into a Mad-Max inspired nightmare, now dubbed Apoclaypseburg. Everything is not awesome, except to Emmitt (Chris Pratt), who is plagued by visions of something called Armomageddon, and wants to rebuild and make everything awesome again with Lucy (Elizabeth Banks). When Apocalypseburg is attacked by General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz), who is looking for the “Greatest Leader," Lucy, Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie), Metalbeard (Nick Offerman), and Benny (Charlie Day) are kidnapped and taken to the Sistar System. There, they meet Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish), a Queen who is so evil she must sing a song about how not evil she is, which no one else figures out except Lucy. Emmitt must now travel alone to save Lucy (and everyone else who was captured), but appears out of his league until he is saved by Rex Dangervest (also Chris Pratt). Together, they head to The Sistar System to save everyone and stop Queen Watevera Wa’Nabi.
Much like The LEGO Movie, this is a cute, fun movie and relies heavily on its references and meta humor. As with many Lord and Miller stories, there is a strong hold on heart and sentimentality. While it doesn’t work quite as well as in the first film, it continued to show it has its heart in the right place.
The voice additions here help as well. Tiffany Haddish brings a much needed energy to the film and even does pretty well with the songs. Ditto to Stephanie Beatriz, who I wish had been involved more, but does get some memorable bits when she kidnaps the crew. This also continues to be my favorite version of Batman, thanks to Will Arnett's self depreciating take on the character.
The animation continues to impress, with a blend of stop-motion and animation being seamless and blending together well. It all fits with the style. The aforementioned references come at you fast and I’m sure I missed some good jokes. This makes the rewatchability of the LEGO films high (with the exception of Ninjago) but I’m starting to grow a little tired of them. It’s hard to argue against the money these films bring in, but part of me wishes they had just left it alone after The LEGO Movie or LEGO Batman.
While not as good as the first, the film is still an enjoyable way to kill two hours at the theater.
B