Here's what you need know; half a decade has passed since the destruction of Bricksberg, and the invasion from the planet Duplo has turned the Lego world into a hellish, post-apocalyptic wasteland. But while his friends have hardened and adapted to this new world, Emmet's infinite optimism remains uncorrupted, that is until a new threat appears and kidnaps everyone Emmet loves, forcing him to venture out to save his friends and stop this evolved new foe from bringing about the end of everything.
I didn't go to the cinema that much in the month of January, I saw Glass and Vice, two films I didn't review, but that I also wasn't massively keen on. Then in comes February, and everything changed with the releases of two films; Alita: Battle Angel, a film I'm madly in love with, and The Lego Movie 2, a film I was excited for about six months ago, but that kind of fell of my radar in the build up to its release. Two binges later though and I've now watched both films three times each, so with Alita reviewed, (a month ago) let's do the other one.
The Lego movie 2 picks up right where the first film left off, with the Invaders from the planet Duplo destroying Brickberg. The film also continues the meta-narrative of the first film, and while it was a big twist at the end of the first film, this film opens with it, setting up the film's themes and morals early on. But even outside of meta-narrative, this film's story is about as fun as the first, maybe even more so because of Rex, but we'll get to that. While the first film saw Emmet fulfilling a prophecy and taking on a tyrant with a team of master builders, in the sequel, Emmet is a master builder who goes out to rescue his friends and, in a shocking twist, prevent a prophecy instead of fulfilling it. The cool thing is that, unlike the utopian, Orwellian setting of Brickberg, Apocalypsebeg is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum; a Mad-Max inspired wasteland with crazy custom vehicles and unchained anarchy, and a complete absence of any sense of order or government. Luckily for the Lego movie 2, I dig shit like that, Fury Road, which the film clearly homages, was awesome, and said homage was also awesome, though briefer than I'd have personally liked. But like the first film, The Lego Movie 2 doesn't stay in Apocalypseberg for very long before Emmet goes out on his adventure, which is when the film really kicks into high gear. The Worlds of the Sistar system are all necessarily creepy and bizarre, from a jungle planet filled with strange and adorable monsters, to a beauty centre planet where they brainwash people with pop music, to a junk planet populated with Duplo monsters, and the film never bogs down by staying too long any one planet, keeping things moving at a Lego Movie standard energetic pace, all accompanied by excellent meta-humour and some devilishly, annoying catchy music numbers.
But while it isn't the bulk of the film's story, it is the meat of it, and the continuing meta-narrative is, to me at least, even sweeter and more relatable then that of the first film. This time, the kid from the first film has to learn how to play with his younger sister, and the film's core message of him learning to open his heart is really cute and positive, and weaved excellently out of themes of growing up, sibling rivalry and a battle of the sexes. Its payoff is adorable and a genuinely heartfelt message for kids, which is something that The Lego Batman Movie did excellently as well in its themes of friendship and family. And all of this is, of course, expressed through Lego, and even after five years, none of that charm has faded, not even a little bit; the film is still amazing to look, with explosive colours, gorgeous cinematography and that beautiful Lego aesthetic, not to mention some pretty sweet engineering. But the meta-narrative is only part of the film, because Emmet's journey in this film goes to some very predictable, but unbelievably cool places, and that's all thanks to Rex Dangervest. Rex is awesome; he's a time-travelling, space exploring cowboy with a star ship crewed by raptors, and he's voiced by Chris Pratt, the joke should be obvious and I pity you if it isn't. He literally crashes onto the scene, head-banging to Kickstart My Heart by Motley Crue, it's the coolest shit ever, and from that point on his entire character becomes a cartoonishly awesome, edgy, hardcore hero. His role in the story wasn't surprising, nor was the twist, but all the same, he is one of the film's most amazing additions, I want his minifigure, because what he represents is something that lives in the hearts of every ten year old boy that wanted to be a cool, hardcore action hero, and as such, it speaks to me. Rex also ties heavily into the film's themes of growing up and opening your heart, but to explain how would spoil the twist, so I'm not going there.
Additions I found less amazing were Mayhem and Watevra, but that's not to say I didn't like them. The twist makes their characters far more compelling, which, in turn, makes them much more fun on a second viewing, but they do a very good job as the evil Queen and her second-in-command/ enforcer. The twist of what's under Mayhem's helmet isn't that surprising, but therein lies another great strength of the film; that being the implication that noble intentions can the ruined by poor communication, as well as the inverse, that evil intentions aren't always clear and that evil people hide themselves in plain side. All of this, for me at least, overshadows the characters in the film; Benny, Unikitty and Metalbeard are still the one-dimensional characters they were in the first, a point that this film capitalises on with hilarious results, but less charming is Batman, who undergoes what is basically his ark from The Lego Batman Movie again, as he reluctantly learns to love and finds a family. Emmet and Lucy get more development, but their arks tie heavily into the meta-narrative, and their arks do work surprisingly well, as they both have to learn to accept themselves for who they really are, with Emmet wanting to be cooler, and with Lucy trying to hide her more girly, less cool past, and like the meta-narrative this is built off of, its payoff is really sweet. Then of course there is The Lego Movie habit of flooding the film with side characters and cameos, many of which returning from the first film, like Superman, Green Lantern, Gandalf and Abraham Lincoln. There are also some really funny new ones like Velma Dinkley, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and Bruce Willis, as well as new faces like the non-threatening, attractive teen vampire, an obvious Twilight joke, and Watevra's little gang of talking food items. Outside of the Lego world, the meta-narrative also expands its characters, though it's a bit of a bummer that Will Ferrel is relegated to cameo, with his role in the story now being filled by Maya Rudolph.
The Lego Movie 2 is a Lego Movie, shocking, I know, and that guarantees at least one thing about it, and that's that it'll be amazing to look at, which it is. There's been practically nothing in the way of improvements in the last five years, but with the style these films have established for themselves, I don't think improvement is necessary or even possible. This film doesn't push any kind of boundaries with its visuals; it's the same charming, clean, shiny, tiny Lego style we've seen four times now, and that might be an issue for some, but I don't see it as such, especially given the visual flare of The Lego Batman Movie in particular, and the Ninjago Movie to an extent, these films are all beautiful to look at, and while this one isn't as beautiful as The Lego Batman Movie, it's still really good looking, and it has some amazing action sequences. The film's first big action sequence is a chase, as Emmet and Lucy are pursued across the wasteland by Mayhem, and it's awesome; it's straight up Mad Max, with Metalbeard leading a pack of custom Lego vehicles. The Film never stops moving though, so as cool as the Mad Max stuff was, it's over as soon as it starts, which is true of a lot of this film's elements, later in the film, there's also a space battle, one that, again, ends sooner than it should have. But that loss is cancelled out by the film's breakneck comedy and meta-humour, because it obviously has a shit ton of meta-humour, it's got a fucking intermission half way through. The film's songs are also really funny, with Gotham City Guys being filled to the brim with Batman jokes and references (obviously) and songs like Super Cool and Catchy Song are infuriatingly catchy, because of course a song called Catchy Song is catchy. On that song, it's possibly the funniest song I've ever heard, because in Lego Movie fashion, it's ridiculously self-aware; willing diving into all the maddening clichés of annoying pop music, and it's use in the film is fucking genius; it's basically what radio stations do to sell songs, play it relentlessly until its stuck in your head, and the film very unceremoniously calls it what it is; brainwashing.
Everything can still be awesome
The Lego Movie 2 is a blast, it's a really enjoyable film, certainly more enjoyable than The Lego Ninjago Movie. It doesn't reinvent or change the formula of its predecessor, nor is it a visual or storytelling improvement on said predecessor, but the thing is, even if it is basically the same film as the first, the first was brilliant, and this one carries its tradition of gorgeous visuals, hysterical comedy and a touching and relatable meta-narrative, plus, it adds Rex, and Rex is the best. The meta-narrative and the arks of its main characters carry on in a very compelling and heart-warming fashion, ending the story the first film set up in a genuinely beautiful way. I had a lot of fun with The Lego Movie 2 and I'd highly recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment