Everything was awesome."





It's been 5 years since the previous film ended and the aliens from planet Duplo attacked. The Lego world has become an apocalyptic wasteland. A new alien, General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz), arrives and kidnaps Emmet's (Chris Pratt) friends, including Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), and takes them to her planet. Emmet teams up with Rex Dangervest (Chris Pratt), a galaxy-defending archaeologist, cowboy, and raptor trainer, to rescue his friends from the distant world.









What Works:





This sequel takes what worked about the first film and uses it to almost the same level of excellence. The voice cast is fantastic, the humor is great, and the writing is wonderful. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller really know what they're doing and I'm glad to see they didn't just phone it in for this movie.





The character of Rex Dangervest is really a stroke of genius. He is an amalgamation of Chris Pratt's badass characters and he is voiced by Pratt doing a Kurt Russell impression. It's really funny and Rex is a great addition to the series.





If you had told me that The Lego Movie 2 would partially be a parody of Mad Max, I would not have believed you. The gritty setting is fantastic, especially when you have a character like Emmet, who is such a happy-go-lucky, naive optimist, as a juxtaposition.





There is a brainwashing sequence that involves Emmet, Rex, and Lucy trying to escape from a very catchy song. It's a hilariously terrifying sequence and my favorite part of the film.





There is also a cameo from an action-movie star that may be the funniest joke in the film.





Finally, like the original film, The Lego Movie 2 has a larger plot happening in the real world with human characters. It's a very sweet and realistic story and it works really well with what is happening in the Lego universe.









What Sucks:





While The Lego Movie 2 is great, it can't live up to the brilliance that was the original. The humor isn't quite as sharp this time around. Not all of the jokes land. Plus it doesn't have quite the same level of creativity and discovery the first film had.









Verdict:





In all honesty, The Lego Movie 2 is probably about as good a sequel as we could have hoped for. It's a ton of fun, with an amazing cast and crew, awesome new characters, and endless memorable moments. It's not quite as good as the original, but how could any film be that good? Regardless, this movie has absolutely got it going on.



