The Lego Movie 2 movie review

MOVIE TITLE: LEGO Movie 2, The (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Combo Pack) (BD)

RATING: PG (like the first The Lego Movie)

LENGTH: 1 hour 47 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

Fast-moving and quick-witted, this The Lego Movie sequel has plenty of laughs for kids and their parents. Like the original, it includes plenty of references to pop culture, other movies, cartoon characters, famous athletes and celebrities, people in history, musicians, and even Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It has some musical numbers and is well aware that the song Everything Is Awesome!!! from the first movie got stuck in our heads. It’ not as great as the first The Lego Movie, but good enough.

The last ten minutes show deep maturity and teach an important life lesson, similar to the tone of Inside Out (Theatrical). Emmet learns “Everything’s not awesome, but we can make it a little more awesome if we remember we’re not alone in this world. We’re in it together.” To be honest, I was getting a little bored and thought the movie was just silly until the movie slowed down and showed some depth.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

One of the messages is to not be cheerful like Emmit, but instead, to be tough like Rex. Emmit tries to “brood” in order to be cool and accepted. Along those lines, the movie also makes fun of music and sends a message that listening to happy music is also uncool. (Don’t worry though, the lessons taught during the end of the movie correct those ideas. Hopefully, your kids will understand the mistaken ideas.)
Parents will love the message to kids about playing together nicely.
Legos in perilous situations.
No profanity. Some name-calling.

THEMES:

“You are just as special as we are.” – Emmit (Chris Pratt)
“It’s easy to harden your heart, but to open it is the toughest thing you can do.” – Emmit
Growing up.
Loneliness
Changing yourself and other people

THINGS I LIKED:

I love Chris Pratt. I also love that he can laugh at himself. The line that pokes fun at some of the big roles he has played over the years in other movies made me laugh out loud. It refers to the new character named Rex, which is also voiced by Chris Pratt, along with the main character, Emmit from the first movie. The movies are Jurassic World, The Magnificent Seven (2016), and my personal favorite, Guardians Of The Galaxy.
It’s super clever to make baby characters out of the Duplo Lego blocks. The baby voices were super cute. Even Emmet said, “Oh, that’s just adorable.”
I loved the Bruce Willis cameo. “I spend a lot of time in air ducts.” Ha ha Other voice cameos playing themselves are Gary Payton and Sheryl Swoopes.
Jason Momoa voices Aquaman, appropriately, but Wonder Woman is not voiced by Gal Gadot. Instead, it’s Cobie Smulders from How I Met Your Mother: The Complete Series. I loved that show. She also voiced Wonder Woman in the first The Lego Movie. There are actually 3 different versions of Wonder Woman in this movie: Mini-fig, Lego friends, and Duplo.
Other voice talents include Channing Tatum, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Will Forte, and Richard Ayoade.
Stubble dots on his face. Ha ha
Fun fact: Stephanie Beatriz, who voices the character “Sweet Mayhem” actually has a scar on her face from when she tripped on a Lego as a little girl. True story.
Gotham City Guys song mentions every actor who has ever played Batman in a movie.
There are tons of little tie-ins to the first The Lego Movie. For example, at the end of this movie, Will Ferrell (the dad) yells downstairs to his wife, “Honey, where are my pants?” which is Emmet’s favorite TV show in the first The Lego Movie. Ha ha
I thought it was funny to see Maya Rudolph (playing the mom) step on some Legos and compare the pain to that of childbirth. What parent hasn’t stepped on those sharp bricks and threatened to vacuum them all up?

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

There is a comment about Marvel “not returning our calls”, which must have actually happened in real life because there are no Marvel or Star Wars characters in this Lego movie, probably because Disney bought the rights. The doggone legal department ruined the fun.
It definitely helps to have seen the first The Lego Movie
The plot seemed very simple and silly for most of the movie, but there is a twist and impressive depth at the end.

FUNNY LINES:
* “Where’s Batman?” – Superman

“He’s off having a stand-alone adventure.” – Wonder Woman

“My body is worming! I didn’t know I knew how to do this!” – Emmet

INTERESTING LINES:

“I’m going to grow up, but I won’t stop caring about the people in my life. I might see things differently, but that’s not bad. I think it’s inspiring.” – Emmet
“Visualize your success.” – Rex (Chris Pratt)

IF YOU LIKED THIS MOVIE, YOU’LL ALSO LIKE:

The LEGO Batman Movie