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'Lego Movie 2:' An Awesome Review

I'm still absolutely shook about how much I loved this movie, so here's to everything that's awesome in this iconic sequel.

By Delise FantomePublished 5 years ago 9 min read
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I'm going to preface this by admitting that I've only seen maybe ten minutes of the first Lego Movie and 30 minutes of Lego Batman. Still, I was able to pick up on things in the movie enough to really enjoy it so for someone who hasn't seen either of those movies, don't worry, you won't suffer for it if you see the sequel. So, about the Lego Movie 2?

10/10. Excellence. Best movie of 2019 don't (@) me. A majority of that opinion has to do with my mental health and how unintentionally inspiring and uplifting I found the movie, but that's a separate article entirely; I'm just going to talk about the movie itself for people who aren't as screwed up as I am. So let's dive in!

The Plot of the Movie

So this movie gives us a very short explanation of what all goes wrong in Bricksburg. As stated before, I didn't see the first movie's end, but I can guess that the sequel picks up right after whatever they did? Anyway, an alien race comes and basically wrecks everyone's business in Bricksburg despite the best attempts of our favorite little brick heroes. There's an immediate time jump of five years, introducing a harder and grittier post-apocalyptic wasteland named... Apocalypseburg. In this dog-eat-dog town, everyone was tough, broody, and intolerant of anything cute. Everyone, that is, except for...

Emmet. Our cheerful, hapless protagonist.

Despite everyone's admonishments, Emmet remained happy and bright, and ever hopeful that maybe someday the alien forces would just stop bothering them. A view that proved to be his downfall when he inadvertently prompted another alien attack that ended up in all his friends, and Apocalypseburg's strongest defenders, being abducted. Determined to set things right, Emmet sets off by himself and gains a mysterious ally to take on the Sistar System and Queen Whateveriwannabe for the sake of his friends. But, is everything really as it seems, or is something even deeper going on? Whatever it might be, Emmet and friends know they have to fix everything before Ourmomaggedon.

So Let's Gush

(Heads up, here there be SPOILERS.)

So let's just state the obvious: This whole story is an allegory. For growing up, for the death of idealism but the birth of realistic optimism in its place, for keeping heart in a world that wants to turn you sour. The characters themselves even have moments in the movie where they'll admit to something being a metaphor before using a quick brush off for humor.

Emmet is a lovable protagonist with very important qualities that made me happy to see being shown so proudly in a children's movie, maybe molding some young minds in the process. He was a guy who understood other's points of views and often tried to place himself in that same mindset. For example, with Lucy, he vocally praised her abilities to brood and often tried to do it himself, though with minimal success. He greeted every person cheerfully and never took it to heart when someone didn't respond back, and even when others got angry at him he never responded in kind but just sought to discuss the issue with the person. He believed in himself because it was the only thing he could do, and tried his best.

The whole plot twist with Rex Dangervest was hilarious and something that maybe I should have seen coming since the movie really worked to convey that Emmet admired Rex and noticed that he was everything he wanted to be: cool, adventurous, tough, and grown up. Hell, the two characters even had the same voice actor! Why didn't I realize that had some significance to it? AND THE RAPTORS, GOD.

The many times the writers took the chance to slide in some hilarious pop culture references that seemed specifically for the adults who would watch the movie were a joy. I nearly screeched when I saw Bill and Ted. The way Rex Dangervest introduced himself as a raptor trainer, archaeologist, cowboy, who likes building furniture and has chiseled looks that had previously been hidden under baby fat. If you didn't bawl during this you're unfeeling or a straight up and down liar. Why did they make Chris Pratt a self-insert character like this was all a fanfiction, I can't. Also, I don't think I'll ever be able to get the "Gotham City Guys" song and accompanying choreography out of my head for the rest of my life. The sheer amount of shade Lego threw at Batman was legendary and I'm here for it.

I mean, there's just so many good moments in this movie! I'm not just talking about the jokes, but the actual tender moments that teach you something. When Menace turned out to be this little pixie-cute girl who insisted that she was only acting tough because she thought it would be something Lucy could connect more with, I was ready to cry. Emmet never once giving up on Lucy until the confusion with Ourmomaggedon was upon them really spoke to what a truly loyal friend was worth to a person. And, Rex! Even though Rex was the antagonist of the movie (and Emmet's future counterpart) I honestly felt for him when we found out he became this sort of tough loner when he was abandoned underneath the dryer for years, just watching as his friends seemingly forgot about him. After all that, he only created a time machine to go back and protect himself; to harden younger and naive Emmet so that he would never feel that pain and abandonment. It just speaks to so many moments in my life when I wish I had gone back to help out my younger self to create a better present. I'm sure we all have those moments, once or twice.

The topper on this sundae though was definitely Ourmomaggedon. Since I hadn't seen the first movie, it came as a surprise to me to see the movie occasionally offer flashes of "the real world" which included bumbling dad Will Ferrell and his long-suffering wife, Maya Rudolf. So when the apocalyptic event that all the Lego people feared started to happen, it didn't actually dawn on me what it was until I saw the kids tear apart their creations with their own hands. I got it suddenly; the fear and anguish as the Lego heroes failed and watched everything they knew collapse, and watch in horror as they are placed inside a dark and cold space to never see the light of day for who knows how long.

The parallels between the movie and life hit me like a super-sized paw from Unikitty. Menace said that the whole time, the Sistar System had only been trying to communicate and merge with the other system but they weren't good at communicating that desire properly. It's what lead to the whole mess of creating Apocalypseberg. The Sistar System was the sister. This whole movie had been about the little sister trying to play and connect with her bigger brother, but her intentions weren't being conveyed properly. At first it was just because she was very young (as we saw in a flashback to when the older brother gave her a heart made of Lego, the heart that became Queen Whateveriwannabe), and so didn't really know how else to play Lego than to just smash all the cool buildings as toddlers are known to do. Then five years pass, she's about eight to ten years old, and she's gotten much better at creating and preserving things, but her big brother only knows her to be a wrecking ball over his Lego world. Desperate to get him to play with her, the little sister takes the Legos he made, that being the "kidnapping" Emmet saw, and tried her best to get her brother to play with her. It all exploded though when her brother bashed her castle in a fit of anger and prompted their mother to order the toys be put away.

Ourmomaggedon.

Everything! Everything was just a big metaphor for the gaps between siblings and the way that even those closest to you sometimes can't understand you. Like the siblings, the Sistar System that Emmet sort of created, even Lucy and Emmet themselves.

Which comes to what is probably my favorite remix of a song ever, with the "Everything's Not Awesome" song. It's not the idyllic pop synth of "Everything Is Awesome" but instead an acknowledgment of the existence of great problems that can be tough to surmount, and require more than just determination and action... but thoughtfulness and hope.

Listen. I just. Oh, God, I love this movie.

Now Let's Critique

There were some... confusing things in the movie that I'm really only nitpicking at in the interest of acknowledging that I am aware this isn't the pinnacle of cinema forever and ever.

First of all, that weird little storyline with Lucy's hair. I never really got that. Was it meant to be a bigger plot point, because if not, I just feel like it was unnecessary. I thought at first that when they revealed Lucy's hair, they'd give her some connection to the Sistar System and have everyone realize she was like a renegade from it or something. But literally, the whole point was some kind of tease against Lucy?

"Oh, haha, Lucy had blue hair all along, she must be cutesy and not as tough as we thought."

Was essentially it? Then, having Lucy freak out about her hair and swearing she's still tough was just a little weird when the Lego Movie 2 had gone out of its way to pack in a lot of important lessons about being yourself. It's not like Lucy took a second to say that she was proud of her hair or anything, they just sort of dropped it. And then had some little addition to it at the end of the movie where it was revealed she sang the pop song that Emmet loved and she had previously disdained. I think they used it as a little extra push for Emmet to believe Rex when he said Lucy couldn't be trusted, but I thought that there were a lot of other points that drove it home over Lucy's hair. So to me, it was just a weird little thread that didn't mesh well with the rest of the story.

Last niggling irritant, the Gotham City Guys thing. Yes, it was funny, but also it was a girl using a roundabout method of insulting a guy to get him to go out with her. It's maybe a silly thing to nitpick at, but it just struck a small part of me that in 2018-2019 where we are working really hard to teach boys better habits with girls and not being manipulative or pushy, we should probably also remember that we could teach girls a thing or two about how not to be manipulative or pushy either.

My Score?

10/10, recommend for all ages and everyone who has ever liked at least one Lego movie, will definitely watch again as soon as possible. Take your family, take your friends, maybe get drunk beforehand for extra funniness! But most emphatically, I tell you to try and offer up a couple of hours for the Lego movie on a free Tuesday you have (get those $5 tickets)!

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About the Creator

Delise Fantome

I write about Halloween, music, movies, and more! Boba tea and cheesecake are my fuel. Let's talk about our favorite haunts and movies on Twitter @ThrillandFear

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