The Lego Movie 2 (2019)

Rating: 6/10
Genre: Animation
Related Titles: The Lego Movie, The Lego Ninjago Movie, The Lego Batman Movie
By Leanne Harragan

Bricksburg are up against a new threat when aliens from space start to destroy everything in their path. The battle to defeat them, leads Emmet, Lucy and the rest of Bricksburg to a faraway world.

There are definitely worse animations you could spend your time watching then The Lego Movie 2! For a start there are so many fantastic references thrown in, I honestly couldn't keep track, there's references to films like The Matrix and Back to the Future, there are book and literary references and there are all sorts of Lego character figurines named dropped in - ranging from Gandalf, Scooby Doo, Marie Curie, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a knock-off Mary Poppins, the Justice League, honestly there are SO many references it's impossible to catch them all. I for one seriously appreciated all of these being worked into the film!

The plot is pretty average, a man on a mission to save his friends and the woman he wants to date from inevitable disaster. But it's becomes more than that in the end as it dips between the Lego world and the world of the children making the universe up. The world of Lego is being attacked by 'alien invaders' which turn out to be a kind of knock off Lego building brick intent on destruction. This battle is between a brother and sister who have different sets of building blocks and there are plenty of very clever moments when the real life acting briefly takes over. This includes a gag about stepping on Lego from mother Maya Rudolph! 

I loved the animation of this, obviously being the Lego Movie everything has gotta be made of Lego and that leads to a cool watch. The Lego people move just a stiff as the figurines in life and there's a few jokes about the interchangeability of Lego clothes/shoes/heads that add to the comedy factor of this film. I loved the idea that these Lego people could hear the world around them and the characters refer to the 'bin of store arg'  in fear and worry, this eventually turns out to be the Lego storage box!

 It'd be impossible to write this review without a mention to the insanely star-studded cast that accompany this film. With I'm pretty sure every single character being voiced by someone recognisable. I love Chris Pratt as the voice of super chill Emmet, living his best life and constantly being upbeat, Pratt is a perfect fit. Tiffany Haddish is also a great cast as the sassy Queen Watevra Watanabe. There are also voice performances from famous names like Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum,  Elizabeth Banks and honestly just an endless list of well recognised names and faces! 

While it's not something I'd probably ever watch again, I thoroughly enjoyed it in the moment and appreciated all the effort of working endless references into the film. I also really loved the end credits song which was about sticking around and watching the credits and celebrating all the people who worked on the movie - which is pretty cool and is well designed with all the Lego people. 

Rating: 7/10
By Rebecca Mannick

So I think I saw the Lego Movie 1 not by choice but because two of mates forced me to watch it because they love it so much. Nevertheless I wasn't mad about seeing this second movie and to be honest it wasn't too bad. You see that the same characters reoccur and the storyline is easy enough to follow (probably because its a children's movie) - what I do appreciate from kid's movies is the subtle adult content or references which would go above young kids heads. So yeah Emmett and the team are back but this time they are under threat by these seemingly un-defeatable objects. Therefore the town moves location to somewhere super industrial called Apocalyseburg and most people have lost their spark apart from Emmett of course who is singing 'Everything is AWESOME!!!' by the iconic Tegan and Sara. The leader of the 'enemy'  Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi of the Systar System wants to marry Apocalypseburg’s leader.

The animation is pretty impressive - I can't begin to image the amount of work it takes to produce even one second of a frame. The detail and the precision is outstanding and it can't be faulted. Also the voice acting is actually amazing as well. Of course Chris Pratt fronts up as Emmett who is excellent, theres the distinctive voice of Elizabeth Banks as she reprises as badass Lucy. I could go through the cast and point out how awesome they all were but I won't. But yeah what I'm trying to say is that there was some great casting! It was also accompanied by some physical acting as well with Maya Rudolph and Brooklynn Prince appearing as the family who owns the lego. 

As a whole The Lego Movie 2 was pretty decent. Nothing mind blowing or game changing but a good watch nevertheless. I wouldn't probably watch it again but if a third movie was to be made I think I would go and see it.