matt_zimmer | "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part" Review (Spoilers)

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

I was very happy with that. I am especially grateful that because this wound up the last thing in the franchise ever, that we weren't stuck with a cliffhanger tag, and we got an an actual happy ending instead. Good planning on the producers' part there.

Random thoughts and observations for the final WB Lego movie:

--Maya Rudolph was an inspired casting choice as Mom. And yes stepping on Legos barefoot is comparable to childbirth.

--The revelation that Lucy was one of the original writers and performers of "Everything Is Awesome" was perfect.

--Whoever wrote "Catchy Song" is a cold-blooded SOB. That song is now stuck inside my head.

--The end credits song was clever too.

--It was SO nice to hear Unikitty performed properly by Alison Brie. Tara Strong has been butchering that character on the Unikitty cartoon, and Brie's correct neurotic version was a breath of fresh of air compared to Strong's annoying mugging and over-hyperactivity.

--Bruce Willis playing himself was funny.

--There's a Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lego figure? I want it now.

--Unlike The LEGO Ninjago Movie it's suggested the events of The LEGO Batman Movie are canon with this one, and Batman's solo adventure was performed by the kid in the movie (I forgot his name already).

--Will Ferrell was obviously busy, so I thought it was funny the hoops the live-action parts went through to allow him to not have to appear onscreen. Very meta and self-aware stuff there.

I enjoyed it very much. Was it as good as the first movie? Better? Worse? Does it matter? It really didn't to me. That was fine. ****.

Emmet's Holiday Party: A LEGO Movie Short:

Nice! I especially like Unikitty puking up glitter. ***1/2.

Outtakes And Deleted Scenes:

Most of the scenes here (except for the ones in the climax) are further along in animation than the deleted scenes on the first movie Blu-Ray. I liked Superman's stuff with the crystal, and the video at the end would have been neat. But the climax was entirely reworked and I think for the better. There were several ideas here of how Lucy and Mayhem started to trust each other, and I think the movie itself found the right balance in making it Lucy who saves Mayhem, and her CHOOSING to believe her without proof, which is good character development. The original climax between the two was going to have adventures with them and a live-action hamster and a Roomba. And while those things sound ambitious on paper, I'm glad they were decided against because it would have taken us out of the Lego world a bit TOO much. These were an interesting group of scenes, but I think the movie got it mostly right in deleting them. Fun Fact: The scene of Emmet giving the raptor tummy rubs was one of the funniest scenes from the trailers, but it was cut from the actual movie. It's weird the trailer completed the animation, but it's unfinished here. ***1/2.

"Super Cool":

It's no "Everything Is Awesome" but it'll do. ****.

Promotional Material:

I'm not going to review ALL the promotional material in this review of the Digital movie (I'll get to it whenever I review the Blu-Ray) but I'll review the cartoons. Cartoons Overall: ****.

In 2019 Be Whatever You Wanna Be:

It's weird, but Lucy calls Emmet "Babe" here. That term of endearment is the only thing she's ever said that hint that she and him are actually an item. ****.

Please Silence Your Cell Phones:

I love when kids movies do their own version of this. ***1/2.

LEGO Sets In Action:

Cool! ****1/2.