The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) review

In 1934, Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen renamed his toy company LEGO, a name that was derived from the Danish phrase leg godt, meaning ‘play well’. In 1949, two years after they started producing plastic toys instead of wooden ones, LEGO would begin to develop what would end up becoming the company’s most famous product, interlocking bricks. And thus, over the next few decades, LEGO would quickly become one of the most iconic toy brands of all-time, allowing its customers to create all sorts of unique objects out of these plastic bricks. Over 650 billion LEGO pieces have been produced since 1958, and the company has developed a wide variety of themed sets ranging from original franchises like Bionicle and Ninjago to popular IPs such as Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. Aside from the toys, LEGO has also expanded into other facets of media, including numerous video games and their own chain of theme parks a la Disney and Universal. It’s a different story, however, when it comes to films. Prior to 2014, almost all official LEGO films were direct-to-video releases, with most of them being based around the company’s now-discontinued Bionicle franchise. But then, in 2011, Warner Bros. announced that they would be making the first theatrically-released LEGO film, which would serve as the first project from the studio’s recently revived animated film division, Warner Animation Group. In the years leading up to its release, however, some were rather skeptical about how the film would turn out. Given the franchise’s worldwide success and appeal, many assumed that it would end up being nothing more than a massive cash grab and one big toy commercial. And then Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were announced as its directors.

Ever since they made their directorial debut in 2009, Lord and Miller have very much made a name for themselves as a duo who have managed to make excellent films out of seemingly disastrous concepts. Their exploits have ranged from directing two hilarious comedies based on a previously obscure 80’s television series to producing/writing what many now consider to be the best Spider-Man film of all-time. And sure enough, when The LEGO Movie hit theaters in February 2014, it was a smash hit with critics and audiences. The film grossed over $469 million worldwide and was widely praised for its gorgeous animation, witty dialogue, and emotionally poignant story that genuinely celebrated LEGO’s devoted fandom. Because of its success, several spin-offs were then announced, with two of them being released in 2017. One was a spin-off about the original film’s breakout star, Will Arnett’s hilarious take on Batman, and the other was an adaptation of LEGO’s popular Ninjago line. But now we return to the LEGO world that started it all with The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. This time, however, Lord and Miller aren’t back to direct, though they are still involved as producers and the film’s primary screenwriters. It was originally reported that the film would serve as the directorial debut of Rob Schrab, who had previously directed episodes of the cult classic series Community. Ultimately, though, Schrab was replaced by veteran filmmaker Mike Mitchell, who’s no stranger to animation having previously directed Shrek Forever After and Trolls for DreamWorks. And even after half a decade and three whole LEGO films, that LEGO charm is still on full display.  

At the end of the original LEGO Movie, the citizens of the town of Bricksburg, led by the seemingly ordinary construction worker Emmet Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt), banded together to stop the evil Lord Business (voiced by Will Ferrell) from destroying their world. Unfortunately, the city is then overrun with invaders from the planet Duplo, effectively turning it into a wasteland, Apocalypseburg. And yet, while everyone else in the city has embraced their new apocalyptic lifestyle, Emmet continues to remain upbeat despite his girlfriend Lucy AKA Wyldstyle (voiced by Elizabeth Banks) wishing that he’d mature just like the rest of them. Things only manage to get worse when a new invader arrives in the form of the Duplo army’s leader, General Sweet Mayhem (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz). Sweet Mayhem proceeds to capture Lucy, Batman (voiced by Will Arnett), 1980s astronaut Benny (voiced by Charlie Day), MetalBeard the Pirate (voiced by Nick Offerman), and Princess Unikitty (voiced by Alison Brie) and brings them to her homeworld, the Systar System. There, they meet the galaxy’s ruler, the shape-shifting Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi (voiced by Tiffany Haddish), who seeks to marry one of them (which ends up being Batman) in what Lucy believes is a blatantly evil scheme. Meanwhile, back in Apocalypseburg, Emmet embarks on a journey to the Systar System himself to rescue his friends. Along the way, he ends up meeting the badass Rex Dangervest (also voiced by Chris Pratt), a galaxy-defending archaeologist/cowboy/raptor trainer who agrees to help him out while also showing him what it takes to truly be a hardened warrior.

As is the case with all these recent LEGO films, The LEGO Movie 2 boasts gorgeous animation provided by the Australian animation company Animal Logic. While technically a computer-animated film, the implementation of stop-motion animation aesthetics helps to give the film the same charm that can be found in the numerous LEGO fan films that have been made over the years. Plus, these animators deserve a lot of credit for their impressive attention to detail when creating a world that’s entirely made from LEGOs. This brilliant animation is then matched by the film’s equally terrific screenplay, which perfectly blends its heartfelt narrative with its riotous humor. Thanks to Lord and Miller’s excellent comedic sensibilities, this film arguably surpasses its predecessor when it comes to its sight gags, snappy dialogue, and hilarious cameos. But, of course, just like the first film, there’s also a lot of heart to this story thanks to its wonderful messages and themes. The original LEGO Movie served as a celebration of creative thinking and expanded upon its seemingly traditional ‘hero’s journey’ storyline to show that everyone is special in their own, unique way. The sequel then proceeds to take that even further by highlighting the importance of cooperation and seeing things from a different perspective, which is best exemplified through the expansion of the first film’s biggest plot twist that revealed that everything in the LEGO world was being manipulated by a human kid named Finn (Jadon Sand). Going off the first film’s ending, the sequel brings in Finn’s younger sister Bianca (Brooklynn Prince), which ends up affecting both their world and the LEGO world in interesting ways.

Almost all the major players from the first film’s cast return and are all great once again in their respective roles. It all starts, of course, with Chris Pratt, who continues to make Emmet one of the most endearing main protagonists in recent animation history. Emmet also benefits from having another solid character arc in this one based around the apparent necessity for him to grow up, which he mainly does through his interactions with Rex Dangervest AKA an amalgamation of Star-Lord, Owen Grady, and Faraday from The Magnificent Seven remake. Simply put, it’s a lot of fun to witness Chris Pratt playing these two roles that respectively represent his comedic roots and the charismatic leading man status that he holds today. Elizabeth Banks also gets a lot of great material to work with as well as Lucy/Wyldstyle, with the film continuing to follow the overall arc of cutting through her tough exterior (which, without spoiling anything, leads to a subtle yet very satisfying payoff at the end). And, of course, Will Arnett continues to be hilarious as LEGO Batman, even if he already had his big character arc in The LEGO Batman Movie. After that, there are the usual supporting players; Nick Offerman as MetalBeard, Alison Brie as Unikitty, Charlie Day as Benny (“SPACESHIP!!”), etc. They’re then joined by the big newcomers to this film, Tiffany Haddish as Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi and Stephanie Beatriz as General Sweet Mayhem. Haddish continues to prove why her star’s been on the rise these past few years and the film takes full advantage of her character’s shape-shifting abilities. And while Beatriz doesn’t necessarily get as much to work with as her co-stars, she works off Elizabeth Banks incredibly well in the scenes between Lucy and Mayhem.

So, can we just all agree that the LEGO Movie franchise is one of the best around? Thanks to the continued involvement of Phil Lord and Chris Miller (even when they’re not directing), this series has delivered time and time again with films that boast gorgeous animation, fun characters, and excellent emotional poignancy. As such, I’m genuinely surprised that some are saying that The LEGO Movie 2 isn’t as good as the first film (it’s that damn ‘not as fresh’ argument that long-time readers know I’m not a big fan of). On the contrary, I’d say that it’s just as good as its predecessor. Is it the better of the two? Well, that one’s legitimately up for debate, but I’d argue that this one tops the original when it comes to its humor. Whatever the case may be, though, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is an absolute must-see. Even though it’s been years since I was in the big LEGO craze that defined my childhood (still waiting for that LEGO Bionicle film…), I’m still very much drawn to these films because they continue to do a wonderful job paying tribute to their fandom by matching their creativity with the LEGO brand. After all, one of the main lyrics to the original film’s classic tune ‘Everything is Awesome’ states that ‘everything is better when we stick together’. And sure enough, this film directly addresses the importance of unity while also providing some timely commentary on the dangers of toxic masculinity. In short, it’s yet another carefully constructed masterpiece (pun intended).

Rating: 5/5!

Pacific Rim Uprising (2018) review

Before his 2017 directorial effort The Shape of Water won the Oscar for Best Picture (along with winning him the Oscar for Best Director), Guillermo Del Toro did what he did best and released a visually stunning blockbuster in the summer of 2013 known as Pacific Rim. The film, which was about large robots fighting equally large monsters, served as a love letter to the ‘kaiju’ film genre that is well known for classics like Godzilla and 2006’s The Host. Upon its release, the film did solidly with critics, many of whom acknowledged that the film was an enjoyable popcorn flick despite its rather mindless plot and basic character development. At the box-office, the film grossed over $411 million worldwide, though this was mainly thanks to the international box-office as it barely grossed over $100 million domestically. Still, it proved to be just enough to warrant a sequel in the form of Pacific Rim Uprising. This time around, the film is distributed by Universal instead of Warner Bros. due to its main production company, Legendary Pictures, signing a new distribution deal with the former in 2013. Also, due to his commitment to the previously mentioned Shape of Water, we don’t have Guillermo Del Toro behind the camera on this one (he’s only a producer this time). Instead, we have Steven S. DeKnight, a long-time veteran of TV having created the hit Starz series Spartacus while also kick-starting Marvel Studios’ line of Netflix shows by serving as the show-runner for Season 1 of Daredevil, in his official feature-length directorial debut. This directorial debut of his features several returning players from the first Pacific Rim along with several new characters headlined by Star Wars’ Finn, John Boyega. And overall, this sequel manages to deliver the same great kinetic thrills of its predecessor even if it is still very much one of those ‘shut off your brain’ kind of films.

It has been a decade since humanity managed to repel the threat of giant alien monsters known as kaiju. With the aid of massive, dual-piloted mechs known as ‘Jaegers’, the pilots who controlled them managed to seal off the breach that had emerged deep within the Pacific Ocean which allowed the kaiju to travel to their world and wreak destruction wherever they went as part of their plan to take over the world. Since then, the Jaeger program has continued to evolve in preparation for the kaiju’s potential return. However, the program soon finds itself being threatened by the ongoing development of a new program initiated by the Shao Corporation, led by Liwen Shao (Jing Tian), that plans on using drones designed with both Jaeger and Kaiju technology. And to make matters worse, the kaiju cells embedded within the drones soon start taking over, leading to them causing just as much destruction as the kaiju that came before them. In response to this, ‘Battle of the Breach’ hero Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi) recruits her brother Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), the son of her former commanding officer/adoptive father Stacker Pentecost (who sacrificed himself at the end of the first film), to return to the Jaeger program and train its newest recruits along with his former co-pilot, Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood). In the process, Jake and company soon learn that this recent string of kaiju-related attacks may, in fact, be the work of someone within their own organization.

Now because Del Toro isn’t directing this time, it is understandable if this film doesn’t exactly have the same visual finesse as its predecessor. Still, to his credit, McKnight does manage to maintain a lot of the same visual aesthetics that Del Toro established with the first film while also implementing a few new cues as well, namely by having more action sequences set during the day instead of at night (not that this was a problem with the first film, for the record). And while McKnight’s method of directing action is a bit more Michael Bay-ish compared to how Del Toro handled it (something that many felt the first film wisely avoided in the wake of Bay’s Transformers films), that doesn’t stop the film from having more of the same, great robot/monster action that we’ve come to expect from this franchise. Simply put, the key thing that McKnight does here is that he gives the film a much brighter look compared to the first film. Now again, this is not meant to be a jab at the original Pacific Rim. It’s just that this is the way in which this film ultimately adopts its own identity so that it’s not just a ‘carbon copy’ sequel. In fact, this brighter feel to the film even applies to its overall tone, as it adopts a more light-hearted atmosphere with a lot more humorous dialogue thrown in. However, this doesn’t mean that the film is ‘just a comedy’. Like the first film, it treats its serious moments with the proper respect that they deserve while the humor is used to lighten the mood at just the right times. But let’s face it, folks… you’re not going into this film for the story, no matter how effective it is at being a follow-up to its predecessor. You’re here to see giant robots punch giant monsters repeatedly.

With that in mind, one of the most common criticisms directed towards the original Pacific Rim was that its characters weren’t as well-developed as its action sequences. Despite this, though, the film still managed to work around this thanks to Guillermo Del Toro’s strong visual style. The same general scenario applies to Uprising as well. Obviously, you’re not going to get much depth out of these characters. While the film does introduce some new characters and build them up as ‘the next generation’ of Jaeger pilots, at the end of the day only one of them gets any major focus. And as for fans of the original film, you may not necessarily like some of the ways in which this film further develops its returning characters (and before you ask, no, the film does not explain what happened to Charlie Hunnam’s character, Raleigh Becket). But this is all saved by one key member of the cast; John Boyega in the lead role of Jake Pentecost, the son of the man who boldly claimed that humanity would ‘cancel the apocalypse’. The same great charisma that helped Boyega make Finn such a great new character in the Star Wars universe is on full display here, and even if he’s working with a simple characterization of being the son of a war hero trying to live up to his father’s name, it never hinders him in the slightest. He also has solid camaraderie with Scott Eastwood, who also makes the most out of his simple role as the hard-edged soldier who isn’t on the best of terms with Jake. But the real breakout star of the film is newcomer Cailee Spaeny as Amara, an orphaned girl who joins the Jaeger program thanks to her knowledge of Jaeger technology (i.e. building one herself). Spaeny follows strongly in the footsteps of the first film’s breakout star, Rinko Kikuchi, by getting some of the more interesting bits of character development in the film while arguably managing to outshine some of her more famous co-stars… yes, even John Boyega.

I quite enjoyed the original Pacific Rim. For all its narrative shortcomings, it was quite arguably one of the most visually stunning blockbusters in recent memory. You really can’t go wrong with a sci-fi action extravaganza directed by the one and only Guillermo Del Toro. And while he may not have been behind the camera for its sequel, Steven S. DeKnight manages to serve as a solid replacement for Del Toro in the director’s chair. Pacific Rim Uprising ends up being a much brighter film compared to its predecessor in terms of both visual style and tone. And yet, at the end of the day, the film doesn’t lose sight of the franchise’s greatest aspect; epic, grand-scale action sequences that involve giant robots fighting giant monsters in the middle of a city. As for the writing, once again there’s not much to say about it; it’s another simple plot with your basic collection of characters. However, there’s also John Boyega, who gives it his all and proves that he can carry a franchise all by himself. Did I forget to mention that he produced this film as well? Clearly, he’s quite committed to this franchise. And on that note, hopefully, this film does decently enough financially to warrant another sequel. Granted, given how the first film didn’t do so well here in the states back in 2013, I have the feeling that the sequel probably won’t make that much of a commercial impact either in the domestic market. But, hopefully, the international box-office will end up saving it just like it did with the first film. Because after all, there are just some films out there that don’t need an Oscar-worthy screenplay to be a highly entertaining time at the theater, and Pacific Rim Uprising is very much one of those films.

Rating: 4/5

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) review

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; 2011, while not really the best year when it came to movies, did have both some surprises and some surprise hits. One that fell into the latter group was the comedy ‘Horrible Bosses’, in which Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day starred as a trio of friends who conspired to kill their titular ‘Horrible Bosses’ when they found that they were unsatisfied with their current job statuses. I didn’t see it when it first came out but I did end up getting it on Blu-Ray and I watched it before seeing the sequel. Overall I can’t say that it’s one of my all-time favorite comedies but it did have quite a good amount of laughs, which mostly stemmed from the fact that the three main characters were, to put it bluntly, a bunch of idiots. Korey Coleman from DoubleToasted.com (formerly Spill.com) said it best when he noted that this is pretty much the closest that we might ever get to a modern-day Three Stooges movie and sure enough that’s exactly what the first ‘Horrible Bosses’ was. So now we have ‘Horrible Bosses 2’, with the majority of the main cast from the first movie (save for one, whose identity I won’t spoil for those who haven’t seen the first film) returning albeit now under a different director, with Sean Anders taking over for Seth Gordon. And overall, while I can’t say that ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ is the absolute best comedy of this year, or that it’s even better than the first film, I will say that it does have a decent amount of laughs primarily thanks to the camaraderie of its cast.

After spending most of their careers working for terrible bosses, best friends Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman), Dale Arbus (Charlie Day), and Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudekis) decide to start up their own business so that they can be their own bosses. They come up with an idea for a car wash inspired shower product which they call the ‘Shower Buddy’ and they agree to a manufacturing deal with investor Burt Hanson (Christoph Waltz). However, after the trio take out a business loan in order to produce the 500,000 units that were asked for in the deal, Burt suddenly backs out of their deal as he plans to take all of their inventory and sell it himself. Now facing a huge debt as a result of their loan, the trio look to find a way to save their company. After what they went through in the first movie trying to kill their old bosses, they decide to resort to kidnapping as they plan to kidnap Burt’s son Rex (Chris Pine) and hold him hostage for ransom. But after their first kidnap attempt, they suddenly find that Rex is very eager to help them get revenge on his dad because of the strained relationship they’ve currently been having. Though hesitant at first, they accept his help as they all plan to get back at Burt but as in the last movie, things really don’t end up going as well as they plan.

Now ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ does commit the same mistake that most comedy sequels do; instead of trying something different, it’s mostly just the same general beats from the first movie (what I’m guessing studios like to call what they think is a ‘tried and tested’ formula). There are some very, very minor differences like how in this one the trio is doing a kidnapping instead of murdering their adversaries and how one of their adversaries ends up helping them, but for the most part the film maintains a fairly similar structure to the first film in terms of its plot. Still, despite that, the film still has a fairly decent amount of laughs. I didn’t really think there was any major laugh-out-loud moment like there was in the first film (like when Dale tries to save one of the trio’s bosses when he is affected by a peanut allergy) but overall this sequel still had its fair share of laughs. Like the first film, it is due to the pure stupidity of the main characters of Nick, Kurt, and Dale. I mean when you really get down to it, these three just have no idea what they’re doing. And that’s really what makes these films so funny is how we see them constantly screw up in their plans, from forgetting to do something because they get distracted to revealing something that they didn’t want anyone else to know. As noted earlier, they’re the modern-day ‘Three Stooges’.

Once again, this film primarily succeeds thanks to the great camaraderie between the three leads; Bateman, Day, and Sudekis. They do work off each other incredibly well even if when these three characters are together you know they’re going to do a lot of really, really dumb things and also sometimes they ramble over each other to the point where sometimes you have no idea what they’re saying. Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey also reprise their roles as Dale and Nick’s former bosses Dr. Julia Harris and Dave Harken, respectively, as does Jamie Foxx as Motherf***er Jones and they all have their own memorable moments in their fairly brief bits of screen-time. Of the new cast additions, the biggest standout is easily Chris Pine. Pine showcases some excellent comedic chops (which I do think we saw bits and pieces of from his work in the recent ‘Star Trek’ films) and he also works well off of the three leads just as much as they do with each other. Still, some of the new additions to the cast unfortunately are wasted in this, namely Christoph Waltz and Jonathan Banks (AKA Breaking Bad’s Mike Ehrmantraut), the latter of whom plays the detective working the ‘case’ of Rex’s kidnapping. That’s basically due to the fact that because the film focuses so much on the lead trio and Pine, Waltz and Banks don’t get much to work with here.

Like with many comedy sequels, ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ doesn’t really do much new when compared to the first film. It’s basically the same plot just with a slight few differences. Still, as far as the comedy sequels that do copy the same plot of their predecessors go, this is one of the better ones of that group even if it isn’t self-aware of this fact like ‘22 Jump Street’ was earlier this year. No, it’s not the funniest film of the year and I can’t even say it’s better than the first film. Still, it does manage to get by thanks to the whole scenario of the stupid actions committed by the three lead characters and the excellent camaraderie amongst the three main leads in Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis, and Charlie Day. Ultimately, I feel that whether or not you do like this movie may depend on what you thought of the first film, seeing how this is basically the same general movie. It was a solid hit commercially but I am aware of some criticizing it for some mean-spirited (racist, homophobic, etc.) jokes and yeah there are definitely some jokes of that nature in both of these movies. Despite this, I did like the first ‘Horrible Bosses’ and ultimately I did like ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ even if this film does rehash a lot of bits from the first film. So if you did like the first film, I bet you’ll like this one too.

Rating: 3.5/5