Everything's NOT Awesome?

Five years ago, I watched Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) face off against President Business (Will Ferrell) in The LEGO Movie. Since then, LEGO Batman starred in his own solo film and some LEGO ninjas also got a movie. We finally return (kind of) to the world of our friends in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.

Professor Scarlet Leslie-Lewis
Writer, Slytherin

Bricksburg has become the much darker Apocalypseburg. Although all of his friends have embraced the change, Emmet still remains upbeat and believes that everything is awesome. When some invaders from the Systar System come and kidnap all of his friends - Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman), and Benny (Charlie Day) - it is up to Emmet to figure out how to get them back.

Emmet uses his Master Building ability to convert the house he built for himself and Lucy into a spaceship. He makes it through "the Stairgate," but has trouble in an asteroid field. He is rescued by Rex Dangervest, a "galaxy-defender, archaeologist, cowboy and raptor trainer." Emmet admires Rex and begins to copy some of Rex's more reckless personality traits.

Meanwhile, General Sweet Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) presents Emmet's friends to Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (Tiffany Haddish). Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi claims that she is the "least evil queen in history" and is simply looking for a potential suitor. As her friends quickly fall under Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi's spell, Lucy refuses to give in. She thinks the music is brainwashing everyone, such as the appropriately named "Catchy Song." Batman agrees to marry Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, which the queen is pushing to occur before the dreaded Armamageddon.

Like the original, The LEGO Movie 2 still has many great lines. The songs really are catchy and "Catchy Song" isn't even the one that gets stuck in my head! It was fun to see the return of all the characters from the first film, including the other DC Comics superheroes. I also liked that different types of LEGO were included. General Sweet Mayhem, for example, was a mini-doll from LEGO Friends, primarily designed for girls.

This movie conveyed several significant messages. One was the idea of change that Emmet battled with. The heart (literally and figuratively) of the movie was the sibling rivalry between Finn (Jadon Sand) and his younger sister Bianca (Brooklynn Prince). There is quite a bit of misunderstanding that contributed to their rivalry. The classic "You started it" finger-pointing between siblings was present in the film. Their fighting escalates to a point that forces their mom (Maya Rudolph) to step in.

Although the innovation of the original film is lost, The LEGO Movie 2 is definitely worth watching. Some lines are slightly overdone, but the background story will tug at your heartstrings. You may not be singing "Everything is AWESOME!!!" but you'll get another catchy tune stuck in your head, for sure.