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The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part is a 2019 computer-animated adventure musical comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Directed by Mike Mitchell, it is a sequel to The LEGO Movie (2014), and the fourth film in the LEGO Movie franchise following the releases of 2017's The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie. The film stars Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, and Will Ferrell reprising their roles from the previous film, whilst new cast members include Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, and Maya Rudolph (replacing Amanda Farinos). In the film, Emmet Brickowski attempts to rescue his friends from the Systar System, while dealing with a coming cataclysm known as "Armamageddon".
Plans for a sequel began in 2014 and was announced to be in the works on February 3, 2014, a few days before the release of the first film. It was announced a few months later that the film was being directed by Chris McKay while Phil Lord and Christopher Miller remained as producers. The film since underwent many changes, such as rewrites, directors, and release dates.
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part was released in the United States and United Kingdom on February 8, 2019, in 2D, 3D, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, and IMAX 3D formats. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who commended its humor, animation, soundtrack, and voice acting, although some said it was not as "fresh" as the first film. With a worldwide gross of over $192 million worldwide against a budget of $99 million, the film underperformed at the box office compared to the first two films in the series.
Despite The LEGO Movie 2's box-office failure, a sequel titled The LEGO Movie 3: A Powerpuff Adventure, which is a crossover with The LEGO Movie and The Powerpuff Girls, was released on February 9, 2024, with Star vs. the Forces of Evil creator Daron Nefcy directing, and New Line Cinema, Universal Pictures, Cartoon Network Studios, and Perfect World Pictures taking involvement.
Synopsis[]
Five years after saving the world, Emmet Brickowski sets out to rescue his friends from the mysterious Systar System and its enigmatic leader, Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi.
Plot[]
Following the events of the first film, Finn's younger sister Bianca has been invited to play with their father's LEGO collection; in the LEGO universe, this is represented by the arrival of Duplo aliens who threaten destruction. Emmet builds the aliens a heart as a token of friendship, but one eats it and demands more. Lucy and the Master Builders believe this to be an attack and retaliate, and the ensuing battle ravages Bricksburg. Emmet tries to reassure Lucy that "everything can still be awesome."
Five years later, the now-teenaged Finn has rebuilt Bricksburg into a post-apocalyptic wasteland known as "Apocalypseburg", explained in the LEGO universe as the result of repeated Duplo invasions, and the disappearance of various characters who seek to find the Duplo's homeland - including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash and Aquaman. While this new life has hardened most of the citizens, Emmet nonetheless remains as upbeat as he was previously ("Everything is Awesome"), building a dream home for himself and Lucy, who fears the home will invite another attack, and tells Emmet he needs to adapt to their harsh new world. Emmet himself is troubled by a vision of an impending cataclysm dubbed "Armamageddon". A mini-doll named General Sweet Mayhem arrives looking for Apocalypseburg's leader ("5:15"), and captures those who tried to fight against her - Lucy, Batman, Benny, MetalBeard, and Unikitty - and then flies to the "Systar System" ("Welcome to the Systar System"). In the real world, this is mirrored by Bianca taking them to her room, despite Finn's protests. There, Queen Watevera Wa'Nabi, the shape-shifting empress of the Systar System, tempts the group into supporting her by participating in a ceremony that will unite the LEGO and Duplo worlds, and all the Master Builders believe her, except Lucy, who remains skeptical and suspicious of her true intentions ("Not Evil"). Although Batman is initially tricked into agreeing to marry Wa'Nabi, the two eventually fall in love ("Gotham City Guys").
Meanwhile, Emmet tries to convince the Master Builders to help him rescue the captured characters, but they decline, so he converts his house into a spaceship and embarks on a solo trip through "the Stairgate" (out of the basement). However, he also runs into numerous obstacles, whereupon he is saved from an asteroid field by rugged adventurer Rex Dangervest. Emmet begins to toughen up by mimicking Rex, hoping to impress Lucy. Lucy and her friends are taken to a spa, but believing that the others are being brainwashed with music ("Catchy Song"), Lucy escapes to find Emmet. Meanwhile, Rex and Emmet arrive in the Systar System, evading its inhabitants before finding Lucy. Concluding that the wedding is a front for Armamageddon, Emmet devises a rescue plan: Lucy will switch off the music defending the Space Temple where the wedding will take place, and Emmet will destroy the reception cake, encased in the temple, to stop the wedding. However, Mayhem explains to Lucy during a fight that the wedding is a way to unite their two worlds to forestall Armamageddon, as reflected by Bianca's desire to have Finn play with her, but they were just bad at communicating that. At the ceremony, Wa'Nabi reveals her original form, the heart Emmet gave the aliens, and Lucy learns that her friends were not brainwashed, but simply having fun. Realizing that Rex is the true villain, Lucy tries to stop Emmet but he, urged by Rex, berates Lucy for being brainwashed as well, and destroys the temple.
Emmet realizes his mistake but is seized by Rex, and Lucy is knocked into the real world, where Finn angrily destroys Bianca's Lego temple wedding cake, which mirrors Emmet/Rex demolishing the temple. Rex reveals that he is an embittered version of Emmet from the future; abandoned for years in "Undar the Dryar System" (underneath a clothes dryer) after crashing in the asteroid field, he became Rex ("Radical Emmet Xtreme") and to save his past self, constructed a time-traveling spaceship made from Lego sets based on various movies and TV shows that involve time travel. Embittered and having been neglected, Rex has tricked his past self into bringing about Armamageddon (as in "Our mama gets in", as Lucy realises), which he explains is what is happening in the real world right now: Bianca and Finn's mother, having had to step in when they argued for the last five years, is fed up with their bickering and forces them to put away their toys. When Emmet refuses to give up on his friends, Rex throws him under the dryer to ensure Rex's future existence. Everything in the Lego universe begins to crumble and fall into the dark hole of the "Bin of Storajj", as Finn and Bianca dismantle their creations and place them in storage bins as punishment for their arguments, and go their separate ways. Discouraged, everyone laments their situation, but Lucy convinces them not to give up hope ("Everything's Not Awesome"). Ashamed and remorseful for his selfishness, Finn rebuilds the heart for Bianca, thus reviving Wa'Nabi and in turn restoring the Lego universe, allowing the others to escape from the storage bin in various spacecraft to save Emmet from the Dryar System and stop Rex. Emmet and Lucy overpower Rex and destroy his remote time machine, preventing him from escaping to the past. Emmet's self-acceptance causes Rex to fade from existence, and Emmet and Lucy reconcile.
In the real world, Finn and Bianca's mom has a change of heart upon seeing them playing together, and quietly lets them rebuild their Lego creations. The Lego universe is recreated as a mishmash of Apocalypseburg and the Systar System, dubbed "Syspocalypstar". Emmet's dream house is rebuilt, and Lucy gifts him an original album of "Everything Is Awesome", revealing that she co-originated the song, much to Emmet's shock ("Super Cool", "Come Together Now" and "Hello Me & You").
The credits enter the cylinder-like Lego diorama with every character.
Cast[]
- Chris Pratt as:
- Emmet Brickowski, an everyman, construction worker and inexperienced Master Builder from Bricksburg.
- Rex Dangervest, a self-declared "galaxy-defender, archaeologist, cowboy and raptor trainer." The character is a spoof of the action roles played by Pratt, including Star-Lord from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (with a reference to Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation in the actor's exercise from the latter character's body to the former's), Owen Grady from Jurassic World, and Joshua Faraday from the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven, and also a reference to rumors that Pratt would play Indiana Jones. He is later revealed to be Emmet's future self, having assembled a time machine from Lego sets based on Back to the Future, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, Doctor Who, The Terminator and Hot Tub Time Machine.
- Elizabeth Banks as Lucy / Wyldstyle, a Master Builder.
- Will Arnett as Batman, a DC Comics superhero who is a Master Builder.
- Tiffany Haddish as Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, the shape-shifting alien queen of the Systar System that was made by Emmet as a heart. Her name is a pun on the phrase "whatever I want to be", itself a descriptor of her shape-shifting abilities, which are displayed when she changes into multiple forms throughout the movie.
- Stephanie Beatriz as General Sweet Mayhem, an intergalactic mini-doll who is the intergalactic naval commander and law enforcer of the Systar System Armed Forces and works under the orders of Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi.
- Charlie Day as Benny, a Master Builder who is a spaceship-obsessed 1980's spaceman. In this film, he has a metallic arm.
- Alison Brie as Unikitty, a Master Builder who is a unicorn-horned cat. In this film, instead of turning red when angry, she is red right from the beginning. Over the years since the first film, she has developed the ability to become a giant version of herself called "Ultrakitty" when combat is about to occur.
- Nick Offerman as MetalBeard, a Master Builder who is a large bionic pirate with a severed head after he lost his original body in an earlier encounter with Lord Business' forces.
- Jadon Sand as Finn, a young teenager in the real world, whose imagination drives the events happening in the Lego universe.
- Brooklynn Prince as Bianca, Finn's younger sister, who is the reason why the aliens from the planet Duplo attacked Bricksburg.
- Maya Rudolph as Mom, the unnamed mother of Finn and Bianca in the real world. In the Lego universe, she is the harbinger of doom, bringing about "Armamageddon" ("Our mama gets in"), along with Emmet and Rex. She was previously voiced by Amanda Farinos in the first film.
- Will Ferrell as:
- President Business, the former President of the Octan corporation and the Lego World, who served as the main antagonist of the first film.
- The Man Upstairs, Finn & Bianca's father. Outside of re-used footage from the first film, Ferrell does not appear on-screen in this role, performing only an off-screen voiceover.
- Richard Ayoade as "Ice Cream Cone", a talking ice cream cone and citizen of the Systar System. He also doubles as Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi's right-hand character.
- Channing Tatum as Superman, a DC Comics superhero who is one of the Master Builders.
- Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, a DC Comics superhero who is one of the Master Builders.
- Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman, a DC Comics superhero who is an ambassador of the Amazon people as well as a Master Builder.
- Jason Momoa as Aquaman, a DC Comics superhero who is the king of Atlantis and is also a Master Builder. Momoa reprises his role from the DC Extended Universe.
- Margot Rubin as:
- Harley Quinn, a Gotham City criminal and Master Builder. She was previously voiced by Jenny Slate in The Lego Batman Movie.
- Susan, a mini-doll who is one of Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi's servants.
- Mermaid
- Wonder Woman mini-doll, an inhabitant of Harmony Town.
- Panda
- Ike Barinholtz as Lex Luthor, a DC Comics villain, Master Builder and the former arch-enemy of Superman.
- Ralph Fiennes as Alfred Pennyworth, a DC Comics character and Master Builder who is Batman's loyal butler. Fiennes reprises his role from The LEGO Batman Movie.
- Will Forte as Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States and a Master Builder.
- Bruce Willis as himself, a Lego caricature of the actor who appears in several scenes, including a running joke alluding to his character John McClane from Die Hard.
- Ben Schwartz as "Banarnar", a sentient banana peel who is a citizen and the perpetual jester of the Systar System.
- Jimmy O. Yang as "Zebe", a lavender and black zebra who is a citizen and the bus driver of the Systar System.
- Noel Fielding as "Balthazar", a sparkly-faced teenage vampire describing himself as an "attractive and non-threatening teen vampire" who is a citizen and the spa expert/DJ of the Systar System. He also wears women's jeans, and is a nod to Edward Cullen from The Twilight Saga.
- Jorma Taccone as Larry Poppins, a male counterpart of Mary Poppins. Taccone previously voiced William Shakespeare in the first film.
- Gary Payton as Himself, a Lego caricature of the basketball player who Emmet encounters in Apocalypseburg.
- Sheryl Swoopes as Herself, a Lego caricature of the basketball player who Emmet encounters in Apocalypseburg.
- Todd Hansen as:
- Gandalf, a wizard from Middle-earth and a Master Builder. Hansen reprises his role from the first film.
- The Swamp Creature, a gill-man from Lego Monster Fighters and a Master Builder. This creature was also a Master Builder in the previous movie, and was additionally one of many antagonists trapped in the Phantom Zone in The Lego Batman Movie (who is eventually freed by the Joker in an attempt to conquer Gotham City, before his plan fails and gets the villains transported back to this realm).
- Doug Nicholas as Chainsaw Dave / Purgatory Dave, formerly known as Surfer Dave, who is a citizen of Apocalypseburg, formerly known as Bricksburg. Dave was seen in the first film.
- Mike Mitchell as:
- Sherry Scratchen-Post, a cat lady who is a citizen of Apocalypseburg, formerly known as Bricksburg, who was also present in the first film.
- A royal guard that works for Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi.
- "Eight", an octopus who does massages and works at the spa in the Palace of Infinite Reflection.
- A Harmony Town citizen
- An announcer
- An Apocalypseburg warrior.
- Christopher Miller as:
- "Chad", a citizen of the Systar System who is the DJ of the Pop-Up Party Bus under the stage name Tempo.
- A horse
- A talking chocolate bar that resides in the Systar System.
- Plantimals, plant-like creatures in the Systar System that live in the jungles near Harmony Town.
- "Paper Boy", a resident of Harmony Town.
- Emily Nordwind as Cleopatra, an Egyptian queen and Master Builder, who was present in the first film.
- Chris McKay as "Larry", a barista that works in Bricksburg, who was present in the first film.
- Trisha Gum as Velma Dinkley, a character from the Scooby-Doo franchise that Emmet encounters in Apocalypseburg.
- Ralph Halprin as "Dolphin Clock".
Songs[]
- Everything is Awesome (Tween Dream Remix) — performed by Garfunkel and Oates ft. Eban Schletter
- 5:15 — sung by General Sweet Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz)
- Welcome to the Systar System — performed by Yossi Guetta, Esther Guetta, and Fiora Cutler
- Not Evil — sung by Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (Tiffany Haddish)
- Catchy Song — performed by Dillon Francis ft. T-Pain and Alaya High
- Gotham City Guys — sung by Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) and Batman (Will Arnett)
- Everything's Not Awesome — sung by The LEGO Movie Cast
- Super Cool — performed by Beck ft. Robyn and The Lonely Island
- Come Together Now — performed by Matt and Kim
- Hello Me & You — performed by Superorganism
Production[]
Development[]
On February 3, 2014, Jared Stern was hired to write the sequel, along with Michelle Morgan. On March 12, 2014, Deadline reported that animation co-director Chris McKay would direct the sequel with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as producers. On April 10, 2014, it was reported that McKay wanted to have more women in the sequel than men. On July 28, 2014, it was reported that Chris Pratt wants to return to reprise his role as Emmet. It was also reported that Will Arnett might return to reprise his role as Batman, but had not decided yet.
In October 2014, Warner Bros. scheduled The LEGO Batman Movie for 2017, and The LEGO Movie 2 for May 25, 2018. On October 25, 2014, it was reported that Lord and Miller had signed on to write The Lego Movie 2. On October 30, it was announced that Australia-based animation studio Animal Logic was in talks to produce the next three Lego films (though the deal was not finalized at the time) and the New South Wales government would make financial contributions to all the films. On November 12, during an interview with BBC News, Lord and Miller revealed that there would be more female characters featured in the film.
On February 24, 2015, the sequel was titled The LEGO Movie Sequel and Rob Schrab was announced as the film's director, replacing McKay as director as he was scheduled to direct The LEGO Batman Movie instead. By November 2015, Miller announced that the first draft of the script was completed. Subsequent rewrites were provided by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Dominic Russo and Matthew Fogel. By February 2017, Schrab had been replaced by Mike Mitchell, reportedly due to "creative differences". Production started in Canada on October 2, 2017. In an interview with Collider, producer Dan Lin confirmed that Lord & Miller were rewriting the script during production.
The film is dedicated to Charie Miller, Christopher Miller's mother, who died on December 27th 2018, before the film was released.
Writing[]
The LEGO Movie 2's narrative starts after the events of the first film, just as Finn's toddler sister Bianca starts to play with Duplo blocks and tries to take over Bricksburg. In the intervening years, Bianca has taken more of the Lego sets to incorporate into her own creations. The animation team recognized that girls would likely not only use Lego bricks but also incorporate other materials, such as fabrics and paper, creating a challenge for their rendering team. They wanted these elements to appear as if a child was manipulating them through their stop-motion animation process. They explored multiple design styles for each playset that is within Bianca's room, the "Systar System", and developed new animation approaches for some of these styles, including using fewer frames as in inbetweening.
They also incorporated the LEGO Friends line of toys aimed at girls, which include mini-dolls like General Sweet Mayhem. However, unlike traditional LEGO mini-figurines, the LEGO Friends' mini-dolls do not have the same articulation, for example, having no separate leg movement or wrists that rotate. The production team, working with Lego, did not want to create walking and movement patterns that did not match the articulation the real figurines could do, and came up with creative solutions for animating these in the film. This also created a challenge for at least one song and dance number; production brought in a choreographing team to help plan out the dance taking into account for the restrictions of movement for the mini-figures. For Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi, the production team decided to simply assign a pile of random LEGO bricks for her, but required that each of the forms that she could shape-shift into used only those bricks from that pile.
Among a concern between the creative leads was how to represent the LEGO universe. Miller stated that they see each of the LEGO films taking place in the mind of a child, with both The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie occurring within Finn's mind. With The LEGO Movie 2, both Finn and Bianca's imaginations drive events, and the creators opted to leave parts of the film vague if the scene was based on Finn's version, Bianca's version or some combination. However, in some scenes they wanted to be clear it was Finn or Bianca's view influencing the events, and thus provided clues such as the type of dialogue given by the main characters to figure out whose imagination was at work.
Among the mini-figures within the film will be one based on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Lord and Miller had considered figures that would be unexpected within the film, with Ginsburg as one of their ideas. They received Ginsburg's blessing for this appearance, though she did not perform any voice work for this role. Subsequently, the Ginsburg mini-figure will be made as part of the movie's toy line.
Casting[]
On March 23, 2018, it was reported that Tiffany Haddish had been cast in the film to voice a new lead character, while returning actors would be Chris Pratt as Emmet, Elizabeth Banks as Wyldstyle, Will Arnett as Batman, Channing Tatum as Superman, and Jonah Hill as Green Lantern. Stephanie Beatriz and Arturo Castro were announced to be part of the film on June 4, 2018. Castro was replaced by Richard Ayoade in the final film. During San Diego Comic Con 2018, it was announced that Pratt would also voice a new character in addition to Emmett, Rex Dangervest, who is based after Pratt himself, while Margot Robbie would reprise her role as Harley Quinn from the DC Extended Universe, replacing Jenny Slate from The Lego Batman Movie. In November 2018, Maya Rudolph joined the cast. In early January 2019, it was revealed that Jason Momoa would reprise his role as Aquaman from the DC Extended Universe. Gal Gadot was to also reprise her role as Wonder Woman from the DC Extended Universe, replacing Cobie Smulders from the previous film, but Smulders ended up returning shortly before the film's release.
Daniel Radcliffe was originally set to voice a look-like of his iconic Harry Potter character known as Larry Potter, but his scene was ultimately cut. It was revealed by Mike Mitchell that Radcliffe's cameo was deleted due to not wanting to risk anything that would upset the Harry Potter fandom. The character was replaced by Larry Poppins (another look-alike character based on a British media icon).
Music[]
Following the attempt to create an earworm with the first film's "Everything Is Awesome", the producers of the film created a similar song for the sequel, called "Catchy Song", which principally features as its only lyric the repeated phrase "This song's gonna get stuck inside your head". The song was written by Jon Lajoie, produced by Dillon Francis, and sung by T-Pain and That Girl Lay Lay. According to Lajoie, he found that "Everything is Awesome" was "annoyingly catchy", and the only way that they could outdo that was "Dial the 'annoying' up to 11!".
Producer Dan Lin said that due to the success of competing Disney musical films like Frozen and Moana, the sequel was going to include more songs.
Mark Mothersbaugh, who composed the first film's soundtrack, as well as the score for The LEGO Ninjago Movie, returned to compose the score for the sequel.
Release[]
Theatrical release[]
The film was theatrically released in the United States and the United Kingdom on February 8, 2019. The film was released one day earlier in Denmark. This was its third rescheduling; it was first scheduled to be released in the US on May 26, 2017 and then on May 18, 2018. The film was originally titled The LEGO Movie Sequel before it was officially renamed The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part in May 2018.
On January 24, 2019, Warner Bros. announced it would hold one-day previews for the film in 500 theaters in the United States on Saturday, January 26, 2019.
The film was re-released on January 1, 2025, along with The LEGO Movie 3: A Powerpuff Adventure and The Powerpuff Girls Movie 2: Generations as a triple-feature for a three week run. The re-release overperformed and grossed $59.8 million, beating projections. The triple-feature grossed over $1 billion at the box office.
The end credits for the re-release of The LEGO Movie 2 included "Shooting Star" by Owl City, which replaces "Super Cool".
Marketing[]
On June 4, 2018, the first poster was released along with an announcement that the first trailer would be released the following day. The second trailer was released on November 20, 2018, along with the second poster. On Black Friday 2018, Warner Bros. released The Lego Movie on YouTube in its entirety for one day only, with a trailer for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part attached. The third and final trailer was released on December 19, 2018. In the UK, DFS Furniture ran a marketing campaign that tied in with The Lego Movie 2. Other brands that partnered with the film include Chevrolet for promoting the Silverado, Chiquita, McDonald's for Happy Meal toys, and Turkish Airlines.
Video game[]
A video game based on the film, The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame, a direct sequel to The LEGO Movie Videogame, was announced on November 27, 2018 and is scheduled to be released on February 26, 2019, two weeks after the film's release, for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and for the Nintendo Switch a month later on March 26. A Microsoft Windows version is also set to be released.
Short films[]
On August 1, 2018, Turkish Airlines and Warner Bros. released a special safety video featuring characters from the franchise. On December 10, 2018, Warner Bros. released a short film, titled Emmet's Holiday Party, as a Christmas styled promotion for the film. On January 8, 2019, one month before the film's release, Lego released a music video titled "Everything is Awesome" Dance Together Music Video, on its official YouTube Channel. The video uses the titular song. From January 5 to January 26, 2019, the Lego channel made a franchise of short films, Saving Bricksburg, in which characters from the film were shown in short reenactments of The LEGO Movie.
Home Media[]
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part was released on digital and Movies Anywhere on April 16, 2019, and was released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Blu-ray (2D and 3D), Ultra HD Blu-ray, and DVD formats on May 7. It includes the short Emmet's Holiday Party, the filmmakers commentary and a sing-along version, among others.
Reception[]
Box office[]
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part grossed $105.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $86.5 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $192.3 million.
In the United States and Canada, The Lego Movie 2 was released alongside What Men Want, Cold Pursuit and The Prodigy, and was originally projected to gross $50–55 million from 4,303 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $1.5 million from Thursday night previews, and when combined with advance screenings held at 550 theaters on January 26, 2019, made a total preview gross of $2.1 million. After making $8.5 million on its first day, weekend estimates were lowered to $31 million. It went to debut to $34.1 million, finishing first at the box office but marking a 50% decline from the first film. Deadline Hollywood attributed the low opening to franchise fatigue due to the release of two spin-offs prior to The Lego Movie 2, as well as Warner Bros. promoting the film using similar marketing tactics from the first film, leading audiences assuming the sequel derivative and indistinguishable from its predecessor.
Critical response[]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 85% based on 202 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While it isn't quite as much fun as its predecessor, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part fits neatly into an animated all-ages franchise with heart and humor to spare." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale (down from the first film's "A"), while those at PostTrak gave it an average 4 out of 5 stars; social media monitor RelishMix noted online responses to the film were "great".
Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club called the film "lovable", giving it a grade of B and writing "Like Brad Bird's recent Incredibles 2, it follows up a dazzling animated original (all the more dazzling for earning that designation despite being based on a toy line) with some big ideas that don’t cohere with the same streamlined magic as its predecessor." TheWrap's Yolanda Machado commended the screenplay and directing and wrote that the film "expands on the original's premise, adding new worlds and characters to the growing LEGO universe, while also crafting a story that is timely, inventive, hilarious and perfect for all ages."
Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly says that while it was better than most other films it didn't recapture the surprise of the first film, saying "Everything is still awesome. Just a little bit less so." For The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen wrote that the film brought "little that's fresh or funny to the interlocking brick table despite boasting a script penned by originators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller."
Future[]
Sequel[]
A sequel, titled The LEGO Movie 3: A Powerpuff Adventure, was released on February 9, 2024. It is a crossover with The LEGO Movie and the 2016 reboot of The Powerpuff Girls. It is directed by Star vs. the Forces of Evil creator Daron Nefcy. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returned as screenwriters, and writers with Matthew Fogel also returning. Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Roy Lee also returned as executive producers, with Matt Braly, creator of Amphibia and former director and storyboard artist for Gravity Falls, joining them.
Voice actors and actresses from the last four films in the franchise, such as Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Stephanie Beatriz, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Alison Brie, Tiffany Haddish, Day, Nick Offerman, Dave Franco, Zach Woods, Fred Armisen, Justin Theroux, Michael Peña, Kumail Nanjani, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Ben Schwartz, Richard Ayoade, Noel Fielding, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Channing Tatum, and Jonah Hill returned to voice their roles, with Liev Schreiber, Amanda Leighton, Kristen Li, Natalie Palamides, Olivia Olson, Kevin Hart, Seth Rogen, Kate Micucci, Steven Wright, Eric Bauza, H. Michael Croner, Kevin James, Jim Gaffigan, Wang Leehom, Ariel Fournier, Beck Bennett, Dove Cameron, and Tom Holland joining the cast.
The film has some of the crew who worked on The Casagrandes, The Loud House, Breadwinners, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Adventure Time, Unikitty, and The Amazing World of Gumball. It is also a follow-up sequel to The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. It partially takes place concurrently with The Powerpuff Girls Movie 2: Generations, a traditionally animated 2024 musical film, and a series finale to the 2016 reboot.
Follow-up media[]
- A traditionally animated film in the franchise, titled Unikitty! The Movie was released on November 6, 2023. Directed by Kelly Asbury, it stars the voices of Tara Strong, Grey Griffin, Kate Micucci, Roger Craig Smith, Eric Bauza, and H. Michael Croner, with Leslie Jones, Kelly Clarkson, James Corden, Liliana Mumy, Zach Galifianakis, Chloë Grace Moretz, John Malkovich, and Meghan Trainor joining the cast. The songs were written by Nick Keller, with score composed by Christopher Lennertz.
- A five-minute theatrical short film, titled Live Stream: A LEGO Short, was released on theatrical screenings of Unikitty! The Movie and My Little Pony in 2023. In this short, Lucy begins her first live stream. When Emmet showed up, the fans on social media stared to hate him, and wanted only Lucy. The emojis (poop, thumbs-down, devil, skull, etc.) then start attacking Emmet. Superman, Lex Luthor, and Green Lantern try to open a cupcake box that was on Lucy's table. Superman inadvertently eats it. In the end, Emmet stated that a little poop emoji went into his mouth. The short takes place after the events of The LEGO Movie 2, serving as a teaser for The LEGO Movie 3.
Trivia[]
- Phil Lord and Chris Miller are not directing this one like the first one. Instead, they are producing it and writing it.
- Seanne Winslow is not producing the film like the first one.
- It was supposed to come out in May 2017, but The LEGO Batman Movie took its 2017 spot.
- Like The LEGO Movie, the film uses CGI animated bricks to look like a stop-motion film.
- Chris McKay was originally supposed to direct until he left to work on The LEGO Batman Movie.
- Rob Schrab was originally supposed to direct until he left due to "creative differences."
- This film marks the first of a few things:
- Harley Quinn and Alfred Pennyworth's second appearances in a LEGO theatrical film after The LEGO Batman Movie.
- Puppycorn's first appearance in a LEGO theatrical film, as Unikitty's dream during the song "Not Evil" pays as a homage to her TV series.
- The first LEGO theatrical film to have its title appear at both the beginning and the end.
- The first LEGO theatrical film in which the main antagonist dies.
- With 13 minutes of end credits, this has the longest running time of end credits for a non-Disney animated film.
- It also has the second longest running time of end credits for an animated film in general after 2018's Disney sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet.
- Although both Vitruvius and Scribble Cop returned from The LEGO Movie, they only had minor non-speaking cameo roles (Vitruvius screamed after accidentally being knocked aside by Metalbeard at the very beginning of the movie and Scribble Cop growled at Emmet in response to greeting him during the "Everything Is Awesome [Tween Dream Remix]" scene).
- With the running time of 107 minutes long, this is currently the longest LEGO film to date.
- There two reference to The LEGO Ninjago Movie:
- The Hot Noodle Dog from 70656 Garmadon, Garmadon, GARMADON! appears where Ice Cream Mike puts sausages in his ears after the DUPLO Aliens scream.
- After Rex Dangervest explodes, he uses Kai's hair.
- This film marks the last time the 1967 MPAA logo would appear in the end credits for any LEGO or Warner Animation Group film.