Skip to content
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part 3D is out now, with a 2D version for those without the requisite equipment, and after the original The LEGO Movie 3D was a good film, is the sequel awesome?
Before I answer that, I have to say that I do think we’re unlikely to see another LEGO movie any time soon – and bear in mind the fact that films have to gross 2-3 times their budget in order to clear a profit once you’ve taken promotion into account. 2014’s The LEGO Movie had a $60m budget and took $469m at the box office worldwide, so that was a clear winner.
2017’s The LEGO Batman Movie upped the cost to $80m, and took $312m, so the law of diminishing returns kicked in. The lesser-known element came in The LEGO Ninjago Movie, costing $70m to make and took just $123m worldwide, so you’d expect no more to come out. Given that The LEGO Movie 2 still came, I expect that was already contracted to be made, and compared to ‘Ninjago‘, it was bound to do better. It did, but on a $100m budget, it grossed just over $191m at the box office, so I think these films have come to an end.
But how does it fare? I particularly wanted to find that out while watching it with all its dimensions intact. I’m probably one of the few left still championing 3D, and I’d love to be able to buy a new, larger (65″) TV with both 3D and 4K, but Panasonic made the last ones in 2017, and no-one else has done so since. I figure since the technology exists, why don’t they still just include it in new TVs?! I’ve never found an answer to that.
I live in hope, though, with a 50″ 3D TV for now, and kudos to Warner Bros for continuing with the format while other studios are sadly dropping out.
About the plot, and thanks to Finn’s sister, Bianca, now being allowed to play LEGO with him, this has caused the planet Duplo aliens to come down and bump everyone off, turning the place into Apocalypseburg. General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz) has come to wreak… mayhem, by kidnapping Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett) and a few others, to take them to to Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi (Tiffany Haddish), who’s going to marry Batman, whether or not he wants. However, while everyone is promised a ton of gifts in return, Wyldstyle – who has a whole Mad Max-style get-up going on – believes it’s actually going to lead to the Armamageddon which was dreamt by Emmet (Chris Pratt) last night. Can he rescue them on his own before it’s too late?
Along the way, he teams up with Rex Dangervest (also Chris Pratt), who has a team of velociraptors working for him (no doubt, a nod back to Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and I love that occasionally subtitles state what they’re thinking, such as “I hate Mondays.”
There’s also plenty of influences from other superhero movies plus The Goonies (“Hey, U Guys”) and many more, and there’s quite a sweet story in there about siblings getting on.
It also makes a change to watch a family-orientated film that has no swearing in it. It’s a U-cert which means that it’s Universal for all, but while in my adult life, like Finn and Bianca’s mother, I, too, will be temped to swear like a trooper if I stand on a piece of LEGO, I find it odd that a number of PG and 12-rated films are peppered with the s-word which rhymes with “grit”. I feel like I’m turning into my granddad by saying that, but when Hollywood scriptwriters put them in, they just feel so unnecessary.
There’s a number of songs in this film, but for me, the best one is actually the one during the end credits. I knew 107 minutes was way too long for a conventional movie, but the film proper ends at the 94-minute point, which is when the end credits began, and with a song about how it’s both important AND enjoyable to sit and read them, even to the point of turning up to the film late so that it’s ONLY to watch them.
Contrast this with the utter… (okay, the film has no potty mouths, so I’ll have to follow suit, here) at Vue Cinemas’ Head Office who think nothing of whacking up the lights to nuclear-bright white the moment those credits begin, as you can see in my vlog below.
(click on the image for the full-size 4K picture)
The 3D works better in this film than in most live-action movies these days, since the camera is allowed time to focus on a subject and see the camera spin around, rather than doing endless quick cutting between shots, and the brain just can’t focus on the latter very well. There’s also realistic placing of all objects (people – well, LEGO people, along with which everything they interact), compared to all those “fake 3D” live-action films which remind me of the Paddington Bear cartoons from when I was a kid in the late ’70s/early ’80s, since all those cardboard models were just stuck on at various points in the fore- and background, and everywhere inbetween. Those films look as unrealistic as that, in terms of where everyone appears onscreen.
Some of the best 3D scenes include when Unikitty ges on a recon misssion, followed by a chase scene, and some space flight scenes including a battle in space. Basically, everywhere where the camera is zooming about, but even when it’s not essential, it’s always complementary, unlike the aforementioned live-action situation.
Also, the image is pin-sharp and doesn’t feel too dark – which is often a problem with some 3D films.
There’s also a 2-movie release for this, but it’s ONLY on DVD and not Blu-ray, which seems odd. I didn’t expect two 3D versions in the same box, since the spec states that a 2D version always has to be included with every 3D film (and it’s more convenient to keep the 2D version on a separate disc, as it’s the one they’ll manufacturer the most between 2D and 3D*), but no Blu-ray just seems odd. Hey ho.
(*I’ve only seen Resident Evil: Afterlife and Underworld: Awakening where both the 3D and 2D versions are on the same disc, but these both go back to 2011/2012).
The menu features some rather generic music instead of anything specific to this film, there are an odd 17 chapters, and all the dialogue and subtitles options are listed below.
Stay tuned for the extras coming soon…
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part 3D is out today on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray and DVD, and you can also buy the Soundtrack CD.
|
FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
6 10 8 coming soon |
| OVERALL | coming soon |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 107 minutes
Studio: Warner Bros
Year: 2019
Released: June 3rd 2019
Cat.no: 5000260985
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound (3D version): DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 (English, French), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Dutch, Flemish, Greek, Hebrew, Russian)
Sound (2D version): Dolby Atmos True HD (English), DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1: Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Italian
Subtitles: English SDH, Italian SDH, Castilian Spanish
Format: 2.35:1 (Dolby Vision)
Disc Format: 2*BD50
Director: Mike Mitchell
Producers: Jinko Gotoh, Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Phil Lord
Screenplay: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Story: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Matthew Fogel
Music: Mark Mothersbaugh
Voice cast:
Emmet Brickowski / Rex Dangervest: Chris Pratt
Wyldstyle / Lucy: Elizabeth Banks
Batman: Will Arnett
Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi: Tiffany Haddish
General Mayhem / Sweet Mayhem: Stephanie Beatriz
Unikitty / Ultrakatty: Alison Brie
MetalBeard: Nick Offerman
Benny: Charlie Day
Mom: Maya Rudolph
President Business / Dad: Will Ferrell
Finn: Jadon Sand
Bianca: Brooklynn Prince
Superman: Channing Tatum
Green Lantern: Jonah Hill
Ice Cream Cone: Richard Ayoade
Banarnar: Ben Schwartz
Balthazar: Noel Fielding
Aquaman: Jason Momoa
Wonder Woman: Cobie Smulders
Lex Luthor: Ike Barinholtz
Alfred Pennyworth: Ralph Fiennes
Abraham Lincoln: Will Forte
Himself: Bruce Willis
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.