It’s been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild.

When ‘The Lego Movie’ burst into cinemas in 2014, who would have thought it would be such a colourful, innovative delight? 5 years later and the obligatory sequel has arrived, albeit in the interim ‘spin offs’ have been released focusing on the ‘Batman’ character (excellent) and ‘Ninjago‘ (less good). This film is pretty much what I expected it to be – it’s fun and mostly follows a similar pattern to the first film, albeit it lacks some of the spark and magic that made that first entry so enjoyable.

‘The Second Part’ begins by showing that a lot has changed in the years since the last film. Everything is no longer awesome and our characters now inhabit a Lego wasteland called Apocalypseburg instead of the bright, flashy world of Bricksburg; this situation a result of frequent attacks from a rival Lego force known as the Systar system (no prizes for guessing how the real world dovetails with the Lego world in this film!). There’s some sharp imagery and referential comedy thrown in here, from a destroyed Statue of Liberty recalling ‘Planet of the Apes’ to the Gandalf character mimicking his famous ‘Lord of the Rings’ demise in particular. When one attack leads to the capture of several key characters, Emmet must venture into the Systar system and attempt to rescue his friends and prevent the threat of Our-mum-ageddon (again, no prizes for guessing what this references!). The real world elements that were such a smart and surprisingly effective addition to the first film don’t work as well here, perhaps because it doesn’t come as a shock, but there is a sweet moment towards the end that almost makes it all worthwhile.

There are more songs than the first film, including one incredibly catchy number that will stick in your head in the way ‘Everything is Awesome’ did from the first film, and the voicework is on point as expected. ‘The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part’ is good fun and I expect children will love it, but for this adult it couldn’t live up to the first film or indeed the ‘Lego Batman’ spinoff.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Mike Mitchell

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Tiffany Haddish, Will Arnett, Stephanie Beatriz, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Jadon Sand, Brooklynn Prince, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Richard Ayoade, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Margot Robbie, Ike Barinholtz, Ralph Fiennes, Bruce Willis, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang and Noel Fielding

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3513498/