Lego movie series

(In French, In Theaters, February 2019) Considering the unexpected, almost miraculous success of 2013’s The Lego Movie, it’s not such a surprise that the inevitable sequel would turn out to be far closer to the average. Unable, almost by design, to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle nature of the first film, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part nonetheless manages to turn out a pretty good family film, poking and prodding at as many narrative tropes as the first one, except without the element of conceptual surprise. Moving forward in time, our kid protagonist has become a Teen Fan of Lego more interested in radical postapocalyptic builds, and his Duplo-loving sister has become more ambitious in girly minidoll creations. This sequel tackles sibling rivalry, clash between styles of Lego play and certainly toys with the idea of an imaginary doppelganger. Once again, the plot is more than complemented by complex fantastic visuals, whether it’s the post-apocalyptic Bricksburg, the expansive Sistar system or another bout of animated/live-action integration. There’s a lot of fun here both for kids and adults (“Now I understand Radiohead”), as well as a message of family reconciliation and collaboration. As a confirmed Lego fan, I can testify that the density of specialized Lego jokes here isn’t as impressive than the first film, even if the result is decent. A handful of bouncy songs helps, as does a Maya Rudolph live-action cameo. Of course, what this Second Part doesn’t have is the novelty effect—in between the two mainline Lego movies, we’ve had a fairly decent Batman film, and a rather average Ninjago one released the same year. That was a bit too much for such a distinctive property, and now we’re faced with an extended drought of Lego movies. Too bad—I rather liked them.

(On Blu-ray, December 2019) A second viewing at home doesn’t do much to make The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part better or worse—it’s pretty much what I remembered, and what it presents itself to be. The jokes are funny, the character evolution is satisfying, the real world interacts just fine while the animated segments and the Lego creations are eye-popping. Nothing wrong here, but nothing new either.

(In theatres, September 2017) In some ways, The Lego Ninjago Movie is the movie we feared when we heard about The Lego Movie or The Lego Batman Movie: nothing more than an advertisement for the toy brand, competently executed but somewhat hollow. The Lego Movie turned out otherwise, by being superlatively funny and by using Lego bricks to poke at some philosophical truths. The Lego Batman Movie also turned otherwise, by deconstructing the Batman character in a surprisingly wholesome fashion. The Lego Ninjago Movie, alas, is far more restrained in its ambitions: It’s a straight-up adventure film featuring high schoolers defending a city against a relentless supervillain that happens to be the father of one of them. The film’s standout sequence is a vertiginous depiction of an attack on Ninjago City—pushing computer animation to the limits of what virtual Lego bricks can do, it’s the kind of action highlight that plays like the best play fantasies of eight-year-old boys everywhere. From a visual perspective, there’s also an interesting blend of Lego models blended with attempts at recreating the real world via CGI, as if a kid was playing in his backyard with brick-built models. Otherwise, The Lego Ninjago Movie is far more ordinary—while it’s charming enough to create smiles and a moderate engagement toward the characters, its emotional arc is very familiar, and it seems to hold back on much of the wild comedy that made such a hit out of its predecessors. As an Adult Fan of Lego, I have to admit that the Lego sets sold by the movie are quite nice—I wouldn’t mind building Ninjago City itself. I’m still glad I saw The Lego Ninjago Movie, I’m still happy it exists, but given that I’d like a long series of excellent Lego movies, I fear that this first misstep may scale back the ambition of future instalments.