The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Saying that I was reluctant about The Lego Movie is a bit of an understatement as I thought it'd be a dumb kids flick but I gave it a chance anyway and I loved it. So of course I gave The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part a chance. 

Set immediately after the events of the original film, the story follows Emmet Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt) and his friends as they face a new threat, Lego Duplo invaders from outer space. When Lucy (voiced by Elizabeth Banks) and others are captured by General Sweet Mayhem (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), Emmet attempts to rescue them while also trying to stop the Armamageddon.

The film is off to a really good start as the story is engaging and quite interesting to follow; unfortunately, about 30 minutes in, the plot starts to crumble with massive plot holes, a lot of cheesiness, discontinuity and nonsense, and a twist that could catch by surprise only someone who missed the beginning of the film.

There's something worse than a poor plot, poor characters and, unfortunately, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part has plenty of those. Not only development is nowhere to be found and the majority of the new characters aren't really that good, but the writers even managed to ruin some of the old characters. There are some nice additions though, like the dinosaurs. I loved those. But the rest, especially the whole Lego Duplo thing is so childish.

As for the jokes, they are fine but they are not nearly as good as they were in the first film. The problem is that many are recycled from the original film, others are either lame, childish or out of place, and the majority is pop culture references kids will never get —I mean, how many kids will get the Bruce Willis cameo? It's really hard to believe this was written by the same people who wrote The Lego Movie.

Warner Bros. Pictures

That said, the film is not a complete waste of time as it's overall enjoyable —although I lost my interest in the second part—, the voice cast still manages to do a good job despite the poor script, the animation looks fantastic, and some of the songs are not that bad. Not the "Catchy Song" though, that one is a pain for the ears. There's really nothing catchy about that song. It's just annoying.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)

I grew up playing with LEGO (and I probably still would if I wasn't busy all the time and their stuff wasn't so expensive -- a thing is having your parents paying it, a thing is paying it yourself) and, on my teen years, I occasionally stumbled upon the series Ninjago on TV. I didn't love it but it was okay when there wasn't anything else interesting on TV. I guess I watched The LEGO Ninjago Movie for the same reason, I didn't have anything better to watch and although I had very little expectations, the film managed to disappoint me. 

It's a hard knock life for Lloyd (Dave Franco), the 16-year-old estranged son of Garmadon (Justin Theroux), the evil warlord who keeps trying to take control of Ninjago City and keeps failing because of a secret gang of ninjas. Turns out Lloyd is the leader of those ninjas but this time the battle against his father will be much harder as the ultimate weapon is unleashed.

The plot is like a ninja, so thin you don't even notice it. It has no complexity, which the previous instalments of the LEGO franchise had, no real twists (Lloyd being Garmadon's father is revealed within the first 5 minutes) and it's not engaging. Actually, it's quite boring.

I admit the plot wasn't great in the other movies either, but at least those have great characters. The LEGO Ninjago Movie hasn't got any of those. There's very little characterization, even less development, but most of all, they are not very funny. They are just meh. Also, the villain is pretty stupid. I did, however, like Dave Franco's performance. He really captures the kid's exasperation. 

Warner Bros. Pictures

The characters aren't the only unfunny element in the film, the whole thing is unfunny. That happened because first, many funny gags and jokes were given away in the trailer; second, the humour isn't sharp or wit or clever. It's just bland. I did chuckle a couple of times while watching this, but that's not what you expect when watching a comedy, is it?

The father-and-son relationship does have heart though. It doesn't break any new ground, and it really felt like watching The Empire Strikes Back at some points, but it was nice having it. 

The animation is still very enjoyable. The colours are vibrant, the settings are very beautiful and the characters look good too. The songs are nice too but it's a bit all over the place and they get a little distracting at times. 

Lego Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood (2016)

Genres

Animation, Comedy, Mystery

Director

Rick Morales

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Frank Welker, Matthew Lillard, Kate Micucci, Grey Griffin, Dee Bradley Baker, J.B. Blanc, Christian Lanz, Scott Menville, Cassandra Peterson, James Arnold Taylor

Storyline

While on a VIP tour of the legendary Brickton Studios known for their classic horror movies, Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) and friends find out that the studios is haunted by movie monsters and it's up to them to solve the mystery.

Opinion

After the success of The Lego Movie, it seems like everyone, from superheroes to cartoon characters, is getting their LEGO movie. And since I love Scooby-Doo, I had to check this one out. I haven't seen a Scooby-Doo animated film in years, but I know how they are, and I was expecting Haunted Hollywood to be just like the others, a film able to entertaining small kids only. Luckily, that wasn't the case. 

The film still has the typical and extremely simple Scooby-Doo story. If you are familiar with the Hannah-Barbera cartoon, then you know you can't expect any real mystery from it. It's pretty obvious who the monsters are.. Unless you are a kid, one of the members of the gang or detective Columbo, you'll figure it out pretty soon.

However, it managed to keep me, an adult, engaged and entertained from start to finish. To be honest, I had a pretty good time - and a few laughs - watching this, and I think the reason is the dialogue. It's not sharp or anything, but it's kinda sarcastic and makes fun of Hollywood, directors unable to do their jobs and famous actors/actresses only cast to attract more people.

Also, I was quite impressed with the voice acting. It's not great or anything, but it's pretty good for this kind of film. And the animation isn't bad either. Sure, it doesn't come close to that of The Lego Movie or The Lego Batman Movie, but it's pretty good.