Ultrakatty (Alison Brie), MetalBeard (Nick Offerman), General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz), Batman (Will Arnett), Benny (Charlie Day) and Lucy/Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) in THE LEGO® MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART. Courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures.
Connor Bynum // Film Critic
Rated PG, 118 minutes
Director: Mike Mitchell
Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Jadon Sand and Brooklynn Prince
THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART marks the fourth LEGO film to hit theaters in just five years. Given the tendencies for audiences to reach a feeling of franchise fatigue with too many entries released too close together, it can be easy to dismiss the long awaited sequel to the one that started it all back in 2014. I certainly did, and a lot of other people did the same. But now that the film has hit store shelves with a fresh coat of 4K paint, I find myself pleasantly surprised with another solidly constructed 4K presentation.
Movie Grade: B+
From our theatrical review:
“Everyone can take a deep breath and relax. Everything is still awesome when it comes to director Mike Mitchell’s THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART. Well almost everything. There’s drama in the land of Bricksburg, and all its citizens are trying to cope with their new – very not-awesome – world order. But for us, this sequel written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (who wrote and directed the original) finds its way into our hearts and heads – especially during a time charged with so much upheaval. While its sentiments perfectly reflect the brand’s abbreviation of the Danish leg godt (“play well”) and philosophy that encourages imagination and creativity, it also subversively delivers a subtle commentary on our current era’s bleak landscape marked by toxic masculinity and the loss of empathy.
When all is said and done, this wildly imaginative, extremely entertaining, feel-good feature is something audiences will love to pieces.”
Video/Audio Grade: A-
As with many recent 4K transfers from Warner Bros, THE LEGO MOVIE 2 arrives on 4K UHD by means of an upscale from a 2K Digital Intermediate, but it still manages to dazzle on the format all the same. Finer details on the iconic plastic bricks like little scratches and scuffs make the characters appear all the more photorealistic. At one point, LEGO Batman (Will Arnett) sports a stylishly furry white cape about an hour in, and the individual strands of the fur were magnificently crisp. This is about as close to playing with LEGOs audiences can get outside of literally playing with LEGOs.
The absence of Dolby Vision is hardly noticeable thanks to a superb HDR10 encode. The vast and bright “Mad Max” wasteland of Apocolypseburg is wonderfully contrasted with dark scenes in the void of outer space. Character models are also given that extra pop thanks to the increased color pallet. However, the same can’t be said for the live-action sequences peppered throughout the film. These scenes are supplied with a much more muted visual style, which, in all probability, comes from a creative decision to further separate the world of the LEGOs and that of reality. So, with that in mind, this is a perfectly stable 4K image throughout.
This disc also comes with a spectacular Dolby Atmos audio track. The comedic nature of LEGO films naturally tends to be somewhat chaotic in terms of audio mixing, but this track brilliantly balances this chaos for a wonderfully immersive effect.
Extras Grade: B-
Other than a feature commentary by the film’s directors, no special features are included on the 4K disc but instead are only available on the included 1080p Blu-ray Disc. What’s included will likely be entertaining enough for younger viewers, but parents will probably do well to skip them altogether.
All special features listed below:
- Everything is Awesome Sing-Along (1080p, 1:52:26)
- They Come in Pieces: Assembling THE LEGO MOVIE 2 (1080p, 8:49)
- Emmet’s Holiday Party: A LEGO Movie Short (1080p, 2:43)
- Outtakes and Deleted Scenes (1080p, 12:22 total runtime)
- Music Video (1080p, 3:29)
- Audio commentary with director Mike Mitchell, writers/producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and animation director Trish Gum.
- Promotional Materials (1080p): Included are “In 2019 Be Whatever You Wanna Be” (0:43), “Me and My Minifig” (3:00), “Please Silence Your Cell Phones” (0:55), “LEGO Sets in Action” (2:17), and “LEGO Designers” (3:30).
Final Grade: B+
While the LEGO film franchise may be due for some time in the storage bin as a whole, this 4K release mostly succeeds at justifying one last adventure.
