Sequels: they never do well. But, the Lego Movie 2 managed to hold its ground as a creative movie that was able to showcase the variety of the Lego universe once again.

The previous movie ended by revealing that the whole storyline was a little boy’s Lego collection and he was simply playing with them. Now, the boy has grown up and his Lego world is under threat as his sister’s Lego Duplo toys invade. The movie has a Toy Story-ish vibe as the toys see their owner grow.

It starts off when Emmet Brickowski, a regular Lego figure, witnesses his friends being kidnapped by “aliens” from the planet “Duplon”. The movie focuses on Emmet’s journey to rescue his friends Lucy, Batman, and a few others by teaming up with Rex Dangervest, a “professional badass”, in order to toughen up and save the day.

The movie, unlike its predecessor, features a side plot. It focuses on the journey that Emmet takes, and how the rest of the group lives in Duplon. While Emmet’s journey was similar to the one he took during the first movie, the secondary plot reveals a side of Batman that we haven’t seen before: his inner romantic. Batman’s efforts to woo Queen Whatevra Wa-Nabi of the planet Duplon adds a very light-hearted spin on a movie,  which is already quite whimsical.

The songs in this movie were rather … weird. These songs included one of Batman singing about his pecs, and a “Catchy Song” that just wasn’t catchy.

But what really tied the whole story together is the remarkable animation. The whole movie looked like it was filmed in stop motion (similar to the previous one), but the special effects were off the charts. From the transforming Duplo aliens to the explosions, the CGI was impeccable. The movie featured a lot of chase scenes and alternated from one Lego universe to another in rapid succession, which served as a way to reveal their animation team’s prowess.

However, this movie failed to live up to its predecessor: there were fewer jokes, worse songs, fewer Lego worlds, and fewer things to enjoy in them. The cameos seemed rather out of place in some situations, and the plot seemed rather choppy.

Overall, the Lego Movie 2 was very similar to the first one and people who enjoyed that are likely to enjoy this one as well. Yet, like every sequel, it just wasn’t as good as the first.