The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part 4K UHD Review

Emmet’s Folly

Finn, the child at the end of the first Lego Movie, is nearly a teenager as Lego Movie 2 begins. His chosen brick person is still Emmet (Chris Pratt), happy and positive even as an apocalypse befalls this Lego city. A coming change affects both Emmet and Finn, too-perfectly calibrated between them, coming-of-age as much as it is a way of separating genders.

Emmet pairs with an alter-ego, Rex Dangervest. He’s a standard hero – egotistic, brash, and he trains velociraptors. Emmet’s happiness is exchanged for cynicism. Friendliness is dropped for anger, kindness for aggressiveness. In this adventure, Emmet turns from jolly “Everything is Awesome,” to a social construct of what is needed from men.

As a pair, Emmet and Finn turn into jerks. Emmet wants to crash a wedding ceremony; Finn wants to smash his sister’s Lego builds. Boys toys and girls toys? Separate things. They can’t mix, and that’s the center of Lego Movie 2’s conflict. It’s a brother and sister at war, the two unable to compromise or play together. A boy plays with spaceships, girls play with glitter; that’s just how things work, and the divisive standard Lego Movie 2 is fighting against.

The frenzied pace and mass of attractive color questions whether a new generation has patience for building stuff.

There’s more real world in Lego Movie 2. In the first movie, seeing Will Ferrell was a surprise reveal, a sentimental and sappy way to sell more Legos while father and son bond over the pricey product. That’s still unavoidable here – Lego brings families together again in this sequel – and with a wider product range to exploit. Maybe that’s some of Dangervest’s cynicism poking through. Apparently Dangervest wants to be a critic too.

It’s a movie on the same path otherwise. That frantic, unstopping pace, the pop culture barbs, some parody, and a bit of satire play in. Unavoidably, creativity is lessened. Lego Movie invented this realm of living bricks and its rules; the shock of seeing real world objects pop up doesn’t work twice.

So instead, the focus shifts to narrative purpose, something meatier to guide this self-admitted predictable fantasy. Musical numbers joke about their routine and action laughs at the miniaturization. The frenzied pace and mass of attractive color questions whether a new generation has patience for building stuff. Lego Movie 2’s instant-on gratification doesn’t seem to think so while selling bricks and brick people. Regardless, entertainment value is there, requiring a few watches to catch all that’s buried in the mayhem. As the core of this Lego series, it’s holding up its own end.

Video

(Note: An A/V review of the first Lego Movie on 4K UHD is available by subscribing to our Patreon)

Right in line with the prior series on 4K, this is a dazzler. The HDR is the kicker here. Filled with intense lights ranging from sun to lasers to LED lights. Given the deep black levels, intensity reaches blinding tiers. Even when traveling through space, there’s always something powering Lego Movie 2 visually including engine exhaust or explosions.

As with all animated offerings so far, this is a 2K rendered source. In comparison to top-end, true 4K material, yes, Lego Movie 2 appears slightly soft. However, any consequences remain hidden under gobs of pure detail. The way bricks show fingerprints, plastic chips, and fading paint still dazzles. At distance, peeking at massive Lego structures, the seams still show between pieces.

Being a Lego world, this comes doused in color. Some early explosions feature purples, blues, and oranges, this backed by warm lighting. That’s a spectacular combination. Using careful aesthetics to separate brother and sister by blues and pinks, Lego Movie 2 sports variety in droves. Saturation doesn’t waver.

Live action scenes fare well, if limited in their in dynamics compared to the animation. That’s hardly shocking.

Audio

Warner defaults to the Atmos mix! That’s a first for the studio, who also includes DTS-HD. Either way, the bass is the richest element here. Its presence never dies, potent and rich in each circumstance as needed. For an animated movie, that’s unusual. LFE support pops up during music to add support, with boldness in the action scenes.

When asked, the soundstage plays well in tandem. While not the most aggressive, Lego Movie 2 sends bricks clattering about. Ships and other vehicles pan around fluidly. At multiple moments, voices spin around characters, totally enveloping in their effect. Stereos activate frequently, catching dialog and other activity.

Extras

Director Mike Mitchell and animation director Trisha Gurn find themselves joined by the writing duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller on a commentary track. That’s on both the Blu-ray and UHD. The rest resides on the Blu-ray alone, although it’s not much.

They Come in Pieces is as bland as EPKs come, running short of nine minutes. A holiday-themed short lasts for 2:43 – living up to the term “short.” Deleted scenes in various stages of completion run 12-minutes, with a music video and promo gallery left over.

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our Patreon-exclusive set of 45 full 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD: