If you build it right, they will come

THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART

★★★ 1/2outof5 Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish Directors: Mike Mitchell, Trisha Gum Duration: 1h46m

Several years ago it was projected that Earth’s population of Lego minifigures would outnumber actual humans by 2019. If we have now crossed that threshold, it is due in no small part to the crowd scenes in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. And I for one welcome our tiny plastic overlords.

This is actually the fourth Lego movie, following the wildly popular 2014 original (the Iron Man of Lego movies), 2017’s clever Lego Batman Movie (the Thor: Ragnarok of Lego movies), and the same year’s less successful Lego Ninjago Movie — which, if it were a Marvel movie, would be the underwhelming Thor: The Dark World.

Good news, however: This sequel does what a sequel should, capturing much of the irreverence of the original while spinning its characters in interesting but not-too-improbable directions. (Also, like 42 per cent of sequels, it moves the action to space.)

Chris Pratt returns as the voice of Emmet Brickowski, cheeriest citizen of Bricksburg. He maintains his sunny outlook despite the fact that repeated attacks by Duplo bricks (Lego’s line of blocks for toddlers) have forced residents to rename the city Apocalypseburg.

Emmet is joined by Rex Dangervest (Pratt again, lowering his voice an octave) on a rescue mission after Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), Unikitty (Alison Brie) and others are kidnapped by mysterious Lego figures from the nearby Systar System. Very nearby, as in just down the hall.

The trick with these movies is to say any unfamiliar word slowly to figure it out. Try that with Tiffany Haddish’s character, Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi, and you’ll see that it dovetails nicely with the fact that she’s a shape-shifter. Less clear is whether she’s good or evil: On the one hand, she has a Vader-esque henchperson named General Mayhem (Stephanie Beatriz). On the other, she sings a heartfelt song about how evil she isn’t. Though as Lucy points out, the lady may protest too much.

The film is a riot of colour, action and cameos from start to finish — literally to the finish: The closing credits, featuring a song called Super Cool by Beck and The Lonely Island, is worth the price of admission. “It’s the credits! / Yeah, that’s the best part / when the movie ends / and the reading starts!”

Series creators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have turned the directing reins over to Mike Mitchell (Trolls), aided by Trisha Gum, who was head of story on The Lego Batman Movie, but also worked as an animator and art director on TV’s Robot Chicken. That DIY sensibility shines through in scenes where the slick computer animation suddenly gives way to live-action puppetry or stop-motion.

It all adds up to an appealing story that doesn’t take itself too seriously, even as the characters are waiting for an earth-shattering event they call “armamogeddon.” (I may be spelling that incorrectly; in fact, I’m sure of it.) You know the film is winking when Rex mentions that he owns an “implaus-itron” and delivers such pop-Buddhist nuggets as: “You can build anything, but there ain’t nothing you can’t break!” And without getting too preachy, it delivers a simple message about sticking together, based on the fact that it’s what bricks do best. Seriously, have you ever tried getting some of them apart, even with one of those orange brick-breaker things? I’ve got some pieces that have been melded since the ’80s. OK, I may be projecting a little, but that’s the joy of a good Lego Movie: It invites you to join in.