I needed a break after last week’s Miss Bala misery. I noticed that Cold Pursuit was also out this week, but wished to avoid another bleak weekend. Something lighter was in order, I felt, and so it was off to see Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

I am not a huge fan of animated films. Being without a wife and family (at the time of this writing, anyway), I have yet to be subjected to the onslaught of cartoon films. My nieces have given me a small dose, though with them I always have the chance to walk away (assuming their parents are around and I would not be abandoning them!). I did see the first Lego movie. Once. That is it. So going into the sequel I had some vague recollection of what I could expect. I do not remember it that well, and found myself a little lost from the start as to who these people were and what was their motivation.

The thing about Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is that it is a kid’s movie. While that might seem like the obvious statement of the century, I do not mean that solely in that fact that it is tailored to children (though why they would throw Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s name into it at one point is beyond me). This film was seemingly made by children, a notion that bears some consideration given the credits when you see the Lego creations various kids around the world. Thus, like the very act of building with Lego blocks, the plot could be whatever you want it to be. Like a game played among toddlers, the rules seemed to be made up as it went along. It makes a sort of sense when you consider that the movie is ultimately centered on two kids playing with toys and the stories they dream up to fill in that time. But it gets even more convoluted when they add on a time travel plot. So I just shrugged my shoulders and waited for the end.

The underlying point of Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is that everyone grows up, and you have to learn to adapt to new people and situations in your life. Is this not the plot to Toy Story? I would not know because I have not seen it. I did, however, quite early on predict the end of Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which I will not spoil, for now. I mean, it hits all of its moments and jokes pretty squarely on the nose, with characters like Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi and places like the Sistar System. The best message from it, though, was that it is easy to stay stuck in your ways, but hard to open your heart. I can get behind that idea because it is a daily prayer of mine. Whatever it was, in the end at least it was not Miss Bala. I was thankful for that, at least.