Everything is (almost) awesome.

Movie expectations are a funny thing. In many ways, having little to none can work in your favour, yet a mountain of wildly unrealistic expectations can collapse a film under the pressure. It’s a tricky balancing act to play and one that can live or die on a whole host of volatile factors.

And so it was that The Lego Movie came to pass as the first entry in a film franchise that nobody asked for, yet materialised as one of the biggest hits, both financially and critically, of 2014. It really was that awesome and, by all accounts, it had no right to be as something that looked nothing more than a cold, hard corporate cash grab.

We all know how this goes with Hollywood by now though. Following the unexpected runaway success of the first film, a sequel was always inevitable and expectation levels were duly ramped up, perhaps unfairly so, to epic proportions. Quite frankly, something pretty special needed to be done to live up to the hype and while everything’s not quite as awesome as it once was, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part does a fine job of building on the successes of its predecessor.

Five years have passed since the events of the first film and the citizens of Bricksburg (now named Apocalypseburg) face a dangerous new threat as alien Duplo invaders wreak havoc on a blighted Lego landscape. The harrowing ordeal has made most of Apocalypseburg’s citizens hardened and broody, yet Emmet (Chris Pratt) remains as upbeat as ever and absolutely determined to make the most of the dire situation. However, with Duplo intruders continuing to attack, Emmet, Lucy (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett), and the rest of the crew are whisked away to the distant Systar System and must battle Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi (Tiffany Haddish) and her sparkly minions to restore harmony once again to the Lego universe. But is this war really all it appears?

With any large film franchise, fortunes and opinions tend to ebb and flow over time and nowhere is this more evident than with the Lego series. After the unprecedented success of The Lego Movie, things seemed to be going well with first spin-off The Lego Batman Movie, however, despite positive reviews and solid box office numbers, things were well below the original’s lofty achievements –  a disappointment that was further compounded by the lacklustre reception for The Lego Ninjago Movie.

In the space of just three years and as many films, it suddenly looked like the once solid foundations of the franchise were beginning to crumble. Yet, thankfully, just when it looked like things were going to fall apart altogether, the Master Builders of the series have gone back to basics and back to what served them so well originally.

In a rare occurrence of a sequel matching, if not quite topping, the original, The Second Part is most definitely a return to form. It’s not only a sequel that recognises the strengths of Lego as a brand and a conduit for childhood imagination but also knows just what makes a successful cinematic adaptation of the product tick.

Initial impressions, however, aren’t quite so remarkable as a good chunk of The Second Part’s first half, while fun, trundles along like a million other run-of-the-mill animated sequels looking desperately for a way out from under its predecessor’s shadow. The plot itself hits many of the beats the first film did which, while undoubtedly fun, can’t help but feel a tad ordinary in comparison.

Relatively ordinary in approach and a bit scrappy in execution, the narrative as Emmet and the gang blast off into the Systar System doesn’t go anywhere particularly unexpected which, for a film series that prides itself on imagination and invention, isn’t particularly encouraging. However, as things progress and the plot develops, The Second Part really comes into its own.

We’ve got post-apocalyptic wastelands, spaceships, moody superheroes, and strange sparkly planets – you know, the usual – but just as you think things are playing out as one might expect, we get the reintroduction of a ‘real’ world that ultimately forms the emotional foundation for the brick-based action.

Both delightful and unexpected, it was this surprising dimension-warping angle that made The Lego Movie so special, adding more nuance and poignant layers to the film than it had any right to possess; and it’s with the reestablishment of this narrative twist that things really start clicking into gear for the sequel.

The reintroduction of this dual reality angle also helps hammer home many of the film’s messages. The issues that The Second Part winds up tackling feel like a natural progression from the first film and, while The Lego Movie worked in musings on self-expression, freedom, and imagination, its sequel broadens things to incorporate an exploration of gender, cooperation, and the nature of growing up.

While it feels a tad heavy-handed on occasion, being straight with this kind of thing is often a necessity in order for the message to cut through the hyperactive noise buzzing around it, and with themes as heart-felt and emotionally engaging as this, you can forgive the film for being a little on the nose at times.

In particular, the way in which the film plays with the idea of gender boundaries – even going as far as to engage with toxic masculinity and bro culture – feels particularly pertinent within society right now, acting as an incredibly important moral for the younger, more impressionable members of the movie’s audience.

Hurtling towards its conclusion, The Second Part begins to switch rapidly between its two realities and it’s at this moment that the film really begins to hit home on an emotional level. This was a factor that marked the original out from the crowd and, as we enter the film’s finale at breakneck speed, The Second Part even dares to flirt with Toy Story-level storytelling as the bond between toys and childhood really starts to come to the fore.

It’s a tricky game to play but The Second Part builds on the foundations of the first movie perfectly to delicately balance these emotions with the kind of zany, rapid-fire humour that we’ve come to expect from the franchise. It’s a testament to the quality of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s script that, even at peak-mania, everything blends so well and, while the jokes are fired at you at the speed of light, they never overshadow the film’s heart.

Following on from where they left off with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, there’s something about Lord and Miller’s humour that just clicks with what the Lego movies are doing, and their scattergun, hyperactive comedy routine works once again as gags are lobbed at you left, right and centre like smiley, heart-shaped grenades. Many jokes land, some don’t, yet as they keep coming thick and fast, it’s hard not to just let yourself get swept up in the excitement and ingenuity of it all.

Of course, the humour and emotion are a team effort with much of the film’s heart and comedy stemming from the its incredible voice cast who throw themselves into the action with the requisite level of energy and enthusiasm to keep up with Lord and Miller’s live-wire dialogue.

With a lengthy cast list that reads like a who’s-who of Hollywood comedy talent, there was always a risk that the film would become buried under the weight of its own ambitions, yet everyone plays their part in allowing the script to shine.

Now in a dual role as both Emmet and Rex Dangervest (a name we can all aspire to), it’s now double the Pratt, double the fun as Hollywood’s most affable Chris does a wonderful job of injecting a charming and lovably enthusiastic energy to keep the film anchored even in its most manic moments.

Yet, this is a film very much about the ensemble as Pratt is backed up by a cast that includes Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, and Tiffany Haddish as the wonderfully whacky and supremely sassy Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi – a bizarre but inspired shapeshifting creation whose musical numbers form the cornerstone of The Second Part’s immensely (and borderline infuriatingly) catchy soundtrack.

Supported by the patented idiosyncrasies of Mark Mothersbaugh’s inspired score, the film’s soundtrack is really where The Second Part comes to life as a piece of entertainment for all ages. Together with its colourful and kinetic visuals, The Second Part’s music takes a lead from its predecessor to offer something striking and utterly unlike any other animation out there.

Cleverly written and brilliantly composed, tracks like ‘Not Evil’ and ‘Super Cool’ (a track by Beck, Robyn, and The Lonely Island that you need to stay through the credits to fully appreciate) are nuggets of sugar-coated pop perfection that all add to the viewing experience. Oh, and if you thought ‘Everything is Awesome’ was the ultimate cinematic ear-worm, just you wait until you get your auricles around ‘Catchy Song’, which won’t leave your brain for days…in the best possible way, of course.

Sometimes it’s easy to have unrealistic expectations for a film based on previous high standards, and nowhere is this more evident than with The Lego Movie 2. This is a film where the hype going into it stood in stark contrast to its predecessor and, while it doesn’t quite match The Lego Movie’s towering levels of quality, in truth it was never really going to. What The Second Part is though is a wonderfully crafted piece of family entertainment that perfectly balances its humour and emotion while mixing in some pertinent messages on gender and compromise along the way. Everything may not be quite as awesome as it once was, but that’s absolutely fine. Sometimes it’s just enough to be unbelievable, super cool, outrageous, and amazing.