MOVIE: Lego Movie 2 builds an awesome sequel

LET’S face it, brand marketing doesn’t get any better than a blockbuster movie based around a successful kid’s game. 

The producers and toy manufacturers must be jumping for joy. 

As an audience member, you have never so accurately fit the title of ‘Consumer’, sitting with a large popcorn and drink, transfixed by the adverts and trailers which are followed by a film which reminds you how amazing this product would look in your child’s playroom. 

Many would complain about the commercialism, and they’d have a point, but then again, when everything is awesome, who cares.   

And everything is indeed awesome with this sequel to 2014’s hugely successful ‘The Lego Movie’. 

The songs are as catchy, the jokes are as funny, the action is as clever, heck, they may even be better. 

So take your kids, take your friends, go on your own, you’ll have a blast. We award it a review score of 4.5 awesome stars. 

Two very different films out for Valentine’s Day are ‘Instant Family’ and ‘A Private War’. 

The former is a comedy, the like of which you will have probably seen a million times before, where Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne star as parents who adopt a ready made latino family of three. 

It’s predictable but funny, has some real heart that is often lacking in similar offerings, and earns 3 watchable stars.

‘A Private War’ on the other hand, tells the harrowing real life story of war journalist Marie Colvin (played brilliantly by Rosamund Pike) and it’s a compelling gritty affair that follows her to the front lines of Sri Lanka, Iraq and Syria. It deserves a hard fought and impressive 4 stars. 

Finally, the recently released ‘Alita: Battle Angel’, is an epic Japanese manga adaptation from James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez. 

It tells the futuristic story of an abandoned cyborg called Alita who is put back together only to discover that she possesses amazing powers. Despite looking impressive on screen, the story lacks any real depth and fizzles out in the end to earn an average 2.5 stars. 

Paul O’Rourke