Sky High (2005)

Director: Mike Mitchell

Cast: Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kurt Russell

Have I Seen it Before: More time than I would have thought I would have for a live-action Disney film.

Did I Like It: Is it surprising? Is it showing me anything I haven’t seen* before? Is it going to down in history as one of the greatest films of all time?

Probably not.

However, one cannot deny that the film has no illusions about its ambitions. It aims squarely at its audience and efficiently delivers exactly what it promises. That may read as damning with faint praise, but far too many films lack the focus to know what they are, and more than a few of them have been lately produced by the Walt Disney Company. The film is intermittently funny, deals in appropriate levels of cuteness, and couldn’t possibly offend the sensibilities of anyone who came to the movie with the right level of expectations.

So, why have I watched it so many times? Why do I own it on DVD?

My wife really likes it. For all the times she has patiently sat through RoboCop (1987), accepted that I view Die Hard(1988) as a Christmas movie, and accepts that I’m likely not going to get rid of my special-edition Blu-ray of Bubba Ho-Tep (2002), it’s important to watch movies that she likes for no other reason than she likes them. That may sound at odds with my lukewarm praise for the movie, as if I don’t think she has good taste. She has the best taste, and I’m pretty sure if I’m not 100% on board with this movie, the problem lies with me.

Therefore, I’ve decided I like it quite a bit. But please, don’t make too big a deal out of that. She might make me watch Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) again. Which I would do. For her.

*Or made…

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Director: Mike Mitchell

Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish

Have I Seen it Before: Nope. Somehow missed the movie while it was in theaters. 

Did I Like It: That above statement might dictate this one once again, but you know what? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this one is… sigh… awesome.

The first The Lego Movie (2014) was a revelation wrapped up in a movie that had no right to claim anything resembling a revelation. It’s ultimate twist that—like a Toy Story (1995) with a heaping portion of self-awareness—the proceedings are the playful mental wanderings of a boy (Jadon Sand) trying to just play with his father’s massive collection of Lego. It was a deceptively powerful meditation on creativity wrapped up in a movie wherein one of the characters is constantly asking after the location of his pants.

Where could a possible sequel even go from that high example? The first film sets up a new threat by allowing the boy’s sister (Brooklyn Prince) to also play with the massive piles of bricks, thus threatening to ruin all the boy’s master plans, starting the cycle all over again.

And this is where many may want to break ways with the new film. The revelation is gone, and each plot development is predictable first and enjoyable second. 

The question then becomes, is this a problem? Is it fair to compare the film to its progenitor? Is it fair to expect every film clearly made for children to re-wrinkle our adult brains? The answer to all three of those questions are probably no. 

To bypass the question of fairness, and address them in reverse order: It’s not fair to expect every movie made for children to really blow our collective hair back. There are plenty of great children’s films that possess only quality storytelling without any Charlie Kaufman-esque antics in place. 

While it may not be fair to compare this sequel to its predecessor, that comparison is hard to avoid, and through that prism the film suffers slightly. 

But here’s the takeaway: that isn’t a problem. The film is enjoyable, charming, and visually doesn’t let up. It may benefit from coming after the more aggressively disappointing Lego Batman Movie (2017). So what if it isn’t one of the greatest animated movies of all time? Thankfully there are plenty of perfectly fine films within the genre that aren’t as awesome as some of the others.