A good film's building blocks come from solid plot materials. Take the example of The LEGO Movie, which turned what could have been a crass film franchise cashing in on the toy brand into something with actual emotional depth. So naturally, with The LEGO Movie 2 in the works, people are starting to wonder just where that film might go to mine the same depths that the first film did with father/son relationships. Well, as it turns out, the sequel has already been set up to address one particular social construct: gender issues. Speaking out at a recent junket with other producer Dan Lin, Chris McKay revealed exactly what The Lego Movie 2 is going to explore.
The Duplo represents Finn's sister, Finn being the little boy from the live-action. The Duplo is her. The man upstairs said, 'You've gotta play with your sister. That's the thing you've gotta promise me. I'll let you play with my world, but now you've gotta let your sister come in and play with your world.' Now, she's coming in, and that's the major thing that the movie is about. What's different and similar about gender, when a boy plays vs. how a girl plays? What kinds of stories are there? Chris and Phil are super fucking smart and really thoughtful and sensitive writers. The kinds of questions and the interesting ideas that they're getting into with this movie, it's going to be like the first LEGO Movie was, where it's about something else that's really profound.
During an interview with producers Chris McKay and Dan Lin ahead of The LEGO Ninjago Movie, McKay told Collider how The LEGO Movie 2 will approach the issues of gender, through a setup that was included in the first film's finale. If you saw the movie, you may remember the Man Upstairs allowing both of his kids to play with the Brickburg playset. We learned previously that the new movie would be a story about the young boy getting a little bit older, and thanks to the gap between The LEGO Movie 2 and its forbearer, this also means that a lot is probably going to change with the now mixed community of Duplos and Legos. So not only will Finn's LEGO toys now have to learn how to get along with the Duplos' similar, but not totally compatible play system, they'll have to learn the ways of their invaders' customs of play.
At the end of The LEGO Movie, the setup for the sequel may have seemed like the type of scenario that would typically be tossed out, only to be mentioned briefly when subsequent sequels came into play. Think back to when Toy Story revealed that Andy got a puppy at Christmas in its finale, only to have the dog appear as a minor side character in both of the film's sequels. Thankfully, McKay and Lin are using the script for The LEGO Movie 2 in order to tackle an interesting subject, and also to tell a cohesive story between the two sequels.
If you don't really remember how the first movie closed out--we have seen The LEGO Batman Movie since then--you can check it out, below.
It's quite possible that instead of merely watching an entire LEGO Movie narrative in the world of Bricksburg, with the twist of a live action narrative creeping in, both sides may be more organically blended this time around. It's something that definitely seems to be in the cards when you see the previews for the next LEGO themed project, The LEGO Ninjago Movie. We'll see if that turns out to be true when that film hits theaters on September 22nd. Though if you want to start building your fall movie calendar for past next weekend, take a look at our 2017 release schedule.
