The
LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
(2019/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Venture
Bros.: Season 7
(2018/Warner DVD Set)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B-/C+ Sound: B+/C+ Extras:
C/C+ Main Programs: C/C+
Here's
a couple of animated releases marking the return of two different
kinds of franchises...
Back
in 2014, a film was released that many thought would be a cynical
stunt, two hour advertisement and disaster, The
LEGO Movie.
Warner Animation had already created several tie-in specials with
various Warner properties, so even if it was not a cynical
exploitation package deal, what would they do? Turns out they came
up with new characters, added familiar ones and made a funny movie,
as this review will bear out...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12847/The+Lego+Movie+-+Everything+is+Awesome+Edit
It
was so successful, Warner made it one of their very first 4K releases
as well and it was snubbed by the Oscars just the same as the academy
was not interested in what they still saw as a two-hour ad disguised
as a movie, no matter how good. Fans cried that they did not
'understand' the film, but that was it and the inevitable sequel
would get made.
The
LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part
(2019) is that sequel and sadly, it is much of everything many
thought the first film would be, but I was surprised how dark,
pointless, flat, lame, lacking in energy, enthusiasm, imagination and
on auto pilot this one was. There is also too much live action
footage, nothing very memorable and asked myself 'this is the best
they could come up with in five years'!?!
The
result was a box office disappointment and home video is helping
offset the financial losses, so this will break even, but the fact
they did not try even a little harder is sad, especially
disappointing all the children who loved the first and trashing the
goodwill of the overall audience that bad sequels do. With increased
competition from other studios, was it wise to do such a throw-away
work? Oh well.
Extras
include Digital
Copy, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, a Music Video, a feature length audio
commentary track by Directors Mike Mitchell, Writers/Producers Phil
Lord & Christopher Miller and Animation Director Trish Gum, a
Sing-A-Long, Promo Materials, Emmet's
Holiday Party: A LEGO Movie Short
and They
Come in Pieces: Assembling The LEGO Movie 2
making of featurette.
Back
every few years itself, we have Venture
Bros.: Season 7
(2018) and once again, it is mining older animation for laughs and
its cliches, especially from TV in the 1960s to early 1980s, plus
other immediate pop culture like videogames. You can get that from
our previous coverage of these seasons...
Season
3
Blu-ray w/DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8473/Venture+Bros+%E2%80%93+Season+3+(Warner+
Season
4
Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10872/Venture+Bros+%E2%80%93+Season+Four+(2009
Season
5
Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12647/The+Venture+Bros.+-+The+Fifth+Season+(2013/
This
new season reintroduces P.R.O.B.L.E.M., the PROgressive Biological
Life Extension Module designed by Jonas Venture Sr. to prolong human
life, eerily using the disembodied head of Venture Sr. when
P.R.O.B.L.E.M. is taken over and used to hack the VenTech Tower,
thus, the initial spell out obvious trouble off the bat and that kind
of cynicism marks every season of the show.
I
can see why some fans would see this as brilliant, though others like
myself see it as obvious, but it is consistent in what it is doing
and the fun is based on the premise of at least slight dystopianism.
Cheers to the animators recapturing some of the older Hanna-barbera
style and frankly, some of the old Filmation style where applicable.
I have to be in the mood to really get into this and appreciate it
all, but its fan following and continued critical and commercial
success still makes sense and it is not just all thrown together as a
package deal.
Extras
include audio commentary from Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, and
deleted scenes.
Now
for the playback quality. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10+; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced 2.35 X 1 Ultra High Definition image on the 4K LEGO
is the only version that can show the full color and detail,
especially in dark scenes, where on the regular 1080p 2.35 X 1
digital High Definition image Blu-ray, it is lost and even muddy in
its own way. As noted above, I am not a fan of the look of this
sequel and it cannot compete with the original. The sound on both
versions is a Dolby
Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for older systems) lossless mixc that is
very active, but ironically has no major demo moments.
Venture
has also been issued on Blu-ray, but we have only the DVD set for now
with its passable, anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image that is OK
for the format and lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix on each show
that is just adequate.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
