THE SYSTAR SYSTEM — In 2014 Warner Bros. gave us “The LEGO Movie” and started a franchise that now includes four movies and a lot of laughs.

“The LEGO Movie” is absolutely hilarious and one of the cleverest family films I’ve ever seen. With a huge box office take of more than $250 million domestically and strong critic reviews, it was only a matter of time before we got a sequel.

The sequel is now headed to theaters and the question is, how does “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” stack up to its predecessor?

At times “The Second Part” is just as witty and wonderfully odd as the first film, and at other times it falls flat and leaves you reminiscing about the original.

Here are some reasons “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” is a worthy sequel to the first film and some reasons not everything is awesome:

The pieces that fit

It's clever

One of the things I absolutely loved about Chris Miller and Phil Lord’s “The LEGO Movie” was that this entire adventure was supposed to come from the mind of a child, and they nailed it.

Between the “Kragle” and “Lord Business” I realized it was exactly the kind of stuff I would have thought up as a kid, but likely not as clever. “The Second Part” is chock-full of this stuff and it made me chuckle every time I heard it.

Some of my favorite things they came up with this time around include the “Systar System,” the “Dryar System” and “Queen Watevra Wa-Nabi.” These will be much funnier when you see the film.

It’s almost aggravating to watch “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” and realize most of us will never become half as creative as writers Lord and Miller.

It's funny

The real hope for this sequel is that it will make us laugh, and I’m here to let you know it will — if the first one made you laugh.

There were multiple times I found myself laughing out loud in the theater. Chris Pratt’s Emmet is just as innocent and aggravating as you remember and it makes for some hilarious moments. The addition of adorable heart and star bombs with their child voices will also paint a smile on your face.

Thankfully Will Arnett is back as Batman and the nods to his solo adventures in “The LEGO Batman Movie” are great, as are his musical moments. When you go to a LEGO movie you want to laugh and “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” delivers.

Both kids and parents will love it

The big hope for any family film is that the parents can enjoy it as well as the kids.

I think most parents will have fun with this movie, and I’m quite certain kids will love it. I took all three of my children (ages 8, 5 and 2,) and they were all glued to the screen. They were laughing throughout the movie only pausing to occasionally clutch my arm or dance to the music.

This is a movie for kids and they’re going to love it. Thankfully most parents will enjoy it as well.

The pieces that don’t fit

The magic is missing

Most of this movie worked, but there was something missing. The magic and ingenuity I felt watching “The LEGO Movie” just wasn’t there.

I unfortunately think some of that was chalked up to some LEGO movie fatigue. Between the first "LEGO" movie, "The LEGO Batman Movie" and "The LEGO Ninjago Movie," we’ve seen a lot of this before and it’s not as fresh as it was the first time around.

That’s not really the fault of the movie itself, because these things make money hand-over-fist. We’re going to keep getting more and more as long as moviegoers keep buying tickets.

Conclusion

Walking out of the theater I was just OK with “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.” But the more I think about it and the more I hear my kids quoting lines from it, the more I like it.

“The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part" may not live up to the standard of the first film, but it’s still a fun time at the theater with the family.

“The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” is rated PG for some rude humor.

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