WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, in theaters now.
Presumably everyone reading a site called Comic Book Resources agrees that Bill Maher's strident anti-comic book stance, first expressed in a blog post following the death of Stan Lee and since doubled- and tripled-down upon, is wrong. That Maher seems to think all comics are superhero stories is enough to prove his ignorance, unless he's somehow arguing that Maus and Fun Home are "immature," in which case his ideas of maturity are so baffling that they're not even worth engaging with. Even if we humor Maher and engage in the debate about only superhero comics, his blanket dismissal is strongly wrong, demonstrating both a misunderstanding of the genre's inspiring qualities and an adolescent view of what counts as "mature."
Maher could learn something about maturity from The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, the sequel to the 2014 animated blockbuster based on the popular construction toys. That it can be described as "mature" is self-demonstrating evidence of the film's thesis: That the dismissal of silly and innocent pleasures is a sign of a more adolescent mentality than the ability to embrace them. It's a lesson that not only Maher, but a large segment of comic book fandom, should take in.
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If there's a grain of truth in Maher's comments, it's that there are fans who try too hard to justify the "maturity" of their interest. They have a lot more in common with Maher than either of the two might want to think. Where Maher dismisses superheroes as kids' stuff, certain strains of fandom are a bit too determined to prove that superheroes aren't for kids, all while ignoring that a vast majority of popular superheroes were created for the entertainment of children.
Something made for kids doesn't make it off limits for adult enjoyment, but many fans, and a not-insignificant number of creators, think the only way to prove their interest's maturity is to rework everything as dark and hyper-serious. It's an angry teenager's idea of "maturity," and the mentality of Finn, who controls half of the action in The LEGO Movie 2.
The LEGO Movie 2 begins where the 2014 original left off, with a pre-adolescent Finn being told to play with his younger sister, Bianca, whose Duplo creations lay waste to the LEGO landscape of Bricksburg. Cut to five years later, and a now-teenage Finn still loves LEGO, but his imagination has turned darker. Bricksburg is now Apocalypseburg, a Mad Max-esque wasteland where everything is gritty and angsty.
Everything, that is, except for Emmet, who's as happy-go-lucky as ever. But even he feels the pressure to fit in, especially to please Lucy. However, when Lucy, Batman, Benny, Unikitty and MetalBeard are kidnapped by a mysterious emissary from the Systar System, Emmet believes he finally has the chance to prove himself. Teaming up with Rex Dangervest, an edgier Chris Pratt-voiced minifig, Emmet is finally ready to get "serious."
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The Systar System, as you can easily guess, consists of Bianca's LEGO bricks. What you might not guess, however, is that they're not the bad guys. When Bianca plays with Finn's minifigs, they're not brainwashed, but genuinely enjoying themselves more than they have in ages. It's particularly noteworthy that Batman, who's been characterized in this series as being both broodingly angry and reflexively opposed to any attempt to solve his deep personal issues, is not only convinced to enjoy himself, but to also fix his problem of being unable to hold committed relationships.
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Lucy's the longest hold out, representing Finn's denial that enjoying anything not hard-edged can be okay, but even she ends up accepting the Systar denizens are not evil. Sadly, Bianca only played the Systar characters as "evil" and destructive because it was the only way to get Finn's attention. Who's the actual villain? It's Emmet.
More specifically, Emmet is at risk of becoming the villain. The reason Emmet and Rex Dangervest share the same voice? They're the same character. Rex is the "mature" version of Emmet from the future who's traveled back in time to guarantee Emmet will end up becoming him. The old Emmet might be naive, but he was also a genuinely kind and thoughtful person, whereas Rex might appear cooler, but in reality he's toxic masculinity personified. Emmet ultimately has to defeat Rex within Finn's subconscious in order for Finn to be a decent brother.
The LEGO Movie 2 isn't anti-darkness. The Apocalypseburg setting is genuinely fun, and even when Finn and Bianca reconcile, Finn's grittier creations can peacefully coexist alongside Bianca's sparkly poptimism, both seemingly incongruous sides influencing each other in fun and creative ways. What it is against is despair.
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"Everything is awesome" is a childish sentiment that even the first movie, set entirely in the mind of a young child, could see was fake. "Everything is awful," however, is an adolescent sentiment that's ultimately even less helpful. What the film's thesis settles on, in a memorable musical number, is that everything isn't awesome, but that's no reason not to try to make things better.
That's an awfully useful message for both kids and adults. Far more sophisticated that the "edgy for the sake of edgy" mentality of, say, Zack Snyder's DC films (The LEGO Batman Movie already served as a worthy takedown of those). And this is all in the silly package of a LEGO movie.
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Bill Maher, in all likelihood, is never going to watch it, nor will those comics fans with misplaced and overly defensive ideas about maturity. If either were willing to let their guard down and enjoy this gleefully silly children's movie, they might realize that maturity isn't about putting away "childish things," but about putting away the childish attitudes their reflexive rejections of being possibly perceived as childish ironically embody.
In theaters now, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part stars Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Nick Offerman, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Tiffany Haddish, Maya Rudolph and Stephanie Beatriz.