The Lego Ninjago Movie

The Lego Ninjago Movie

Starring Dave Franco, Jackie Chan, Justin Theroux, Michael Pena

Directed by Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher & Bob Logan

The Story:
In the world of Ninjago, the evil Lord Garmadon (Justin Theroux) continually tries to overthrow the town and claim it as his own, but is constantly stopped by the Secret Ninja Force, led by the Green Nina, Lloyd (Dave Franco), who secretly is also Garmadon's estranged son.  He leads a ninja team that each possess a different element: Kai (Michael Pena) is the red Ninja of fire, Jay (Kumail Nanjiami) is the blue Nina of lightning, Nya (Abbi Jacobson) is the silver Ninja of water, Zane (Zach Woods) is the white Ninja of ice, and Cole (Fred Armisen) is the black Ninja of earth.  They're trained by Lloyd's uncle (and Garmadon's brother) Master Wu (Jackie Chan).

When Garmadon returns to Ninjago with an even more powerful weapon, Lloyd foolishly tries to stop him but instead allows his personal emotions to get in the way, resulting in the awakening of the monster Meowthra.  Discouraged with causing an even bigger threat to arise, Lloyd confesses to Garmadon that he is his son, and goes with the Ninjas into the forest to find the ultimate, ultimate weapon.  Meanwhile, Garmadon faces the fact that the person he was fighting with the most is his own son, and struggles between wanting to rule Ninjago and be a caring father.

The Synopsis:
The "Lego Movie" franchise is something of an anomaly, because it seemed ridiculous that a child's favorite toy can be expressed on the big screen in a way that worked.  In 2014, "The Lego Movie" far exceeded all expectations to gross over $250 million.  Its mixture of childhood toys, polished script, hilarious quips and fantastic voice actors blended into a masterpiece that rocketed a new cinematic universe.  Lighting hit twice with the spinoff movie, "The Lego Batman Movie," which grossed over $175 million.  Interestingly enough, it only took seven months before releasing the third movie, "The Lego Ninjago Movie."

I've never seen the series, but from what I've heard the film doesn't really follow it, probably in a way to try and expand its viewing base to more than just the diehard show fans.  The voice actors from the show were replaced by bigger names, and while that added to the joy of the film, it's easily the weakest of the "Lego" movies thus far, mostly because it doesn't resemble a Lego movie like the others did; it just seemed to be an animated adventure like so many others.

It's interesting that the film was directed by three people, and had six people take part in the screenplay, because the story is so simple it never deters away from the sappy generic story of a son who hates his father for never being there, and a father who doesn't know how to be a father.  We've seen this type of story over and over before, and the outcome is almost always the same.  While I wasn't expecting an Oscar-worthy script, I wanted to see more than just a father and son trying to bond.   

A lot of what made the film fall flat has to do with the characters.  While the other "Lego" movies did focus on one character, the supporting characters also had important roles to play, and they were people we knew.  Here, the other ninjas are basically background noise, who exist to egg on (or throw eggs at) Lloyd, depending on their mood, and are as flat as can be.  I couldn't even remember any of their names at the end of it, and they didn't really serve a bigger purpose.  We know Lloyd has a rough life being the son of the man who keeps trying to take over his town, and he has some serious daddy issues,but that's about it.  Garmadon wants to rule Ninjago because...well...he's evil I guess.  Yet when he finds out his son is the Green Ninja, he begins experiencing regret for not being there for him as a child, and tries to reconcile with him.  This all leads to the inevitable sob story of reconciliation you can see coming a mile away.  Oh, on the plus side, they managed to include a live-action cat (hilariously named Meowthra, a delicious pun from old Godzilla movies) that destroys the town but looks totally adorable doing it.

As I said before, the story is as simple as can be, which is surprising coming from seven writers.  The comedy is still funny, but there's a lot missing during the action scenes after mixing in the effects sounds and music that sometimes drowned out the dialogue.  Plus there's a lot of obvious comparisons to other "Lego" movies.  Justin Theroux's performance as the evil Garmadon resembles Will Arnett's Batman in tone and quality, while Jackie Chan's Master Wu has almost the same characteristics as Morgan Freeman's Vitruvius from the first film, mixing sound wisdom with witty banter.

The two strongest areas the film has going for it is the animation and voice actors.  The animation is brilliant and vibrant, which will delight children as well as adults.  The voice acting is on point, especially Dave Franco's Lloyd, as he emotes a teenage angst that the character goes through in the film - although he's no Chris Pratt.

The Summary:
Even though it was written by seven people and directed by three, "The Lego Ninjago Movie" is a very formulaic, simplistic story about a father/son reconciliation and a killer cat, but still has enough magic to make it enjoyable.

The Score: A-