The Lego Ninjago Movie

photo courtesy of collider.com

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

     The Lego brand makes another foray into filmmaking with The Lego Ninjago Movie, a movie based around the popular ninja-themed branch of the Lego toy empire. Lego has had remarkable success with their previous two films The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie, especially considering that their movies have to surmount the nigh impossible obstacle of selling a movie based around toys (toys, moreover, that have no built-in overarching story). But the Lego movies have navigated the murky waters of franchise-building admirably, using a mixture of genre-subverting plot points and a self-aware brand of humor to endear their characters to adults and kids alike. The Lego Ninjago Movie continues that trend, even if it doesn’t reach the bar quite as artfully as its predecessors.

     Ninjago centers on Lloyd (Dave Franco), a high schooler who is secretly the warrior known as the Green Ninja. Together with his fellow ninjas and Master Wu (Jackie Chan), Lloyd defends the city of Ninjago from the sinister devices of the evil Lord Garmadon (Justin Theroux)—who is also Lloyd’s estranged father. As unexpected events unleash chaos on Ninjago, the two will have to put aside their differences and work together if they want save(/conquer) the city.

photo courtesy of slashfilm.com

     The Lego Ninjago Movie is the weakest of the Lego movies thus far, so the fact that it works at all is a testament to the strength of the Lego film franchise’s brand. But it does work—thanks to a healthy dose of unabashedly silly humor. If you’re familiar with the previous Lego movies, you know that they tend to pile joke on joke in rapid succession, so quickly that it takes more than one viewing to fully appreciate. Kids will like the movie’s sheer ridiculousness and an increased action quotient, and adults will stick around for the wittier gags that might go over the kiddie crowd’s heads.

     Another thing to appreciate about these movies is the ways in which they parody traditional story formulas. Morgan Freeman’s character in The Lego Movie did this time and time again, and here Master Wu does it most, pointing out places where a typical story beat might normally occur and then making a joke out of not doing the expected thing. It’s a witty trick that gives the Lego scripts a smart, self-aware edge over other animated kid’s movies.

photo courtesy of superherohype.com

     If you look much deeper than “this is really funny,” there are plenty of things to nitpick, sure. Ninjago’s humor isn’t as sharp or surefire as either of its predecessors (with several missed moments and a number of lapses into cheesier jokes). Its characters are closer to stock characters. Its efforts to sell toys feel somehow more transparent. Its story is far less original than the other Lego movies (somehow, it bears an uncanny resemblance to both Star Wars and Power Rangers). Its frame story—featuring real life Jackie Chan!—is less inspired than the real life segments of The Lego Movie. There’s plenty to gripe about, sure.

     But this is, after all, a movie about Legos. We shouldn’t take it too seriously. If anything, The Lego Ninjago Movie ought to serve as a friendly warning to the filmmakers—that if they expect the franchise to continue past 2019’s The Lego Movie Sequel, they’ll need to do another round of nifty master-building. 

Watch the trailer here. 

photo courtesy of youtube.com