The Lego Ninjago Movie

Starring: Jackie Chan, Dave Franco (voice), Fred Armisen (voice), Kumail Nanjiani (voice), Michael Pena (voice), Abbi Jacobson (voice), Zach Woods (voice), Justin Theroux (voice), Charlyne Yi (voice), Olivia Munn (voice), Randall Park (voice), Constance Wu (voice), Chris Hardwick (voice), Robin Roberts (voice), Michael Strahan (voice)
Directed by: Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher, Bob Logan
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of Ninjas fight an evil villain (Justin Theroux) determined to overtake the city.

Review:

Tim: I liked The Lego Movie and thought The Lego Batman Movie was decent, although clearly a level below the first movie. I was hoping The Lego Ninjago Movie would be closer to the former, but it slides in about on part with the latter. This is a decent movie, it certainly has some strong moments peppered throughout. However, it's missing something- that intangible quality that made the first film memorable. Still, there's worse animated movies out there.

I didn't know much about Ninjago (by the way, I hate that word and still don't know if I'm saying it correctly. It's such an annoying word) so I went into this cold. You don't really need to know much, though. There's good ninjas and they fight this bad guy who is the father of the lead ninja. Now, that's a quick and somewhat tongue-in-cheek synopsis. The big strength of this film is how deeply they examine the relationship between Lloyd (I had to look his name up, he's not that memorable) and his father. I was actually pretty stunned how closely that relationship was explored, how much of the movie is around that father/son dynamic. That's easily the best part of the movie. Sure, the film has battles and adventures and things that will appeal to the target demographic, but this film is really about a boy who feels alienated and unseen by his father, and the journey they take to possibly repairing that relationship. I give the movie loads of credit for that. The Lego Batman Movie did try to dig deeper into the human condition (with Lego men), but this one did it better. If you're looking for a reason to watch, that is the number one right there.

The animation is fine, I'd say maybe a step up from Batman. This one felt slightly less hectic and overwhelming to watch. There's still a ton throw up on the screen, maybe done intentionally to reflect the world of legos. Still, it's a lot. I can't say I was ever blown away by the animation, but it works and the myriad colors aren't bad.

The voice was was decent. I like that Dave Franco's voice is distinct, but we hear it a lot here and it actually got pretty annoying. As an actor, he's much better as a supporting player and I think that's true for his voice work. I really enjoyed it at the start of the movie, but it did get on my nerves as the film progressed. I really enjoyed Justin Theroux's performance. I've never liked him as an actor, but he really brings this character to life and makes him humorous and memorable. He was probably the best character in the film and I give Theroux so much credit for that. It was nice to hear Kumail Nanjiami and Michael Pena, although they're really lost in the story. There's a bunch of characters, but Franco and Theroux's characters are such the focal point that everyone else gets squeezed out. It was like their story took up so much of the film's oxygen that no one else had a chance to shine. The one caveat to that was Jackie Chan- his voice work was good and his character made an impression.

It was actually an interesting choice starting off the film with a live action sequence. It was nice to see Jackie Chan in the flesh, although I can't say the bookend approach really added a whole lot to the story. It reminded us we were watching a story about plastic toys, rather than immersing us into that world. Still, while I didn't love it, it's not like it detracted from the film.

The Lego Ninjago Movie is a decent animated movie. I do wish the film was better, but I can't complain too much. I do think this franchise has unrealized potential, so let's hope future films can fix some of the flaws we've seen in the last two movies.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie