The Lego Ninjago Movie - Review
This review of The Lego Ninjago Movie is spoiler-free!
Lego! Everyone knows it in some form or another, for the older generation its the toy they stepped on all the time while watching their kids build, for the younger generation it was a means to create a world that couldn't be made in reality. We used little minifigures to create stories and adventures we could only dream of in our heads. That was where the idea for these Lego films came from. The Lego Movie was a fantastic film, with some of the best characters in any animated film. Taking a different direction, The Lego Batman Movie aimed more at parodying Batman and creating a story that's heartfelt but also touches on serious issues with Bruce Wayne as a person. Personally, for me, I believe it may be one of my favorite Batman films to date. But regardless, this is still a risk for Lego as Ninjago isn't a known property, it comes from within their company. More than most, this film could if not handled well, become a walking ad for the toy. So how did it do? Let's discuss!
Ninjago is all about the story of Lloyd and his friends in the secret ninja force known as Ninjago. Right away, we are thrown into the action of the story with Garmadon attacking the city once again. It seems as though this is a running gag because Garmadon has attacked multiple times in just one week. We also quickly learn that he is Lloyd's father, but Garmadon doesn't realize his son is also his adversary. After pushing him and his army away right away at the beginning, they begin to train as actual ninjas. Garmadon then realizes he needs to do more to take the city and looks to his generals to create such a plan. Many people really didn't like the story of this movie, but honestly, I wasn't really all that disappointed. I will say though, they managed to avoid a large majority of the plot and focused on what is actually more of a secondary story compared to the main arc of the movie. This means people will go into this movie looking for a heavy action packed father vs. son battle but it ends up being much more childish and aimed at children. Something the other Lego movies didn't necessarily do.
Talking about characters, the major players are obviously Lloyd (Dave Franco), and Garmadon (Justin Thoreux). I liked Franco's voice work of Lloyd, he doesn't get much of a chance to really stretch his ability in this film due to the script's focus on him and his father's back and forth, but he makes good work of what he is given. The same goes for Thoreux, who is a stellar actor, he just simply seems to get a short shaft in the film because of the way it is handled. I applaud both of them for really making a good relationship between their characters despite problems with the overall style of the movie. Lloyd's friends in the ninja force are also pretty good additions to the story, as they're a group of friends who all really play their part in this arc. I would list them all, but honestly, it doesn't really feel like their film, it feels more like a film about Lloyd and they just play a part in the overall story.
Now, let's discuss some of the problems with this film. Comparing this film to the previous two in the Lego universe, it just feels like less care was put into the film as a whole. The animation feels a bit rougher overall, but still keeps up the level of quality expected. Along with this, Ninjago is a much more child-focused film than the previous two. That isn't a huge problem seeing as this is a Lego movie, but it does make the film less interesting as a whole. At times I just felt like I was watching something that the studio only wanted younger viewers to see. The story is very much geared toward that younger audience and doesn't have many nuances as a whole. Truth be told though, I wasn't expecting as thrilling of an adventure as the original Lego film, so maybe that's part of the reason I wasn't as let down by the movie as a whole.
The Lego Ninjago Movie may not be a masterwork of animation like the other films in this franchise, but it does manage to create an OK story that really fits well with younger audiences. Ninjago as a whole isn't something that can be given a ton of depth simply because it has always been a theme focused toward younger ages. Lego took a risk in using one of their household properties on a film and I think this will result in a reevaluation of spinoff films in this franchise. If you're looking for a film in this group to check into I would make this one last on the list, but if you've watched the other films and still want more, Ninjago is most definitely a good enough entry to get more Lego enjoyment!
6.5/10
