The Lego Ninjago Movie

The Lego Movie franchise made an impressive surprise to the public in 2014 with its film debut displaying its unique animation style, fast zany jokes for the family, and crazy action sequences utilizing the environment. It's also fascinating with how it can expand a variety of spinoffs with the properties they own such as they did earlier this year with The Lego Batman Movie (one of the best animated movies of the year). That being said, there are also differences between their films and TV shows since they have been producing the latter longer than they have with the former as well as having different writers, animation budgets, stories, and voice actors. It's worth pointing this out because while the films can ride high in their first few entries, it's bound to eventually slow down once they decide to do another spinoff with one of their lesser known properties. This brings us to The Lego Ninjago Movie, the second spinoff of the Lego-verse that utilizes their longest running TV show (Lego Ninjago: Masters Spinjitzu). While I'm not familiar with this brand, what I did know was that this film isn't canonical with the aforementioned cartoon and is using celebrity actors to help grab public attention for a property not many audience members are familiar with. The trailers looked interesting enough to pique my curiosity, though the second trailer showed a little too much. The critical reception has been mixed and perhaps a little too harsh for a spinoff movie, which I decided to see how it continues the Lego-verse. I went in ready to be entertained and left the auditorium having liked the Saturday morning cartoon experience it provided despite its flaws.

Plot: The plot follows a secret ninja force, who constantly deal with a villains predictable attacks against their city, suddenly find themselves facing a new threat while one of their own confronts his daddy issues. The story structure is lopsided with the first act being too generic and cluttered with some sloppy action but afterwards finds a way to make up for it with the father-son arc (it should be noted that the marketing campaign is underselling the film's quality by primarily showing that weaker part of the story, the action bits). The father-son storyline is both a pro and a con with this film. On one hand, it's handled very well with the emotions and dynamic throughout the film while being the best one out of its predecessors, but it's somewhat repetitive in comparison with the previous films (barely touched on in The Lego Movie due to the message and The Lego Batman Movie focused on Batman's relationships overall, mostly with Robin). While this is mostly for little children, there are some good jokes spread throughout the film that get a good laugh from the adults, though it doesn't push for a few dirty ones from the Batman spinoff and not all of the comedy works. The plot is incredibly predictable and the ending can get sappy in a similar manner to its predecessors, which drags down the momentum. Overall while the story is incredibly predictable, cliched, stale with the first act and sappy ending, the emotional development for the main leads more than makes up for it while still keeping the charm and fun nature.

Characters: The characters to focus on are Lloyd Garmadon (Dave Franco) and Lord Garmadon (Justin Theroux). Lloyd is the green ninja, leader of the Secret Ninja Force, and despised by the city for being son of Lord Garmadon. Dave gives a great performance as this conflicted teenager dealing with his responsibilities as while having to face his resentment toward his deadbeat dad. Lord Garmadon is dark ninja and evil warlord, who's alway coming up with new ways to attack the city. Justin is not only great in this role but he's also the MVP of the film as a good portion of his interactions with the characters (especially Lloyd) are delightful to watch throughout the film. The lead actors shares great chemistry with each other and it's capable of helping overcoming the somewhat stale nature of the film at times. Honorable mentions go to Master Wu (Jackie Chan), Zane (Zach Woods), and Jay (Kumail Nanjiani) for their comic relief antics. Overall the two lead characters help make the experience worth watching and while most of the ninja team members are just there to be generic stereotypes, some of them standout for their humor.

Overall Consensus: The Lego Ninjago Movies success with the father son dynamic and trademark comedic style finds itself sharing the screen with generic action, stereotypical stock characters, and repetitive cliches from its predecessors. ⭑⭑⭑💻

Reasons to watch it: You enjoy the comedy and animation style of the Lego Movie franchise. You like any of the aforementioned actors. You like films that have an effective father-son dynamic. You like films that have pet animals in it. You are looking for an animated comedy that feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. You like films where Jackie Chan portrays the mentor role. You have seen the aforementioned TV show and don't mind that the film is an alternate universe version of it.

Reasons to avoid it: You are annoyed by the comedy and animation style of the Lego Movie franchise. You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You dislike films that have a father-son storyline. You dislike animated movies with generic action, stereotypical stock characters, and cliched nature.

Coming up next: October-ween is off to a wacky fun start with The Lego Ninjago Movie bringing in a standard adventure that's bogged down by its slightly worn out comedy and story but is compensated with solid lead character interaction and growth. However, now it's the time to move away from the child friendly area to the sequel of an iconic neo-noir science fiction film from the 1980s. Will this sequel manage to replicate its antecedents success (possibly surpass it) or will it suffer as a by the numbers sequel our modern day films seem to churn out? Tune in next time as Screening Spectacles will take a look at Blade Runner 2049!