[REVIEW] The LEGO Ninjago Movie

When I first heard about The LEGO Ninjago Movie, I rolled my eyes, and I thought to myself that Warner Brothers was going to beat this franchise to death. The LEGO Batman Movie was one thing, it had a precedent in the main film, as Batman, was probably the best character, and to give him his own movie, just made sense. Yes, It’s not related to the story of the original movie in any way, but that’s understandable, given that they were going more for a Batman parody film, rather than a true sequel to The LEGO Movie.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie however, is a completely different thing altogether. First up, what even is a Ninjago? I think I’d seen the LEGO sets as I walked past down the toy aisle at Walmart, but beyond the fact that it was a series of toys from a franchise based on no outside properties beyond LEGO, I didn’t know what it was, so what was the point of making it into a movie? I had no plans on seeing it, because I figured it was a cheap cash-in on the success of The LEGO Movie. Then I saw the first trailer. I was actually shocked to find myself laughing through the whole thing, and by the time the giant, live-action cat showed up, I knew I’d been wrong, and I was actually excited to see the movie.

The LEGO Ninjago Movie completely blew my every expectation away. I’m not entirely convinced that this was NOT an attempt to cash in on the success of The LEGO Movie, but even if it was, this is the way you do it. The writing was hilarious, as should be expected in a LEGO movie, the characters were surprisingly well developed, and the designs of everything was excellent. I haven’t bought a LEGO set in years, but now I really want to go out and get myself a set of Lloyd’s giant green dragon mech.

I’m not going to give away much of the plot beyond what is revealed in the trailers, but for those of you who might be wondering about what the movie is about, think Power Rangers meets Transformers, meets LEGO, with a little Indiana Jones type adventure sprinkled in for good measure.

Ninjago is a LEGO city that is constantly threatened by Garmadon, a four-armed villain, who wants to rule the city. Ninjago is protected by a group of six teenage ninjas who all pilot giant mechs, to battle whatever evil force might be attacking their city, usually Lord Garmadon. However, the leader of the ninjas is a kid named Lloyd, Lloyd Garmadon, the son of their greatest foe.

Most of the plot stems from the troubles that Lloyd has endure from being the offspring of this evil tyrant. From the internal struggle to come to grips with this fact, to all the bullies, as well as just about everyone in general, hating him because of who his dad is. In true LEGO movie fashion, none of this is played very seriously, and even when it is, everything is still couched in hilarity. The one liners flow freely in this film, and barely let up even for a second.

All in all, I loved this movie, and if you were a fan of either of the first two LEGO movies, there’s a pretty good chance you will too. This movie is fun, creative, exciting, and hilarious, and I highly recommend it.