‘LEGO Ninjago Movie’ appeal falls short of ‘LEGO Batman’
“The LEGO Movie” (2014) and “The LEGO Batman Movie” (2017) were wildly successful thanks, in part, to their wall- to-wall jokes, both verbal and visual.
Unfor tunately “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” — inspired by 1970s kung fu and monster flicks, and directed by Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan — doesn’t match the level of delirious fun of those earlier films.
Its live- action opening features Jackie Chan, playing a kindly shop owner who tells a young customer the story of Lloyd and Ninjago. Lloyd (voiced by Dave Franco in the animated part of the film) is a forlorn teenager in the seaside city of Ninjago who leads a double life. Openly, Lloyd is the much maligned son of a villain named Garmadon (Justin Theroux). But secretly, Lloyd is the Green Ninja — part of a teenage ninja crew that repeated saves the city from Garmadon’s destruction.
The other crew members
are clad in different colors, have different powers and ride around in giant animal-shaped robots as they battle Garmadon and his army.
As a sensitive kid with daddy issues, Lloyd overcompensates a bit. During one battle, he accidentally unleashes a terrifying monster — a furry feline named Meow-thra — that bats Ninjago around like a ball of yarn.
So Lloyd and the rest of the ninja crew — under the guidance of their sensei, Mr. Liu (voiced by Chan) — set out to retrieve a special weapon that can stop Meow-thra. There’s just one problem: Lloyd’s dad joins them on the trip.
“Lego Ninjago” maintains the silly, irreverent tone of the prior films, and the crew members are voiced with lots of personality by Kumail Nanjiani, Abbi Jacobson, Zach Woods, Fred Armisen and Michael Peña.
But the story element at the heart of the tale — a deepening relationship between Lloyd and Garmadon, as they get to know and accept each other — doesn’t work, partly because the LEGO characters, with their flat round plastic heads and paintedon features, can’t fully convey the emotions felt by the characters.
As a result, this film’s light, serviceable romp falls short of the antics of its high-powered predecessors.