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AS any kid knows, you can make wonderful things out of Lego.

And this snappy animation proves that Warner Bros have assembled a brilliant family franchise out of the Danish bricks.

The Lego Ninjago Movie might not be the cleverest film in the series, but thanks to a string of sharp gags and a hilarious turn from Justin Theroux, it has the biggest laughs.

Scattergun

As Lego’s ninja sets and television series aren’t particularly well known, they have had to shuffle their pieces.

This time the scattergun comedy aims broad shots at martial arts movies, disaster flicks, superhero clichés and a certain recently revamped space opera.

The setting is the vaguely Japanese island of Ninjago, which is constantly under siege from Lord Garmadon (Theroux).

This four-armed supervillain is constantly being thwarted by a gang of masked, colour-coded, element-themed, teenage, but not mutant, heroes.

There’s red fire ninja Kai (Michael Pena), black earth ninja Cole (Fred Armisen), blue lightning ninja Jay (Kumail Nanjiani), grey water ninja Nya (Abbi Jacobson), and white ice android ninja Zane (Zach Woods).

At the bottom of the pile is the confused green ninja, Lloyd, whose terrifying elemental power is “green”.

That’s the least of his worries. Lloyd is the estranged son of Garmadon, which makes their big showdowns quickly turn into The Jeremy Kyle Show.

“You ruined my life,” Lloyd tells him.

“Well, that’s not true,” Garmadon growls. “I wasn’t even there for most of your life, so how can I have ruined it?”

Theroux isn’t known for his comic timing, but he grabs his opportunity with both, weirdly cupped, hands.

Jackie Chan also seems to be enjoying himself voicing the Yoda-like Master Wu, the ninjas’ leader.

Kids should love the Lego, the action and the slapstick. For adults, there’s some sharp and unusually edgy dialogue.

It’s not been a vintage year, but The Lego Ninjago Movie could be the funniest film of 2017.