Lego franchise goes from creative blocks to creative block
The Lego Ninjago Movie
U cert, 101 min Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher, Bob Logan
The Lego Ninjago Movie – that’s Nin-jah-go, not Ninja-go – is, unlike its forerunners The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie, the allyelling embodiment of your very worst toy-to-film fears. It is based on the Lego sets inspired by martial arts and kaiju monster-vs-robot romps, and is unconnected to the long-running Ninjago animated series.
In the multicultural megalopolis of Ninjago, whenever trouble rears its head, five colour-coded teens transform into their secret ninja alter-egos. Trouble, here, is synonymous with Lord Garmadon (Justin Theroux), a volcano-dwelling despot and the estranged father of high-schooler Lloyd Garmadon (Dave Franco), who’s a social outcast thanks to his totalitarian parent. He also happens to be one of the ninjas, but that’s his secret – at least until the second half, and a fatherson reconciliation in the treacherous forest beckons.
There’s a wealth of source material out there that The Lego Ninjago Movie could have mined. But instead, the film’s nine credited writers opt for a tone best described as “internet humour” – a shrill barrage of nonsequitur jokes. It also looks miserably bland, often verging on ugly, and the plot is bamboozlingly inept.
Part of the problem is the mere existence of Disney’s Big Hero 6, which recently covered so much of The Lego Ninjago Movie’s remit with infinitely more panache. The franchise has gone from creative blocks to creative block in one disappointing step. RC