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The pieces are all there, but in “The LEGO Ninjago Movie,” they never quite seem to come together as a whole.
The feature-length film adaptation of the long-running animated television series “Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu” only superficially resembles its source material, and it pales in comparison to its cinematic predecessors in terms of quality and scope. Perhaps this type of diminishing returns was unavoidable. Achieving the groundbreaking, lightning-in-a-bottle innovation of 2014’s “The Lego Movie” would be nearly impossible. The release of “The Lego Batman Movie” earlier this year demonstrated this, which was consistently zippy and amusing but, inevitably, not quite as innovative as it could have been.
Now comes “The LEGO Ninjago Movie,” which tells the story of a group of teenagers who are secretly ninjas, each possessing a unique elemental power. There is an evil Lord Garmadon (voiced by Justin Theroux), who also happens to be the father of Lloyd, the team’s Green Ninja, who they must defeat (Dave Franco). Although three directors (Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher, and Bob Logan) and a small army of writers are credited with the film’s creation, the result is only a few clever ideas that are at best chuckle-worthy.
The introduction of a live-action cat within this animated setting, dubbed Meowthra in a nod to classic Japanese movie monsters, who terrorizes Ninjago City after being accidentally summoned by a red laser pointer, is the film’s most memorable moment. However, the enjoyment of the absurd sight of a cat knocking over Lego buildings lasts about as long as the average viral video—and then you’re stuck with the realization that there isn’t much to the story.
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This is partly due to the fact that “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” is primarily about Lloyd dealing with his father issues and Garmadon attempting to figure out whether or not it is appropriate for him to be the father of Lloyd, whom he hasn’t seen since the boy was a child. In addition, with the exception of Lloyd, the other ninjas are essentially interchangeable, which is a significant departure from the television show. (I have a son who is nearly eight years old.) In this household, “Ninjago” is a popular television show. You can ask me anything.) The names and nature-related abilities of the supporting players are all the same—water, lightning, fire, and so on—but they don’t have any distinguishing characteristics beyond that. They’re just background noise, after all. They are merely filler.
This is particularly bizarre because the long-time voice actors from the TV series—who have been portraying these characters for seven seasons—have all been replaced by more well-known actors and comedians, who are then given surprisingly little to do. There’s nothing against them; they’re all excellent actors with strong voice talents who you’d be happy to see in any role, whether on television or in film; but they’re not given enough material to justify overhauling the entire cast. The change appears to be a cynical ploy to increase the film’s marketability by making it more mainstream.
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It should be noted that the actors are Kumail Nanjiani (Jay), Fred Armisen (Cole), Michael Pena (Kai), Abbi Jacobson (Nya), and Zach Woods (Zach) (Zane). Master Wu, played by Jackie Chan, is their wise leader, and Olivia Munn appears in a small supporting role as Lloyd’s mother, Koko.
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“LEGO Ninjago” also suffers from its live-action bookend narrative structure, which features Chan as a store owner who tells the legend of Ninjago to a wide-eyed youngster in the first half of the film. Nothing is accomplished by this other than to explain the presence of the cat, and it causes the film’s pacing to sluggishly begin, from which it never fully recovers.
What the film lacked in terms of world-building, both literally and figuratively, was depth. Is there anything that distinguishes this location from others? What makes it superior to the world of “The Lego Movie,” in which everything was awesome, is unclear. The parameters and characters of that film were effectively and efficiently laid out in that film. If you are unfamiliar with the show, you will have no connection to the setting if you watch this episode. Although this is the case, if you’re a fan of the television show, you’ll be surprised by how little the film has in common with it.
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Despite the larger scale (and higher budget), the movie does not use Legos for the things that make them so enjoyable: the building aspect of them, the possibility of imagination, the way they allow you to push boundaries and come up with structures and characters that may or may not make sense, but are still visually appealing. Aside from the visuals, “LEGO Ninjago” is a standard animated film with Lego-inspired visuals.
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And at times, the visuals are so jumbled that this could pass for a “Transformers” film, particularly when the ninjas climb into their various mecha to fly, climb, fight, and otherwise engage Garmadon in order to prevent him from destroying Ninjago City. In a similar vein, the sound mix made it difficult to hear the quips, one-liners, and banter, especially during the large action sequences, of which there are many. On the other hand, the jokes and the energy as a whole don’t have the contagious quality of previous Lego movies..
It’s difficult to shake the impression that Theroux is essentially reprising Will Arnett’s role as Batman from the previous two Lego movies, especially given all of the inevitable comparisons being made. The fact that he brings amusing buffoonery to this alleged super-villain—a clueless bravado, a complete lack of self-awareness—is that we’ve heard this shtick a thousand times before. In fact, even Theroux’s delivery is reminiscent of Arnett’s earlier work, and it serves as yet another reminder of how much better the predecessors were.
Even more importantly, as my son pointed out after a screening of the film (while intermittently singing the TV show’s insanely catchy theme song), the ninjas don’t even use spinjitzu, their stylized martial-arts technique that makes use of their signature elemental powers, in the film. Not really—at least not until the very end. However, it’s possible that we’ll see more of that in the sequel, which is almost certainly on the way, whether it’s warranted or not.
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