Checked out the latest Lego movie, the Lego Ninjago Movie. Probably seem curious if I said this movie skews too young when the other two Lego movies exist and I thought they were good. But really The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie had content that could appeal to an adult (or a parent)… but Lego Ninjago does not.
To be fair, the only thing I know about the Ninjago is how to pronounce it. But it’s apparently a line of Lego toys AND a long-running tv show. It’s quite possible I just didn’t “get” this movie… though based on what I’ve read since I saw the movie, the movie has very little to do with the show (which might make some tiny humans with high-pitched voices angry). I wouldn’t know… all I can do is rate the flick I saw.
And I was largely bored with the movie. It seems to be a spoof of color-coded teen ninja shows like Power Rangers and Voltron… or action movies in general. Or maybe it’s a spoof of its own tv show. But I didn’t find anything it said or did funny or particularly interesting, exciting, or original.
Basic story… the peaceful vaguely Japanese city of Ninjago is dangerously close Lord Gargamon’s sinister ever-erupting volcano base. On regular, predictable intervals, he attacks with his mecha army and five or six mysterious friendly color-coded ninjas show up to protect the city. The gimmick is that the Green Ninja is secretly the son of the deadbeat dad Lord Gargamon… everyone knows his teen alter ego is his son, but not that he’s the Green Ninja. Much father/son angst and bonding ensues.
I was mostly bored with the first half of the movie but thought the second half was better in that it stopped being a random spoof of random action movies and kind of sort of had an emotional through-line. Not a great emotional through-line , but at least it was more interesting than the action.
Not that the action is terrible from a technical standpoint. This is, as usual, a really good looking Lego movie. Nothing against it technically. Just something against the entire movie. Maybe fans of the series or toy will like it or maybe I’m just a grumpy gus and it works for most folks who just want a spoof of secret ninja teen movies and shows. All I know is that I was gravely bored and then only a little less bored.
Score: 64