Entry posted by xccj
1,393 views
A true Ninja knows when to admit defeat, and alas I must too.
The Lego Ninjago Movie was kinda meh.
There, I said it.
I mean, it was a good movie and stuff, but it is definitely the lesser of the three Lego movies. In fact, there were some of the TV show seasons that I think would outshine it in terms of story and characters. (Tournament of Elements and Skybound, to be precise.) I thought there was potential that it didn't quite live up to, so yes I was kind of disappointed.
So what follows is a semi-spoilery review. I mean, I won't say anything too serious. Like, I'll tell you WHO the Green Ninja is, but not WHY the Green Ninja is...
I guess one of the biggest issues was pacing. Parts of it felt too rushed (especially in the beginning, we were not eased into the whole concept of Ninjas fighting to save the city) while other parts felt too drawn out (like the emotional scenes in the end.) Sadly, most of the best parts were shown in the trailers. In particular, some scenes which I thought were going to be expanded on to make epic scenes... weren't. Specifically the Lloyd fight with the fridge... I thought it would be an elaborate sequence with him using a lot of props in his fight, very Jackie Chan-esque. But... it was just a clip they showed on the Ninjago news. So we literally saw all of it in the trailer. 
The one aspect I was looking forward to was the fight sequences, especially when Jackie Chan was behind them, but the movie really failed to deliver. Part of it was 'cause the Ninjas actually weren't fully trained yet, and the few "martial arts" scenes that there were felt too fast paced... I'm guessing Lego stop motion might not be the best medium for martial arts. The range of motion just isn't enough, and some of the scenes just had too much happening in them anyway. (Like WU fighting a dozen baddies, was hard to keep track of what was happening.) The one scene that did stand out was Wu vs Garmadon, which was quite enjoyable, especially when Wu begins tearing up the bridge and throwing the pieces at Garmadon. That one worked, but for a movie that was being hailed as "The Lego version of a Kung Fu movie" I felt let down.
Characterization was okay... Lloyd had his whole "discover who he was" bit that worked out well, even if it is a bit cliché. The other Ninjas had some good attempts at personalities, but they clearly did not have enough screen time to really shine. Of the five, the best jokes probably went to Zane, who played the robot bit well. (They even made his movements blockier, which is saying something for minifigure stop motion. When the other characters were running down the hallway, Zane just kinda hovers without moving his legs. Maybe it could be seen as lazy animation, I thought it was a clever visual concept to show that he was different.) I would've liked to see more of Kai, Jay, and Nya (and I guess Cole too) but they were very much secondary roles, who only got chances to shine in brief montages the five would show off their cool movies. (Nothing much was done with Jay's crush on Nya besides a few modest bits of him being awkward.) Would've liked to see more of them, but it figures they'd be sidelined given how large the cast already is. Garmadon was great, and clearly had all the best lines and jokes, and his various generals also got some chances to shine too.
But the best parts of the movie were some of the fabulous designs of Ninjago City. There was a lot there that had a Hong Kong feel, but with modern western themes too. But the design really stood out from BricksBurg and Gotham City from the other two movies. The various vehicles were well done too... although the mechs were a bit short lived, and only had a few brief chances to shine. Even then, Lloyd's dragon hogged the limelight, and there was a feel of some anime-mech sequences in there too. But when the story moved into the jungle... the scenery designs became a bit less impressive, unfortunately.
Other favorite bit; the classic Ninjago theme as Lloyd's ringtone. 
So it was still a good movie, but still a bit of a let down... and I very much went into it hoping for the best. Honestly, now I'm more excited for the next season of the television show. Yes, the animation will be less impressive and it's not like the fight sequences are any better, but the continuing story probably will be. (At the very least, it won't have to work as hard to establish all the characters.) I probably will get the Lego Ninjago Movie when it comes out on disc, simply for the ability to pause and marvel at the scenery and background characters, because soooo much zooms by on the theater screen that I know I missed out on a lot. But still... mixed feelings about this movie, and that averages below my lofty expectations. 
Anyway, those be my ramblings. Now, the Ninjago video game... THAT looks like it might be fun!
3 Comments
Recommended Comments