The Lego Ninjago Movie


The Lego Ninjago Movie is a 2017 computer-animated martial arts adventure-comedy film based on the toy line of the same name. Directed by Charlie Bean in his directorial debut, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan from a screenplay by Logan, Fisher, William Wheeler, Tom Wheeler, Jared Stern and John Whittington, it is the first theatrical film to be based on an original Lego property. It is the third film of The Lego Movie franchise as well as its second spin-off. Starring the voices of Dave Franco, Michael Peña, Kumail Nanjiani, Abbi Jacobson, Zach Woods, Fred Armisen, Jackie Chan, Justin Theroux and Olivia Munn, the film focuses on Lloyd Garmadon, a teenage ninja, as he attempts to accept the truth about his villainous father while a new threat emerges to endanger his homeland.
The film is an international co-production of the United States and Denmark. The film was produced by the Warner Animation Group alongside RatPac Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Dan Lin's Lin Pictures, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's Lord Miller Productions, and Roy Lee's Vertigo Entertainment, and was released in the United States on September 22, 2017 in 2D, 3D, and Dolby Cinema formats by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics. As it grossed $123.1 million worldwide against its $70 million budget, the film was a box office disappointment compared to the two previous films in the series.

Plot

A young boy visits an old relic shop where he meets the mysterious elderly owner Mr. Liu, who begins to tell him the story of Ninjago, a city within the LEGO universe which is frequently terrorized by the evil Lord Garmadon, who is the father of teenager Lloyd Garmadon and ex-husband of Misako. Everybody in all of the city of Ninjago hates Lloyd for being Lord Garmadon's son, thus putting Lloyd under emotional stress. Unbeknownst to them, Lloyd is part of a secret ninja force consisting of Nya, Zane, Jay, Cole, Kai and their master named Wu, who always stop Garmadon from taking over Ninjago City by fighting with mechs. When the general is again unsuccessful at conquering Ninjago, Garmadon's tech division shows him a new mech.
Meanwhile, Lloyd and his friends see the return of Master Wu, who tells them they aren't real ninja if they use only mechs to fight and hints that what will truly defeat Garmadon is their "unique element". He tells Lloyd that his particular element is green, but to Lloyd's frustration, all the other ninjas have a certain special element. Wu also mentions an "Ultimate Weapon" during their talk, giving Lloyd the hope of defeating Garmadon once and for all, despite Wu warning them that nobody can ever use the device. The next day, Garmadon again attacks Ninjago City with his giant mech and finally defeats Lloyd. As Garmadon arrogantly gloats over his conquering of Ninjago, Lloyd returns with the Ultimate Weapon and fires it only to reveal it's a laser pointer that attracts a live-action cat named Meowthra. Garmadon points the laser at the mechs which the cat destroys, but Lloyd breaks the laser pointer. As Garmadon celebrates his victory, Lloyd unmasks himself and tells Garmadon that he wishes he weren't his father, leaving Garmadon confused.
Lloyd meets up with his friends and Master Wu, who tells them they must use an "Ultimate, Ultimate Weapon" in order to stop Meowthra from destroying Ninjago City which is on the other side of Ninjago Island. Garmadon overhears Wu talking about the weapon, follows close behind, intercepts Wu and fights him only to end up in a cage defeated. However, Wu loses his balance and falls off a bridge into a river telling the ninja they must find "inner peace" before getting swept away. The ninja decide to continue on with Garmadon leading them, much to Lloyd's disappointment. Despite this, the two bond through their journey while the ninja learn to not to rely solely on their mechs to fight. The group survives an encounter with Garmadon's fired generals, and Garmadon teaches Lloyd to throw things.
They eventually crash down onto the Temple of Fragile Foundations, Garmadon's childhood home. He tells Lloyd that he wishes he had stayed with him and his mom after deciding to conquer Ninjago but he couldn't change so he had to stay behind. The ninja find the Ultimate, Ultimate Weapon consisting of a set of trinkets, only to have it stolen by Garmadon who remains resolute in taking over the city. He offers for Lloyd to be his general, but Lloyd rejects his offer. In a villainous breakdown, Garmadon locks all of them in the temple as it begins to collapse. Lloyd realizes that "inner peace" means for them to unleash their power within, and they successfully do this using their elemental powers and escaping from the collapsing temple. As they fall off a cliff, Wu saves them with his ship, the "Destiny's Bounty", and they head toward Ninjago.
Garmadon arrives and tries to defeat Meowthra with the Ultimate, Ultimate Weapon but Meowthra eats Garmadon instead. Lloyd and the crew arrive and begin fighting Garmadon's army. As Lloyd approaches Meowthra, he reveals to everyone that he is the green ninja and realizes that green means life and that his element of green is what connects the ninja together and his family together. He comforts Meowthra and apologizes to Garmadon profusely, saying that he forgives him. Garmadon cries tears of fire, which causes Meowthra to vomit him out. After reconciling, Meowthra becomes the mascot of Ninjago and Lloyd is hailed as a hero.
As the story concludes, Mr. Liu informs the boy that he will start training him as a ninja at dawn after the boy shows him great reflexes and ninja potential after listening to the story.

Cast

On September 17, 2013, Warner Bros. announced that it was developing an animated Ninjago film based on the Lego toy line Lego Ninjago. The Hageman brothers, who wrote the show and co-wrote the story of The Lego Movie, would write the adaptation. Charlie Bean was announced as director, and The Lego Movie team of Dan Lin, Roy Lee, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller as producers. On June 27, 2016, the film's voice cast was announced, including Dave Franco, Michael Peña, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods, Fred Armisen, Jackie Chan, and Abbi Jacobson. Additional voice cast included Justin Theroux as Lord Garmadon and Olivia Munn as Koko.

Filming

In order to give the film a more believable father-son atmosphere, Dave Franco and Justin Theroux recorded most of their lines where their characters interact with each other together in a single recording studio. During the process, Franco openly admitted he found himself uncontrollably crying while recording some of his lines. Franco stated "I found myself getting caught up in the moment and basically crying harder than I have in any live-action movie I’ve ever been in".
Jackie Chan choreographed all of Master Wu's fight scenes in live action before they were recreated in animation for the film. Chan found the experience new to him as well as interesting. “Everything the stunt team does, the ninja do also”, Chan commented.

Soundtrack

, who composed the score for The Lego Movie, returned to score The Lego Ninjago Movie. Along with the score, the album includes Master Wu's flute music, played by Greg Pattillo, and five new songs created for the movie. The song "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar appeared in the film's trailers but is not included on the score album; other pop songs in the film are likewise not included.

Release

The Lego Ninjago Movie premiered at the Regency Village Theater on September 16, 2017 before it was widely released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 22, 2017, in 3D, RealD 3D, and Dolby Cinema It was originally scheduled for a September 23, 2016 release. The film was released in Denmark on September 21, 2017. It was released in the Philippines on September 27, 2017.
A short film, The Master, that promoted the feature film was shown in front of screenings of Storks, which took the original September 23 release date. On February 8, 2017, the first trailer was released. The trailer was shown in front of screenings of The Lego Batman Movie. On July 22, 2017, a second trailer for the film was shown as part of San Diego Comic-Con and released on YouTube later in the day. Both trailers feature the song "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift, with the second trailer also featuring "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette, "Ain't Gonna Die Tonight" by Macklemore and "I Wanna Go Out" by American Authors.
The Lego Ninjago Movie was originally planned for an IMAX release, as evident in trailers, and Facebook, but was cancelled and only received non-IMAX presentations and then eventually, took over the IMAX screenings.

Marketing

Over twenty Lego sets inspired by scenes from the film were released for the film including a set of Collectible Minifigures. A video game by TT Fusion based on the film, The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game, was released on September 22, 2017, for Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game is similar to previous Lego games, with some new features such as multiplayer and new techniques.

Home media

The Lego Ninjago Movie was released on Digital HD on December 12, 2017, and DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and 4K Blu-ray on December 19, 2017, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Video game

Based on The Lego Ninjago Movie, it was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, alongside the film, in North America on 22 September 2017, and worldwide on 20 October 2017. It serves as the second spin-off video game and the third game in The Lego Movie franchise.

Sets

Reception

Box office

The Lego Ninjago Movie grossed $59.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $63.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $123 million against a $70 million budget.
In North America, the film was released alongside and Friend Request. Various tracking services had the film projected to gross anywhere from $27–44 million from 4,047 theaters in its opening weekend. However, after making $5.8 million on its first day, weekend projections were lowered to $21 million. It ended up debuting to $21.2 million, finishing third at the box office and ranking as the lowest opening of the Lego franchise by over 50%.

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 56% based on 133 reviews and an average rating of 5.83/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Despite ample charm and a few solid gags, The Lego Ninjago Movie suggests this franchise's formula isn't clicking like it used to." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Andrew Barker of Variety wrote: "Plenty entertaining and occasionally very funny, Ninjago nonetheless displays symptoms of diminishing returns, and Lego might want to shuffle its pieces a bit before building yet another film with this same model."

Accolades