The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie is by far the weakest of the LEGO® franchise be it theatrical or direct-to-video as the humor doesn’t really work and it’s just a bland animated flick that might appeal to a younger audience.
The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie
(2017)
Genre(s): Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Warner Bros. | PG – 101 min. – $29.99 | December 19, 2017
Date Published: 01/13/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 2.5/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: In the battle of NINJAGO® City, Lloyd (DAVE FRANCO), high school student by day (though we only actually see him in high school once) and Green Ninja by night, gets thrown into the ultimate adventure with his secret warrior friends Cole aka Earth Ninja (FRED ARMISEN), Kai aka Fire Ninja (MICHAEL PENA), Jay aka Lightening Ninja (KUMAIL NANJIANI), Zane aka Ice Ninja (ZACH WOODS), and Nya aka Water Ninja (ABBI JACOBSON). Led by the wise and wisecracking Master Wu (JACKIE CHAN), they must defeat evil warlord Garmodon (JUSTIN THEROUX), The Worst Guy Ever, who also happens to be Lloyd’s dad. On their courageous journey, they learn to band together to unleash their inner power in a showdown to save the city.
Quick Hit Review: Before I get into my (brief) review, I have to say that I am so glad I never got into LEGO® collecting just for not only how many sets there are but the cost of them. So, with that out of the way, both The LEGO® Movie and The LEGO® Batman Movie were box office and critical successes and served as further promotion for the brand. Although I wasn’t as big of a fan of the Batman version (liked it okay), The LEGO® Movie was fantastic. Well, no surprise they’re going to keep the cash flow going and the latest is The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie which was easily the weakest of the three, which also showed at the box office earning only $123M worldwide. Maybe it’s because I barely heard of this brand of LEGO® (though know there is a television series), but I really found this rather bland and outright boring. The voice acting was fine I suppose and the animation, while nothing extraordinary, was pretty to look at, but the story was lame and worse yet, the jokes rarely landed albeit I did manage to chuckle a couple of times. I won’t say it was difficult to sit through, I did find myself looking at the timer wondering when it would end. Never a good sign.
The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie is by no means terrible and I guess younger viewers will be kept mesmerized by the action and colors but this is at best an average CGI animation flick and I can only hope The LEGO® Movie sequel delivers because this one certainly did not. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5 |
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This release comes with a semi-glossy slip cover and inside is a Digital HD redemption code. Audio Commentary – Co-Director Charlie Bean, Editors David Burrows, Garrett Elkins, Ryan Folsey, Doug Nicholas, Todd Hansen and John Venzon, Layout Supervisor David Scott, Animation Director Matt Everitt, Associate Producer Kristen Murtha, Production Supervisor Alex Kauffman & Music Executives Nicky Sharon (sp?) and Amanda Narkis. Yes, that is A LOT of participants and took a bit of time getting them all down (one I couldn’t quite find) and being in a variety of positions offer up different perspectives of the animation production. Featurettes:
Mini Movies (9:45; HD)
LEGO® NINJAGO® TV Series Sneak Peek (11:14; HD) gives viewers a glimpse at the TV series. Music Videos (6:58; HD)
Deleted Scenes (7:40; HD) – There are three scenes (and a test), in early animation form, that were cut. Includes commentary by Charlie Bean. Gimme Some Outtakes (4:42; HD) Promotional Material (20:28; HD):
Preview – Justice League |
VIDEO – 5.0/5 |
| Warner Brothers releases The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie onto 4K UHD presented in its original theatrical 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and a 2160p high-definition transfer and of course does look fantastic with bright colors bolstered by the HDR10 while detail is incredibly sharp and nicely defined. Obviously animated features take full advantage of these new formats and as it did on Blu-ray, same goes on 4K and this does look fantastic. |
AUDIO – 4.75/5 |
| The disc comes with both a Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and watching the movie with the former track, I was actually impressed as the film features not only clean dialogue levels coming from the center channel but some major bass usage providing that extra depth that I don’t always hear in an animated film. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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Overall, The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie is by far the weakest of the LEGO® franchise be it theatrical or direct-to-video as the humor doesn’t really work and it’s just a bland animated flick that might appeal to a younger audience. The 4K released by Warner offers up excellent video/audio transfers and a so-so selection of bonus features. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.