My 2 Bricks is a segment of our opinion and views. Yes, it's highly biased, so read with caution!
Obviously this post is going to be full of spoilers, but if you have not watched the movie.. SHOO!!!
So yeah, I finally caught Ninjago The Movie. It’s a little slow, but I did it because I forced myself to. I really have no connection to the theme. I watched it because… well, LEGO. Background: I have no idea what is Ninjago all about, I’ve not watched a single show of the animated version on TV, I didn’t even watch most of the Ninjago Movie trailers when it came out. Only one - the very first one that came out - which is a good thing, as I learned later on that the rest of the trailers did actually spoil some of the favourite parts of my movie. Thankfully I skipped it!
What’s the Score? My rating, 4 out of 10. (IMDB style score)
Comments / Feedback / Whatever:
During the opening of the movie, lots of great Mech fighting. I found it to be too fast for scene changes. I didn’t get to appreciate the LEGO part of it. The hazard of an AFOL, trying to look for all the cool stuff. Just like I did for TLM and TLBM
I felt that there was not sufficient background of everything and anything. Who are these people why are they there, etc. It all went by in a flash. Could not connect well with the characters.
Why did Garmadon have so many hands? In the movie, they tried to explain it but it was made into a joke, and never revealed the real reason. So, I’m still pissed about this - you can’t just have everyone else in the movie have normal 2 hands, and this dude has 4. It’s like he’s a mutant or something. Even in the real world of minifigures, I really feel weird stacking two torsos together. So that just ‘icks’ the hell outta me.
Wilhelm scream overused. I mean most movies I can’t even figure out where it was used. In this movie, somewhere at the opening scene, it was simply overused.
The powers of the Ninjas, this is another one that really disappointed me. You have all the elemental powers, then you have the Green Ninja. Ok, yes, you eventually explained why the Green in the end, but it does not cut it. Not for me at least. Very weak storytelling.
Garmadon vs Master Wu. Why does one brother have a heavy Asian accent, and the other one has perfect English. It does not fit into my realm of believability. I’m old, yes, but these things matter to me.
I really love the fire mech - I think this is how they get us to buy the toys.
Standout character aka Best supporting actor - Zane the robot slash android Ninja.
The best part of the show, the LASER POINTER + CAT combo. I didn’t see that coming (I was told later that it was revealed in the trailer, and if so, that would have ruined the WHOLE movie for me) because this is the part I laughed the hardest. I’m glad I skipped all trailers. Out of the 4 points I scored, 2 points go to this.
Why does the island - look like a real island and not made of LEGO?
Why can’t Lloyd throw? And catch? I mean, yes, Daddy never thought him, but to use that in a plot as a weakness? Really bad ideas, really bad.
Another part I laughed at, the ripped off arm/replacement. I laughed at this scene!! (Again, I checked, it was revealed in the trailers? GOSH!!! WHAT A SPOILER!!!)
Last but not least, the ending was abrupt. Just fell off the cliff just like that and ended.
Summary:
Lego was definitely not targeting me to watch the movie. It’s obviously meant for current fans out there who had some background.
It probably didn’t do too well in theatres because of the above reason
I was told the backstory of the TV Series and Movies are different (altered a little?). Even so then that’s badddd… you’re going to disappoint current fans. Which gives more reason to be unsuccessful.
Meaningless scoring breakdown:
2 points for Laser Pointer + Cat
1 point for broken arm scene
1 point, coz its LEGO
Total = 4 out of 10