Directors: Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher

Writers: Bob Logan, Paul Fisher

Cast: Jackie Chan, Dave Franco, Fred Armisen

Runtime: 100 minutes

Genre: Family and Kids

The Lego movie franchise has had its ups and downs. The LEGO Movie didn't meet people's expectations. But after the success of The LEGO Batman Movie on the box office and amongst the fans, which also turned out to be one of the sharpest, most cine-literate superhero films around, comes Charlie Bean's The LEGO Ninjago Movie.

One major thing for which people like the Lego movie series is because kids can see their favourite characters come to life. Then there's the humour, obviously. All these movies are filled with gags every now and then.This movie is based on the line of Lego sets inspired by martial arts and kaiju monster-vs-robot romps. This is the newest addition to the series, unconnected to the previous parts.

In the town of Ninjago, a mysterious force of good ninjas stands against the repeated assaults of Lord Garmadon (Justin Theroux). Their leader (Dave Franco) is secretly Lord Garmadon's son, Lloyd, an outcast in the town for nothing but his villainous heritage. On Lloyd's birthday, Garmadon attacks the city once again only to be defeated. He escapes and fires many of his generals for failing to help him. He then begins to form a big attack to conquer Ninjago and decides to build a gigantic mech that is immune to weapons.

Lloyd meets up with his friends and Master Wu. Wu tells them they must use an Ultimate Weapon to stop Meowthra from destroying the city, which they would reach by crossing the Forest of Dangers, the Canyon of Death, and the Temple of Fragile Foundations. Garmadon overhears Wu talking about the weapon and follows close behind. He meets up with 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 Lloyd he must use inner peace before getting swept away. Summing it up, Lloyd and their wise master must go on a quest to find a secret capable of defeating Lord Garmadon and the monster they've accidentally unleashed.

The plot is clumsily constructed. The movie includes a live-action framing story with Jackie Chan which serves no purpose other than to allow its star value to increase. Although it fails to match up to the Lego Batman movie as it doesn't include the original jokes that would make one laugh, Ninjago is merely a remodel of Power Rangers with an uninteresting plot, the same old kung fu, and sloppy jokes on which you won't crack a smile. JackieChan appears in two roles. Chan and Theroux get some of the laughs out of the audience.

This is a swing and a miss for Charlie Bean as he is unsuccessful in engaging the interest of the audience. What's good about this movie is their unique animation style which we've seen in the previous parts too, the voice performances are strong and there are some wacky laughs now and then. Despite this, the movie's cheeky kung fu action-plot fails to impress.

The LEGO Ninjago stands in the end of all other Lego movies. It doesn't look good, but the messages are positive, and it's less chaotic than the first Lego movie.