The Lego Ninjago Movie

THE LAST two Lego-themed films have been among the most ­cleverly written and funniest animated ­movies for both the young and adults alike in recent years. So, it is fair to assume that this movie came with high ­expectations.
However, this is the first Lego movie that is not based on the toy maker's biggest seller, or a pop culture icon. Instead, it is based around characters from the Lego Ninjago animated TV series.
The movie starts with a live action scene of a boy walking into an ­antique shop owned by Mr Liu, played by Chan.
Liu then tells the boy the story of Lloyd (Franco), the Green Ninja, and his Secret Ninja Force friends – the Red Ninja of fire, the Light Blue Ninja of water, the Blue Ninja of lightning, the White Ninja of ice, and Brown Ninja of earth.
These heroes defend their city of Ninjago from the daily attacks of the evil Garmadon (Theroux), who ­unbeknown to most people – ­including Garmadon himself – just so ­happens to be Lloyd's father.
That said, the film has little to do with the ­animated TV series, apart from having the same characters. This is not a bad thing.
As expected, the movie is packed with quick quips, swift gags, meta moments and rapid pop ­culture references, all wrapped up in a ­wholesome message of family and ­togetherness.
I had the most fun when Garmadon was on screen. To me, Theroux sounds so much like Justin Roiland, who voices Rick from Rick & Morty, so much so that I was expecting the villain to call on Morty to go on an adventure at any ­moment.
But, more than the previous two movies, this film caters primarily to children.
There are a lot of jokes and ­references for grown-ups, and ­lessons in doing what is good that are familiar to Lego movies, but here almost every message is told at least twice, and blatantly.
Lego movies can do better: we have seen it before.