The Lego Ninjago Movie Information

The Lego Ninjago Movie is a 2017 3D computer-animated action comedy martial arts film produced by Warner Animation Group. Co-directed by Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan, the film was co-written by Logan, Fisher, William Wheeler, Tom Wheeler, Jared Stern and John Whittington. The film stars the voices of Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Fred Armisen, Abbi Jacobson, Olivia Munn, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Pea, Zach Woods and Jackie Chan. The story within a story 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.

Based on the Lego Ninjago toy line, it is an international co-production of the United States and Denmark, the first theatrical film to be based on an original Lego property, and the third installment of The Lego Movie franchise. It was released in the United States on September 22, 2017, in 3D, 2D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX 3D by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $81 million worldwide against its $70 million budget.

Plot

A young boy ventures into an old relic shop, where he meets the mysterious owner, Mr. Liu, who begins to tell the boy the legend of Ninjago.

Ninjago is a city that is frequently attacked by the evil Lord Garmadon, who is the father of Lloyd Garmadon and husband of Koko. The city despises Lloyd for being Lord Garmadon's son, which puts Lloyd in emotional stress. They do not know that Lloyd is part of the secret ninja force, consisting of Nya, Zane, Jay, Cole, Kai and their master named Master Wu who always stop Garmadon from taking over the city. 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.

Meanwhile, Lloyd and his friends see the return of Master Wu, back from his long trip. Master Wu tells them they aren't real ninjas if they use only mechs and machines. He discusses with Lloyd that he is the green element, only to be confusing Lloyd with that topic. Master Wu tells Lloyd he must not be angry at Garmadon; he must use his mind to fight. Wu mentions an Ultimate Weapon, giving Lloyd an idea to finally defeat Garmadon once and for all, despite being forbidden to use it.

The next day Garmadon attacks the city with his giant mech. He successfully defeats Lloyd and his own mech. As Garmadon declares his rule over Ninjago, Lloyd returns with the Ultimate Weapon. He fires it, revealing it to be a laser that attracts a real-life cat named Meowthra. Meowthra starts destroying the city while trying to get the laser. Garmadon points the laser to make the cat destroy the other mechs, before Lloyd breaks it. As Garmadon celebrates his victory, Lloyd reveals that he is the green ninja, and tells Garmadon that he wishes he wasn't his father, leaving Garmadon speechless.

Lloyd meets up with his friends and Master Wu, who are all upset with him for using the weapon. Wu tells them they must use an Ultimate, 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.

The ninjas decide to continue on, with Garmadon leading them much to Lloyd's disappointment. They are caught by Garmadon's former generals, who want revenge. The ninjas try to fight but are easily defeated; they retreat leaving Lloyd and Garmadon behind to be caught by the generals. The generals begin to fire Lloyd and Garmadon into a volcano. However, the rest of the ninjas save the day using stealth fighting. They all work together with Garmadon to escape the angry generals by building a makeshift helicopter, and Lloyd and Garmadon bond together in the process.

They eventually crash down onto the Temple of Fragile Foundations. Garmadon reveals that it is his home, as well as Koko formerly being a ninja warrior herself. He reveals to 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 ninjas find the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon, consisting of a set of trinkets, only to have it stolen by Garmadon who still wants to take over the city. He wants Lloyd to be his general, but Lloyd rejects his offer. Out of fury, 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, escaping from the collapsing temple. As they fall of a cliff, Wu saves them with his ship, and they head towards Ninjago.

Garmadon arrives and tries to control Meowthra with the weapons 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, which brings everything together. He comforts Meowthra and tells Garmadon he forgives him and that he's sorry. Garmadon cries tears of fire, which causes Meowthra to spit him out. After reconciling, Garmadon moves in with Lloyd and Koko, Meowthra becomes the mascot of Ninjago, and Lloyd is hailed as a hero.

As the story concludes, Mr. Liu tells the boy that he will start to train him as a ninja.

Cast

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• Dave Franco as Lloyd Garmadon, the Green Ninja, leader of the Secret Ninja Force, Lord Garmadon and Misako's son, and Master Wu's nephew.
• Justin Theroux as Lord Garmadon, the Dark Ninja, an evil warlord, the father of Lloyd, the ex-husband of Misako and the brother of Master Wu.
• Michael Pea as Kai, the hotheaded, red Ninja of Fire and Nya's brother.
• Kumail Nanjiani as Jay, the quiet and cautious, blue Ninja of Lightning.
• Abbi Jacobson as Nya, the strong, silver Ninja of Water, Kai's sister, and Jay's crush.
• Zach Woods as Zane, the robotic, white Ninja of Ice.
• Fred Armisen as Cole, the laid-back, music-loving black Ninja of Earth.
• Jackie Chan as Master Wu, the wisecracking leader of the group, Lord Garmadon's brother and Lloyd's uncle.
  • Chan also plays Mr. Liu, an elderly shopkeeper who appears in the live-action part of the film to explain the story of Ninjago to a young boy, played by Kaan Guldur.
• Olivia Munn as Misako "Koko"?, Lord Garmadon's ex-wife and Lloyd's mother.
• Randall Park as Chen the Cheerleader
• Retta as Maggie the Cheerleader
• Constance Wu as the Mayor of Ninjago
• Charlyne Yi as Terri IT Nerd
• Chris Hardwick as Radio DJ
• Robin Roberts as herself
• Michael Strahan as himself
• David Burrows as Fuchsia Ninja
• Ali Wong as General Olivia
• Todd Hansen as General Omar
• Doug Nicholas as General Jollty
• Laura Kightlinger as Mrs. Laudita
• Pearl and Ruby as Meowthra, a live-action cat that terrorizes Ninjago.

Development

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 Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu 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 Pea, 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 there lines where their characters interact with each other together in a single sound booth. 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".

Soundtrack

Mark Mothersbaugh, who composed the score for The Lego Movie, returned to score The Lego Ninjago Movie.

Release

The Lego Ninjago Movie was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on September 22, 2017, in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D. It was originally scheduled for a September 23, 2016 release. 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 the 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.

Marketing

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.

Reception

Box office

, The Lego Ninjago Movie has grossed $46 million in the United States and Canada, and $35.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $81.9 million.

In North America, the film was released alongside Kingsman: The Golden Circle 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 aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on 83 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. 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 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.