Lego Ninjago is the third outting for the popular brick pieces on the big screen, and what seemed liked general similarities between The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie are clearly established in Lego Ninjago as a strict formula Lego has devised for their films.

Where Lego and Lego Batman have old, wise mentors (Vitruvius and Alfred), Ninjago has Master Wu. Where the first two have maniacal and quirky villains (Lord Business and Joker), Ninjago has Garmadon. And where the first two have heartfelt themes of maintaining family relationship, particularly with dads, Ninjago bets its 100 minute run-time on its young hero, Lloyd, mending his broken relationship with his evil father.

It just felt like this time around, the film was trying too hard. If Garmadon isn't playing hardcore antagonist, he is a high-concentrated dose of anti-hero dad, which for me felt like jarring flops between his character in attempt to satisfy both sides.

Even though so much of Lego Ninago seems so familiar, following a formula does not make it a bad movie. I actually thought the feature was fun overall. It's just unfortunate that this kung-fu entry in the Lego Cinematic Universe is also, ironically, the weakest.

Acting and Casting - 1 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 1

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