Friday, October 20, 2017

Before viewing the Lego Ninjago movie it'd be best to know what Ninjago is

Lego Ninjago hit theaters in September. 

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm going to correct that tonight with companion, Brad Habegger. We are both not ten years old anymore. So for the benefit of anyone else out there who also finds themselves in the uncomfortable zone of admitting that one is no longer ten, I guess I should probably extend my adult brain into explaining what exactly a ninjago is (because you're in luck).

Ninjago is a portmanteau of "ninja" and "Lego." Think of "Bennifer" or "Brangelina" only in this case it is a world and not a power couple (did I use power couple correctly in a sentence?). "Ninjago" is a fictional place invented as both a theme for Lego sets and a setting for the show Ninjago: Master of Spin. This show started in 2011 and lots of kids like it. The first "Spinjitzu Master" (not to be confused with the defunct Bill O'Reilly who was "Master of the No Spin Zone") used some powerful weapons called the Four Elemental Weapons of Spinjitzu to create it. He had two sons: Lord Garmadon (evil) and Sensei Wu (good). Pretty basic right?

Garmadon (as is the case of evil creatures) was eventually banished to an underworld while Wu protected the powerful weapons. But Garmadon came back, so Wu trained four young ninjas and designated them "keeper of the weapons." They both have goals. Garmadon wants to conquer Ninjago. Wu wants to protect it.

In the movie, there are supposedly six ninjas. They are: 1) Cole (earth ninja), 2) Jay (lightning ninja), 3) Kai (fire ninja), 4) Nya (water ninja), 5) Zane (ice ninja), and 6) Lloyd (green ninja). There's a running gag where he doesn't know what "green" ninja is supposed to mean, just like the clueless audience. Lloyd is the son of Lord Garmadon, which he doesn't like, because his dad keeps attacking the city with his army. Garmadon is also an absentee father.

So that's it. Those are things I know (and from what I've read in reviews) is helpful to know before going into this movie to avoid getting lost.




5 comments:

  1. George at CineMarvellous reviewed it this week and said it was the weakest of the entries. Bummer for Jackie Chan. You'll have to let us know what you thought of it.

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  2. I'm amazed how far the people at Lego have been able to take their brand. Legos are my constant fallback when buying presents for my nephew. I've bought him a bunch of actual Lego sets but as he has an Xbox I've bought a half dozen Lego games as well. The storytelling on those are always told with a dry wit and every fight ends with Lego pieces falling apart instead of body parts like you see on more violent games. He's getting to that age where kids rebel against 'kids stuff' but I'm probably going to keep buying them. I know his much older uncle still enjoys playing Lego games from time to time.

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  3. And if I could sit through a Lego movie, I'd appreciate the explanation. (I tried to sit through the first one, but I barely made 20 minutes before I had to turn it off. These movies aren't for me. But that's cool. There are plenty of people these movies are for.)

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  4. I'd have to ask my brother but I don't think he's into those Lego sets.

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