The LEGO Ninjago Movie

The LEGO Ninjago Movie is a theatrical film that was released on September 22, 2017. It is a spin-off to 2014's The LEGO Movie, and is based off of the plot and characters from the LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu TV show. The film introduced an entirely new voice cast and crew, and is not canon to the TV show, but is canon to the LEGO Cinematic Universe. To create a transition for new fans of the series, the film inspired a new design for the TV show's eighth season.

The film follows the origins of the Ninja, who start off as six teenagers that are trained by an elderly ninja master, Wu, to save their city from the evil Lord Garmadon. Yet Garmadon must cope with the fact that one of the Ninja, Lloyd, is his son.

Synopsis
''Six teenagers are "hired" by an old master (Jackie Chan) and become ninja heroes at night, defeating monsters and riding awesome vehicles and dragons to protect the far-away land of Ninjago and its capital city. Meanwhile, a hungry warlord (Justin Theroux) plots for revenge on his brother, who is the master that trained the ninjas.''

Plot
A young boy ventures into an old relic shop, where he meets its 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 this relationship, 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, 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 throws many of his generals out the volcano for failing to help him. He then beings 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 the Ninja of their respective powers: Nya's power over water, Kai's power of fire, Jay's power over lightning, Cole's power over earth, and Zane's power over ice. Wu then states that Lloyd is the green element, only to be confusing Loyd 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 Ninja 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 revealing to Lloyd that Koko formerly being a ninja warrior herself, her cover name being The Lady Iron Dragon, Nya's idol. 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
Various civilians of Ninjago City appear in the film. Garmadon leads an army of people dressed as sea creatures, with many of them being sharks.
 * Lloyd - Dave Franco, the Green Ninja, the son of Lord Garmadon and Koko, and Wu's nephew. He rides a green mech dragon.
 * Kai - Michael Peña, the red Ninja of fire and Nya's older brother. He uses the giant Fire Mech.
 * Jay - Kumail Nanjiani, the blue Ninja of lightning. He uses the Lightning Jet.
 * Zane - Zach Woods, the robotic white Ninja of ice. He uses the Ice Tank.
 * Cole - Fred Armisen, the strong black Ninja of earth. He uses the Quake Mech.
 * Nya - Abbi Jacobson, the cunning Ninja of water and Kai's younger sister. She uses the Water Strider.
 * Master Wu - Jackie Chan, the elderly and humorous master of the Ninja, as well as Lord Garmadon's brother and Lloyd's uncle.
 * Lord Garmadon - Justin Theroux, the menacing warlord who threatens Ninjago, as well as Lloyd's father, Koko's former husband, and Wu's brother. In battle, he uses a giant mechanical shark, and a hammerhead-esque mech.
 * Koko - Olivia Munn, the mother of Lloyd and the former spouse of Lord Garmadon.

Box Office
As of it's close date of November 30, 2017, The LEGO Ninjago Movie has grossed $59.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $63.0 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $123 million.

In North America, the film was released alongside Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Friend Request. 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 Reception
The LEGO Ninjago Movie received mixed reviews from critics. On review website "Rotten Tomatoes," the film has an approval rating of 53% based on 109 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10 and 52% from the audience. 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 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. iMDB rated the movie 6.1/10, while IGN gave it a 7.5/10. 86% of Google users liked the film.

Series Connections

 * "The Weekend Whip' by The Fold is used as the ringtone for Lloyd's cellphone when Garmadon "accidentally" calls him. The theme is often used in the intro of Ninjago episodes.
 * None of Jay Vincent and Michael Kramer's music or themes from the TV show are used in the film.
 * Koko is based off the character of Misako, Garmadon's wife in the TV show. In the film, Koko is much younger than Misako.
 * Also, the character of Harumi is based off Koko's appearance. The two characters have no connection to one another.
 * When he discovers what his element is, Lloyd asks Wu why his element can't be gold. This is a reference to the TV show, in which Lloyd became the Golden Ninja.
 * Shortly after, he mentions the element of Wind. In the TV show, Morro is the Master of Wind, and believed he was destined to be the Green Ninja and he also possessed Lloyd for a short period of time.
 * During the flashback to when Garmadon met Koko, they're seen fighting an army of warriors who wear the helmets of Anacondrai Cultists. This is likely a reference to said faction.
 * Garmadon takes the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon from the Ninja and tries using it to defeat Meowthra, after which he's consumed by her. This is a reference to the TV show, in which Garmadon takes the Golden Weapons from the Ninja (with their permission) and he tries using them to defeat the The Great Devourer, after which he's consumed.
 * In the TV show, the Devourer explodes after eating Garmadon; the weapon has no effect on Meowthra and she eventualy regurgitates Garmadon.
 * In the film, the Ninja lose Wu and must make a shaky alliance with Lord Garmadon to defeat Meowthra. This bears resemblance to "Day of the Great Devourer," in which Wu had been eaten by the Great Devourer and the Ninja had to make a brief alliance with Garmadon to defeat the creature.

Trivia

 * This is not Lloyd's first cinematic appearance. He had made several cameos in The LEGO Movie.
 * A LEGO version of Ferris Bueller from Ferris Bueller's Day Off makes a cameo appearance in both the second trailer and the released film alongside the other students moving away from Lloyd as he is entering the bus.
 * Meowthra's name is a reference to the Godzilla Kaiju, Mothra.
 * Mr. Liu's decision to train the boy into a ninja may be a reference to The Karate Kid. This is likely because Jackie Chan, the actor of Mr. Liu, also has an iconic portrayal as a mentor and sensei to another young boy, Dre Parker.
 * The movie was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 19.
 * The movie is 101 minutes long, the exact same runtime as The LEGO Movie.
 * It is the second theatrical film with a wide release to be based on a Cartoon Network series after The Powerpuff Girls Movie.
 * This movie is non-canon from the TV Series.
 * The Latin American version is the only one that does not change the dubbing, except for Lloyd, Nya, Koko, and Wu.
 * Running gag: Lord Garmadon keeps mispronouncing Lloyd's first name as "Luh-Loyd" (which captions interpret as "La-Loyd").
 * On the Blu-ray release, it had 11 minutes of Season 8.
 * The scene where Wu tells Lloyd  Jump, Lloyd, jump  while fleeing the temple of Fragile Foundations is simlar to Star Wars: A New Hope, where after obi wan kenobi is killed by Darth Vadar he tells luke from the dead " Run, Luke, Run"
 * The trailers show Lloyd revealing himself to Garmadon at the bottom of Ninjago City. This was likely a work-in-progress scene as the final version shows Lloyd revealing himself to Garmadon on top of Ninjago Tower after Meowthra is unleashed.