It was never going to be easy following up a literal masterpiece. When The LEGO Movie dropped in 2014, it caught everyone off guard by actually being, well, good. Then The LEGO Batman Movie doubled down on the hyper-active, self-aware humor that people loved. So, by the time we got to the LEGO Ninjago movie 2017, expectations were weirdly high. It wasn't just a toy commercial anymore. People expected a "film."
What we got was... different.
Honestly, if you walk into this movie expecting the deep lore of the long-running Masters of Spinjitzu TV show, you’re going to be frustrated. The movie basically hit the reset button on everything. It kept the names—Lloyd, Kai, Nya, Jay, Zane, and Cole—but changed almost everything else about them. It was a bold move. Maybe too bold? Some fans still haven't forgiven it for that.
The Identity Crisis of The LEGO Ninjago Movie 2017
The core conflict is simple: Lloyd Garmadon is the Green Ninja, but he’s also the son of the evil Lord Garmadon, who tries to conquer Ninjago City every other Tuesday. It’s a classic "daddy issues" story wrapped in plastic.
Think about the pressure.
Lloyd is played by Dave Franco, who brings this specific kind of nervous energy to the role. He isn't the stoic leader from the show. He's a kid who gets bullied at school because his dad is a four-armed warlord. That's a heavy concept for a kids' movie, but the film handles it with a lot of sarcasm. Justin Theroux, voicing Garmadon, is arguably the best part of the whole thing. He plays the villain like a narcissistic, oblivious frat boy who happens to have shark-themed mechs.
The humor is fast. Like, blink-and-you-miss-it fast.
It uses that same "stop-motion but not really" animation style developed by Animal Logic. Every single thing you see on screen, from the water to the smoke to the fire, is built out of individual LEGO bricks. Well, except for the cat. Meowthra, a real-life tabby cat that "attacks" the city, is a genius touch that reminds us this is all happening in a child's imagination. It’s a meta-narrative trick that worked for the first movie, and here it feels like a weird, psychedelic kaiju parody.
Why the TV Fans Weren't Happy
We have to talk about the voice cast. In the Ninjago TV series, these characters had established voices for years. Fans grew up with Jillian Michaels and Sam Vincent. Then, for the big-budget the LEGO Ninjago movie 2017, the studio swapped them for Hollywood heavyweights like Jackie Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, and Michael Peña.
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It felt like a slap in the face to the "legacy" fans.
The personalities shifted too. Zane became more of a literal robot stereotype than the nuanced character he was on the small screen. Jay lost some of his inventive spark. The movie focused so heavily on the Lloyd-Garmadon relationship that the other four ninjas mostly felt like background noise. They had mechs, sure, but did they have arcs? Not really.
Jackie Chan and the Live Action Bookends
One of the coolest, yet most jarring, elements is the live-action framing. The movie starts and ends in an antique shop with Jackie Chan playing a wise shopkeeper. He’s telling the story to a young boy. It’s a direct homage to The Karate Kid and The NeverEnding Story.
Jackie Chan also choreographed the fight scenes.
If you watch closely, the way the LEGO figures move is actually based on real martial arts. It isn't just random flailing. The animators worked with Chan’s stunt team to make sure the physics—as much as plastic toy physics exist—felt authentic. This is the kind of detail that makes the LEGO Ninjago movie 2017 better than your average cash-grab animation.
The Visual Language of Ninjago City
Ninjago City in this movie is a masterpiece of production design. It looks like a cross between Tokyo, Hong Kong, and a literal toy box. There are neon signs everywhere, hanging laundry, crowded apartments, and massive docks. It feels lived-in.
- The city feels dense and vertical.
- Organic elements like sand and plants are made of actual LEGO pieces.
- The lighting uses a "global illumination" technique that makes the plastic look photoreal.
But there’s a catch.
While the first LEGO Movie felt like a celebration of creativity, this one felt a bit more like a celebration of a specific brand. It lacked that "everything is awesome" spark of pure originality. It felt like it was trying a bit too hard to be cool. The soundtrack reflects this, mixing Mark Mothersbaugh’s score with flute-heavy martial arts tropes and pop songs. It’s a mashup that shouldn't work, but somehow, it mostly does.
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The Problem with Success
Why didn't it perform as well as the others?
Timing.
The LEGO Ninjago movie 2017 came out only seven months after The LEGO Batman Movie. That is way too much LEGO in one year. Audiences were starting to feel the fatigue. Plus, Ninjago is a niche brand compared to Batman or the generic "everything" appeal of the first film. If you weren't a kid who owned the sets, you might have felt like you were crashing a party you weren't invited to.
Is It Actually Good?
Look, let’s be real. If you judge this movie against The Godfather, it’s trash. But if you judge it as a 100-minute adventure about a boy wanting his dad to notice him, it’s actually quite sweet.
The relationship between Lloyd and Garmadon is the heart. The scene where Garmadon tries to teach Lloyd how to throw a ball—but they're in the middle of a jungle and Garmadon is an idiot—is genuinely funny and touching. It captures that awkwardness of trying to connect with a parent who just doesn't get it.
The animation remains the gold standard.
Even years later, the textures on the bricks—the little scratches, the thumbprints, the "LEGO" logo on the studs—are incredible. It’s a technical marvel. The team at Animal Logic pushed the rendering engines to their limits to get that specific look. It’s why the movie doesn’t look dated today, whereas other CG films from 2017 are already starting to look a bit "soft" around the edges.
Misconceptions About the Movie
People think this movie killed the franchise. It didn't.
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It definitely signaled the beginning of the end for the Warner Bros. era of LEGO movies (before the rights moved to Universal), but it didn't kill the toys. In fact, the "Movie" line of sets are some of the most sought-after by collectors today. The Destiny’s Bounty ship from the movie is widely considered one of the best sets LEGO has ever produced. Period.
Another misconception: it's just for kids.
There are plenty of jokes in the LEGO Ninjago movie 2017 that are aimed squarely at parents. The corporate satire, the jokes about Garmadon’s multiple ex-wives, and the dry humor of Master Wu (voiced by Jackie Chan) provide enough "meta" layers to keep adults from falling asleep. Wu’s "Secret Ultimate Weapon" being a laser pointer for a cat is a top-tier gag.
Practical Takeaways for Fans and Collectors
If you're revisiting this movie or looking to get into the fandom, there are a few things you should actually do to get the full experience. Don't just watch the film and move on.
First, check out the "Behind the Bricks" featurettes. They show how they actually built the digital world. It gives you a much deeper appreciation for the work that went into the visuals.
Second, if you’re a collector, look for the "Ninjago Movie" Minifigure Series. They are significantly more detailed than the standard TV show figures. The printing is higher quality, and the accessories are more unique.
Third, watch it with the "Director’s Commentary." It’s fascinating to hear about the discarded plot lines. At one point, the movie was going to be much more of a straight-faced martial arts film. Seeing the evolution from that to the final comedy version explains a lot of the weird pacing issues.
Finally, compare it to the TV show’s "Sons of Garmadon" arc. Interestingly, the TV show eventually adopted some of the movie's designs—like Lloyd's new hair and green eyes—creating a weird bridge between the two different universes.
The LEGO Ninjago movie 2017 is a beautiful, chaotic, slightly flawed experiment. It tried to be a big-budget blockbuster and a niche fan service film at the same time. It didn't quite stick the landing on either, but the result is a movie that has more personality than 90% of the animated filler released every year. It’s weird. It’s loud. It has a giant cat. Sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.
To truly appreciate the film's legacy, compare the 2017 character designs with the current LEGO Ninjago "Dragons Rising" sets to see how the movie's aesthetic permanently influenced the brand's visual identity. Tracking these design shifts reveals how the film's higher production budget forced a permanent upgrade in toy quality across the entire Ninjago line.