We’ve now reached he final theatrically released LEGO movie I’ll be looking at rom Warner Bros. Animation as the next LEGO movie to be released in theaters would be a documentary about Pharrell told using LEGO released from Universal. I do hope we get more LEGO movies at the quality of the original and LEGO Batman.
I can’t say that I am the biggest fan of those movie, however. Admittedly, part of that is on me as I know next to nothing about Ninjago which is LEGO’s most popular original IP. Ninjago, at the time of this writing is one of if not the longest running LEGO line. Unfortunately, this is a line that never grabbed my attention.
This movie suffers from a problem I’ve noticed with big budget movies based on toys or tv shows that are niche. This movie tries to please longtime fans of Ninjago while also introducing the world to a wider audience. Yet the problem there is with introducing the world of Ninjago, it expects people who don’t know anything about the franchise to go along with the ride while at the same time for longtime fans is a turnoff as apparently this movie mischaracterized everyone and was retelling of the stories from the first two seasons and by the the time this movie came out, the show was on it’s seventh or eighth season. So for fans, this movie was retreading material the show had long moved on from while not giving them the characters they know and casting celebrity voice actors instead of using the voice actors from the show.
This again goes back to how this is a movie for no one by trying to make it for everyone. From what I’ve read, the directors set out to make a LEGO movie and not a Ninjago movie which I kinda get as this movie was the third movie released part of the LEGO movie franchise which all have a more comedic slant. And don’t misunderstand me, LEGO has always had a sense of humor about itself but Ninjago is a long running series that has deep lore and fans that respect and care about the lore. I almost feel it would have worked better if this movie had been a Ninjago first movie respecting the source material with sprinkles of LEGO humor. Instead of the other way around.
Does anyone remember Bionicle? That was another a lore heavy line from LEGO which had a few direct to video movies which perhaps because they were direct to video, they were able to treat the lore with respect. And Ninjago is a fantasy series even if it doesn’t seem it but it does fit the mold.
First Appearance/Personality
We first se our villain of the movie, Lord Garmadon on a news report that is a parody of morning news show, Good Morning America down to even having GMA reporters Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan and yikes, they do not look good.
It takes a while before we see Garmadon appear in person and once we do, he is shown to be the biggest threat to Ninjago City which with how he carries himself I find kinda hard to believe. I did a quick glance of the tv Garmadon on the Ninjago Wiki and the tv version paints him as a tragic figure yet this movie just made him a stock kids movie villain. He’s closer intone to Lord Business which again speaks to the idea of how this isn’t a Ninjago movie but a LEGO movie.
In most other cases, you can get away with that, LEGO and Batman are properties that had been around for years by the time their movies came out so doing comedic takes on the overall LEGO brand or Batman makes sense but with this being the cinematic debut for Ninjago, I’m not sure leaning so hard into comedy was the best option. I have seen some people say that this s a high school AU and that does make sense but it still fails as an introduction to this world for the wider audience.
I am not saying a Ninjago can’t work but rather with this movie, fans who were expecting a Ninjago movie didn’t get that and fans who expected a movie like the other three LEGO movies were confused. I know this is a long tangent and I am not focusing on Garmoadon’s personality much but honestly there isn’t much to say. Like I’ve said, he’s just another comedic villain when if this movie had stayed true to the spirit of this series, it sounds like he could have been a menacing foe with a tragic backstory which would have been something different for this series.
Grand Desire
Garmadon technically has two, the first which falls into the stock evil villain category is to take over Ninjago City which we see him attempt numerous times throughout the movie. It’s stock and basic and is what you expect of a cartoon villain. Yet, that’s my issue, the one thing I’ve praised how other three LEGO Movie villains for is having deeper commentary. Lord Business reflects how Finn saw his father and how his father was gatekeeping LEGO. Rex Dangervest while not my favorite is a good commentary on what teens think growing up means isn’t always growing up and LEGO Joker is a funny parody of the Clown Prince of Crime while also serving good commentary on toxic relationships.
Thankfully, we do get a better and much more interesting desire from Garmadon s his son, Lloyd is the leader of the ninja and Garmadon wishes to reconnect with his son. And that does happen throughout he movie as they do reconnect on their journey to stop Meowthra (a cat who looks like a giant to minifgures and they treat like a kaiju). Yet, it comes at a cost as Garmadon wants his son to become his number one general and conquer Ninjago. Lloyd being a protector is obviously against this and well also because up until this point, Lloyd hated being his son as it made him an outcast in the city.
Most Evil Deed
From a villain perspective I’ve truly got nothing as being so focused on comedic relief and ten guiding the ninja, he tries to turn over a new leaf. I dunno I guess maybe him being a deadbeat dad is the closest thing I can come up with.
Actually, while being a deadbeat dad and never being here for Lloyd is a big part of what makes Garmadon despicable but I believe another case could be made for how Garmadon constantly ire’s his generals and this leads to them forming a tribe. Btw by firing, I mean literally firing them out of a volcano. He won’t be winning any best boss awards anytime soon.
Demise
Meowthra wallows Garmadon and Lloyd attempts to reconnect with his father and that gets him to be spat out. And he father and son reunite alongside his mom as they become a family again.
Is Lord Garmadon a Good Villain?
I feel weird even attempting to answer as someone who isn’t familiar with the source material. I think he’s a fine villain if just looking at him as a LEGO villain but as someone who isn’t familiar with the source material and only did a cursory glance, he seems like a poor representation of the character of the villain from the franchise.
This again goes back to how I’ve said part of the problem with this movie is Ninjago being too niche for a parody like this whereas as LEGO overall and Batman have stories history whereas you have be deep in the weeds and even then, this is a very specific line rom LEGO.
Well, I’ve looked at all of the LEGO movie villains from the movies released in theaters. And I hope you’ve enjoyed this
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