Movie Review: The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)

Plot: Shunned by everyone for being the son of an evil warlord, a teenager seeks to defeat him with the help of his fellow ninjas.

In an unexpected turn of events, I consented to watch the Lego Ninjago movie Sunday night. There are a number of films which I’ve seen, and wanted to see, in cinema this year, of which Ninjago didn’t even register as a possibility. However, I was under obligation to adhere to the “birthday-person-is-allowed-final-word” clause, and I sat down and watched Ninjago.

I suspect Lego is laughing all the way to the bank. It is pure genius business decision, and contains enough adult humor to entertain parents while stressing them out – every child that sits through one of these films will end up wanting some new Legos (hell, I think a lot of adults end up wanting new Legos after a film like this). It is a feast for childish imagination and is bright and colorful and really very excitable. I want to sanctimoniously preach to the parents who had their children out of bed on a Sunday night at our 20:30 screening, but I guess that is beside the point. It is child based and sweet, although it does pale in comparison to 2015’s Lego film. It is funny and cute but lacks some of the sharp dialogue that has become expected in animation films.

Ninjago also has some seriously crazy moments and I couldn’t help but wonder which choice herbs they were smoking when thinking of the ideas they implemented. It was very weird. I liked Jackie Chan as Sensei Wu, Dave Franco as Lloyd Garmadon and Justin Theroux as the not-so-evil-supervillain Garmadon. Typing that out made me realize that this film barely had a plot or a conclusion (the end is particularly haphazard), but ultimately, for children, it is fine. Personally I enjoyed the first Lego film more, and I’ve been informed that Lego: Batman is a finer film than Ninjago.  However, Ninjago has some laugh-out-loud moments and it was bright, quirky and still not nearly as bad as I expected so all to them.

Have you seen Ninjago? If so, what did you think?

Rating: 6.5/10

October 10, 2017October 10, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2017, Movies, movies, Review, ReviewsTags: 2017, 2017 Movies, animation, Dave Franco, Jackie Chan, Justin Theroux, Lego, Lego Movie, Lego Ninjago, Lloyd Garmadon, Michael Pena, Movies, Ninjago, Olivia Munn, Reviews, Sensei Wu 8 Comments

Warm Bodies (2013)

What am I doing with my life? I’m so pale. I should get out more. I should eat better. My posture is terrible. I should stand up straighter. People would respect me more if I stood up straighter. What’s wrong with me? I just want to connect. Why can’t I connect with people? Oh, right, it’s because I’m dead. I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I mean, we’re all dead. This girl is dead. That guy is dead. That guy in the corner is definitely dead. Jesus these guys look awful.

R is a Zombie. He can’t remember what his name used to be, or how he got to be a Zombie, what disease might have caused it, but now he spends his day walking around in a catatonic state, staring at his fellow zombies. His best friend is M (Rob Corddry), another Zombie. They occasionally grunt and speaking a word (literally, one word). R feels that he is different from the other zombies. They are completely lifeless but R is still processing his surroundings, collecting things, and constantly thinking. There are other zombies as well, who’ve progressed further into the monstrous state and they are called Bonies, because they all peeled their skin off eventually. They are horrible and dangerous and much crueller than the other zombies.

M asks R if he wants food, and they and another bunch of zombies head out to hunt humans. They find a group of humans, led by Perry Kelvin (Dave Franco), who is outside the protective walls to find medicine for the remaining humans. A fight ensues, and R kills Perry and eats his brain. He glimpses into Perry’s life, and sees his relationship with Julie (Teresa Palmer), who is still fighting the zombies. He saves Julie’s life by making her smell like a Zombie and takes her to where he lives.

Julie is frightened and wants to go home, but is fascinated by R and how different he is from her perception of zombies.

Eventually R takes her home because her safety becomes a major concern. On the way, he tells Julie that he killed Perry and she disappears without him.

M finds R and it is clear that he and some of the other zombies have also starting healing. M tells R that the Bonies are mad that a change is happening and are planning to attack the human enclosure. R decides to go warn Julie, despite the danger.

Will R be able to warn Julie? Will she believe him? What will her father do when he finds out what his daughter has been up to? Can the Bonies be defeated?

Rating: 7/10

This was such a cute, fun movie that I enjoyed unexpectedly. I thought I would dislike it – the story sounds so corny and I was rolling my eyes when I heard that Hollywood was producing a zombie love story. I mean, honestly? I kept on postponing watching this even though I had heard decent things about it. Warm Bodies succeeded in impressing me – the acting was well done and the progression of how everything went down came along nicely.

I actually enjoyed the presence of Analeigh Tipton, something I never enjoy (she has such an annoying face). Nicholas Hoult should get more roles – not only is he gorgeous he can act as well. Same goes for Dave Franco – his older brother is so annoying but this beautiful man is definitely not. I thought Teresa Palmer was a good choice to play Julie. Julie was a good character and she was admirable and a real fighter. She showed that kindness could be given to something you don’t understand and that if someone’s atrocities shouldn’t be a damning conviction on the rest of the species. I do admire her – not many girls can cope with loving a man who ate your previous boyfriend’s brain.

The theory of healing Zombies was ridiculous, and the zombies not very scary (although the Bonies were), the movie was fun because it didn’t take itself so seriously.

Recommended as some light hearted movie watching. Bestie, I think even you would like this! I can see myself watching this again at some point, and that itself is a rarity these days. Go try it out!

August 11, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Movies, ReviewsTags: Analeigh Tipton, Dave Franco, Julie, M, Movies, Nicholas Hoult, Nora, Perry Kelvin, R, Reviews, Rob Corddry, Teresa Palmer, Warm Bodies, Wordpress, zombies 11 Comments