Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

Warner Bros has defiantly tapped into something of a rare gem; a self referential interconnected universe of talking LEGO bricks that are tons of fun. “Everything was Awesome!!” in “The Lego Movie” and “Lego Batman” was a slam dunk this past February. And now the niche brand of the popular toy-line is taking center stage in “The LEGO Ninjago Movie” which follows a Power Rangers like elite force of teenage ninjas: Cole (Fred Armisen), Jay (Kumail Nanjiani), Kai (Michael Pena), Nya (Abbi Jacobson), Zane (Zach Woods) and our main comrade Lloyd (David Franco). They all possess their own quirks - (the running joke with Zane is that he’s a robot) - but their main foe is an evildoer by the name of Garmadon (Justin Theroux) who just so happens to be Lloyd’s absentee father figure. One could make the case their “Kramer vs Kramer’ type relationship suffocates the entire picture; but the Kung-Fu action that’s choreographed by Jackie Chan, who also sets up the film’s premise through a live action framing device and voices Master Wu, is all top notch. With an adequate amount of silly laughs to fill the bellies of kiddies everywhere, and even the parents in attendance as well. This spinoff is only further proof, this is one of the best franchises out there today. B