STACK #155 Sep 2017

CINEMA FEATURE

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Wanna impress the kids? Ninjago facts go! If you’re still wondering how to pronounce “Ninjago”, just consult the Vanilla Ice school of pronunciation – “Go ninja, go ninja, go!” Erm, unless you’re referring to the dragon-shaped islands, in which case it’s more middle syllable emphatic – “Nin-JAH-go”. So, what’s the deal with evil Garmadon’s four arms? He conjured them via dark magic in order to use all Four Golden Weapons all at once. Yeah, but what are those Four Golden Weapons? OK, that’d be the Sword of Fire, the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Scythe of Quakes and the Shurikens of Ice.

Assembling a great voice cast is as vital to the success of a LEGO movie as animation and innovation. Words Scott Hocking FINDING THE LEGONINJA WITHIN YA

T he LEGO Ninjago Movie isn’t a spin-off or a sequel – it’s a standalone adventure based on the toy line that also inspired the TV series Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. The story involves a team of six young ninjas who fight to defend their island home of Ninjago from the evil Lord Garmadon, while resolving a number of issues between each other along the way. “Every LEGO movie is different,” says producer Dan Lin when STACK catches up with him and the film’s voice cast at Comic-Con. “The first one is an action-adventure, the second was a superhero movie, and this one is our version of a martial arts/giant robot movie.” Lin, who also served as producer on The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie , adds that the challenge is to constantly innovate with each installment while keeping the tone consistent. The LEGO

engineer,” he explains. “You can scream and talk and shout for five or six hours and they take it and splice it up and start animating it. I find it incredible – you can improvise with zero consequence.” “I’ve done this kind of thing before,” adds Peña, who plays Kai, the red Ninja of Fire. “It’s a very passionate thing, but when you see the movie it’s nothing like that. It depends on what take they use, so for all I know [Kai] could be a complete psychopath.” Perhaps the biggest and most inspired piece of casting was enlisting Jackie Chan, who not only voices the ninjas’ Sensei but also served as the stunt choreographer for the animated action. “We cast careers – it’s not just voice actors,” says Lin. “Jackie’s strength is not necessarily his verbal acuity or the comedy that comes through in his action. We have a strong script and when the cast come

With a whopping 4,867 pieces, the huge Ninjago City released for the

Ninjago Movie will feature some live-action elements to provide a more organic feel. “It’s really different and the most beautiful looking LEGO movie we’ve done so far.” Ninjago features a stellar line- up including Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Silicon Valley stars Kumail Nanjiani and Zach Woods, Michael Peña, Olivia Munn and the legendary Jackie Chan. In voicing the villainous Garmadon, Theroux found the process a liberating experience from an acting perspective. “We’re not in the same room together so you’re left to your own devices with the director and

movie is the fourth biggest LEGO set ever. EVER! We SO want one. An anagram of ‘Garmadon’ is “ma dragon’/’am dragon’

in, every actor brings something new to it. That’s why we have a comedy cast. They record the lines but it’s their versions and interpretations of the characters. That’s what elevates these LEGO movies."

• The LEGO Ninjago Movie is in cinemas on Sept 21

DAVE FRANCO TELL US ABOUT YOUR LEGO CHARACTER... Koko is the ex-wife of Garmadon,

the mother of Lloyd, the mayor of the city, and she also has a secret identity. It was hard for me to play because she is so upbeat and my only reference was my Asian mother who's very mean [laughs], so being upbeat and positive was a struggle." OLIVIA MUNN

ZACH WOODS

Lloyd's a pretty complex character. he's the son of Lord Garmadon, the most evil man on the planet, and everyone in town knows it and treats him pretty horribly because of it. By day he's a pretty tortured high school kid, but by night he has a secret identity as the Green Ninja, and he protects his home from Garmadon."

I play Zane, who's a robot with aspirations to be a normal teenager, but has none of the appropriate references. He thinks teens like Buddy Holly and stuff like that. He's emotionless but wants to experience the warmth of human feeling and feel connected – it's an autobiographical role for me."

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SEPTEMBER 2017

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