The Lego Ninjago Movie ***

WHILE it stands in the shadow of the brilliantly clever first Lego Movie and hilarious superhero send-up The Lego Batman Movie, this third iteration in the toy-based franchise is a bright and breezy animated caper that adds a fun martial arts flavour into the mix.

We begin in live-action form as a little boy enters an antique shop and is greeted by the owner Mr Liu (Jackie Chan). But before long we are thrown head first into the stylishly blocky animation as he starts telling the ancient tale of the East-meets-West island city of Ninjago and the heroic ninjas who have vowed to protect it.

Our hero is Lloyd Garmadon AKA the Green Ninja (voiced by Dave Franco). He and a group of high school friends – who also harbour secret identities as members of the ninja force – fight an ongoing battle with the villainous Lord Garmadon (Justin Theroux) who threatens to take over the city and also happens to be Lloyd’s estranged father.

Despite the protestations of Master Wu (also voiced by Chan), Lloyd unleashes The Ultimate Weapon in order to finally stop the evil overlord. But as it turns out it’s actually a laser pointer that attracts the unwanted attention of Meowthra, a live-action cat that causes havoc as it begins smashing up the city.

In an attempt to fix what he’s inadvertently caused, Lloyd and the rest of the ninja force – earth ninja Cole (Fred Armisen), lightning ninja Jay (Kumail Nanjiani), water ninja Nya (Abbi Jacobson), fire ninja Kai (Michael Peña) and robotic ice ninja Zane (Zach Woods) – set out on a treacherous journey into the wilderness to find The Ultimate Ultimate Weapon which could hold the power to save their home.

Much of what has made the franchise can still be found here; the eye-popping animation, anarchic set-pieces and self-aware, reference-heavy humour are once again in stock and thrown at the audience like so many colourfully assorted toy bricks. It’s enjoyable, silly and over-the-top fun for the duration.

It’s just that it feels a bit less fresh and a bit more predictable this time, never quite able to reach the height of cleverness and memorability of what’s come before. There’s little doubt that this is the weakest of the big-screen Lego adventures thus far.

The plot suffers from a case of deja-vu – the Eastern-inflected destiny quest for the leader of an eclectically powered group of heroes has been done far better in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, for instance –and can be a tad fuzzy for those not already well-versed in the existing Ninjago toy universe. And at the centre of it all is an attempt at heart in the form of Lloyd (often comically referred to as “L-Loyd”) learning to forgive his dad – an obvious echo of the famous Luke Skywalker-Darth Vader saga.

But it begins to overwhelm things, particularly in the final third, in a way that will tire adult audiences who’ve seen it tackled before and bog things down for the tots there for the much-wanted chaotic cartoon action.

Still, it’s energetic, cheeky and never boring; there’s always something going on visually or in the relentless stream of gags to grab attention, admirably keeping that flame of old-fashioned, goofy childhood playtime burning.