#i need to...

Well, I loved them both, for sure! The characters in the movie were obviously changed slightly, but not so changed that I couldn’t immediately recognize their personalities. Like Cole’s DJing for instance. That’s definitely not a thing he really did in the series, but he does have a musical background, so it made  sense. Nya and her motorcycle (that she was riding inside the school building… for some reason) was also a neat thing. She said she did the paint job herself, and I can only assume she built it as well, a nod to her many talents. Little details like that always get me, I don’t know what it is. And dude, Jay was such a sweetheart. I have, like, a whole essay about Movie Jay (which I will not put here, don’t worry, this is already going to be too long).

The only real issue I had with them was how quickly they dismissed Lloyd after the incident with the cat. Like, come on, he was trying to do a good thing. They really out here acting like they never did any dumb shit in their lives. And then they decide to listen to Garmadon of all people? Really? Come on, guys. But honestly, that’s my only real complaint for them.

Speaking of Garmadon, what a heccin’ lad. Series Garmadon and Movie Garmadon are damn near complete opposites. Series Garmadon loved his kid, and Movie Garmadon couldn’t care less about him. Then towards the end of the series Garmadon kinda just “Yeah, for sure that crazy chick is my daughter, why not?”, but at the end of the movie we figure out he actually does have some semblance of a conscious.

I was kind of surprised that Movie Garmadon straight up murdered his brother, though (well, kinda). Especially since they were definitely planning on him having a redemption with Lloyd. I thought it was gonna be a deal breaker for sure. But we still got our father/son redemption in the movie (and it looks like we might be getting it back in the series too? idk, the Oni seemed to think he cared about Lloyd in any case).

Now for the younger(?) brother. Everything Wu did in the movie fucking cracked me up. He’s a little more eccentric than he was in the series, but good god was he funny. I must have replayed the Hard Knock Life scene at least five times.  g r e e n .  Wu’s always got iconic lines, both in the series and in the movie. Like, I really wish I had a gif of him from Season 11 shouting “GIVE ME THE TEA!!” so I could send it to people when they got stuff to tell me.

And now for my boy! Lloyd! Too good for this world! I feel like he was more realistic in the movie, what with his teenage impulsiveness (unleash all of the weapons), the Issues™ with his dad, and I like that he was actually a teenager instead of just inhabiting the body of a teenager. Series Lloyd was forced to grow up extremely fast. He was literally an elementary schooler one day, and a high schooler the next. Series Lloyd is still mentally very young, despite his physical appearance, and the series didn’t do a fantastic job of portraying it. But they did a great job portraying the sixteen year old movie version of him. Also, the bullying? How he was trying so hard to keep smiling and act like it wasn’t bothering him? I wanted to hug him so badly. He had more reason to destroy that stupid city than Garmadon ever did, but he still kept everyone safe.

I also really want backstory on how he met the other five ninjas. (i know we’re not really gonna get it, but i will write it myself if necessary)

Oh! And I am so glad he actually had a mother present in his life in the movie. She was so sweet, and trying so hard. Her love for Lloyd made me so soft. She obviously knows that shit happens around the city, that song about him was literally on the radio, and she just wants to give her boy all the support she can. Even if he feels like he doesn’t need it. Also, I appreciate that there was no immediate forgiveness on her part when it came to Garmadon. Trying to shove him in the pool, grabbing him by the collar, pushing him out of her hug with Lloyd. Yas, you spicy queen. He fucked up, call him out. She’s just such an important part of Lloyd’s life, and I wish Misako in the series could have been more like that.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike Misako in the series. I just have very strong feelings about a few of her actions. Like maybe we don’t dump our children at the worst boarding school in the history of ever. With no explanation. And never visit. Like seriously, she wanted to prevent him from fighting and/or becoming like Lord Garmadon, and so she decided to give him abandonment issues? Somehow I don’t think that worked. (also, does she even know how old he is? or how long she left him alone? because i feel like at some point she should have noticed she should have noticed her nine year old son was roughly the size of a fifteen year old). That aside, she is pretty kickass. Not as cool as the movie, but still pretty cool.