How The Lego Ninjago Movie 'Gets Away With Murder'

Like its predecessors The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie, The Lego Ninjago Movie bursts on all sides with meta references, double entendres, and other self-referential in-jokes that make these movies as entertaining to adults as they are to kids. Obviously, that's no accident. Ninjago's producers, Chris McKay and Dan Lin, told GameSpot that they're happy to "get away with murder" when it comes to these films' humor.

"We want to try to get away with murder as much as we possibly can," McKay said during an interview at the Legoland Hotel in Carlsbad, Calif.

The Lego Ninjago Movie is unlike the previous two in that it's based on an existing Lego franchise that already has its own TV show (whereas The Lego Movie was an original story, and Lego Batman was--well, Batman). In this incarnation, the six ninjas at the story's center take on Lord Garmadon (The Leftovers' Justin Theroux), an evil-ish figure bent on domination. The twist: The Ninjas' leader, Lloyd (Dave Franco), is Garmadon's son. The drama as Lloyd's identity is revealed and he and Garmadon deal with their messy family life provides a poignant counter to the series' frenetic, over-the-top humor.

"We take that absurdity and that craziness and that humor, and then we want to surprise you at the end with real emotion," Lin said. "Our goal is to make you cry in these movies."

It's not easy to do both, but that's part of the reason these Lego films have been so successful with critics and fans. As unlikely as it seems, they feel like more than just extended advertisements to sell more Lego toys. According to the producers, that's because they have a vision.

"When I sat down with Dan and [co-directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord] on the first movie, we talked about, 'What if Henry Selick and Michael Bay were 10-year-old kids and they lived across the street from each other and they were best friends and they made movies together?" McKay said. "There's two different kinds of absurdities: One is taking yourself so crazy serious, and the other is not taking it seriously at all. And I think there's something fun about the combination of that kind of silliness. When you're a kid you play like that, you're not making jokes, but the stuff comes out hilarious because you're taking it so seriously."

"We wanted to make it feel like the inmates are running the asylum, and that the filmmakers are kind of getting away with something," he continued. "That was a running theme through all of the Lego movies, that we always were trying to make it feel like this isn't something that you've seen. Sometimes we throw good taste out the window, and this wouldn't be something that other filmmakers might do; we can get away with things because we are trying to sort of imitate the mind of the way I used to play when I was a kid."

As the Ninjago crew--voiced alongside Franco by Abbi Jacobson, Michael Peña, Fred Armisen, Kumail Nanjiani, and Zach Woods--learn more about their powers, the audience gets glimpses of lightning-quick montages filled with flashes from classic martials arts movies. Jackie Chan's Master Wu guides them, while Theroux growls and grumbles hilariously as Garmadon. The animated action is impressive, but it's a live-action cat--named "Meowthra" by her terrified victims--who steals the show when she starts wreaking havoc on this miniature Lego city. The real world affecting the Lego fantasy is one of the most fun recurring gags in these movies.

"We're trying not to make a traditional animated movie," Lin said. "So there's always something crazy going on, whether it's the flashbacks to different martial arts films that you see in the movie, or even the live action cat showing up, there are just some things that we want people watching to go, 'Where'd that come from? That's weird!' The movies are always very funny, but they're always subversive."

"In a fun, family movie way," he added--naturally. The Lego Ninjago Movie hits theaters Sept. 22.