The “LEGO Cinematic Universe” is on a roll. After the success of The LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie, later this year The LEGO NINJAGO Movie will be unleashed. To promote the latest adventure in the world of bricks, a panel is being held at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, with producer Dan Lin and most of the voice cast including Dave Franco (Nerve), Justin Theroux (The Girl on the Train), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), Abbi Jacobson (Neighbors 2), Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Michael Peña (CHiPs) and Zach Woods (Silicon Valley) attending as panellists. A new trailer premiered, amusing aspects discussed, and a good time had.
As the new trailer shows, the “monster” that ravages the city is no other than an adorable housecat. Dave Franco, an avid cat lover, jokingly lamented that his own two cats didn’t make it to the film. Absent from the panel is Jackie Chan, who lent his voice to Master Wu. He however recorded a special message for the audience, receiving uproarious applause and cheers. Chan talked briefly about how the martial art stunts in the movie were choreographed and performed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, with producer Dan Lin adding that animators would carefully study the footage of the stuntmen and based the LEGO characters’ movements on those master fighters, making this filmmaking technique an animated movie history first.
Personalised panellist nameplates include LEGO minifigures of the stars' respective characters
Many little fans showed up during the Q&A session, asking questions about their favourite new movie. The cast and producer were at their loveliest there, answering each question with enthusiasm and good humour. The absolute high point of the night came when Dave Franco, impressed by a kid dressing up as his character Lloyd the Green Ninja, walked offstage to take a picture with him. With such overload of cuteness, the room went crazy.
