
The Master: A LEGO Ninjago Short
2016

2021
Not RatedDirector
Thorbjørn Christoffersen, Anders Matthesen
Runtime
86 minutes
Average Rating
No ratings yetSynopsis
After Phillip Eppermint manages to evade a prison sentence in Thailand, Checkered Ninja comes alive and seeks out Alex. Together, with Alex and his entire family, they now have to go to Thailand to bust Eppermint.
Overall Score
Fair
Category Breakdown
LGBTQ+ Representation
The film relies on irreverent humor rather than explicit queer narratives. There is a lack of specific LGBTQ+ character arcs or non-cisnormative identities, leaving representation largely incidental to the comedic chaos.
Gender Representation
The narrative disrupts conventional hierarchies by undermining traditional masculine competence through absurdity. The focus on a fragmented family unit moves away from the stable patriarch model.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
Shifting the setting to Thailand expands the cultural landscape beyond a localized Danish context. This move introduces diverse aesthetics and character types through a Southeast Asian setting.
Religious & Cultural Diversity
The story prioritizes personal agency and moral relativism over institutional order. It depicts the family through a lens of high-energy dysfunction rather than idealized stability.
Disability Representation
There is no discernible evidence regarding the inclusion of characters with physical or neurodivergent disabilities.
Strengths
Areas for Improvement
AI Analysis
Checkered Ninja 2 succeeds in subverting traditional animation tropes by replacing the 'stable hero' and 'idealized family' with chaotic, unpredictable dynamics. The shift to a global setting provides a necessary departure from Western-centric storytelling. However, the film lacks depth in specific identity-based representation. While it avoids some heteronormative tropes through its absurdity, it does not actively center LGBTQ+ or disabled characters. Ultimately, the film's diversity is structural rather than character-driven, finding its strength in the deconstruction of authority and traditional domestic archetypes.
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