By Kam Williams

Lloyd Garmadon (Dave Franco) must be the least liked student at Ninjago High. The unassuming 16-year-old is so unpopular that nobody will even sit on the same side of the bus with him on their ride to school.

What they don’t know, however, is that he has a super hero alter ego — the Green Ninja. He is the leader of the Secret Ninja Force, a team of five teens and an android who are helped by Lloyd’s wise and wisecracking uncle, Master Wu (Jackie Chan).

Master Wu has taught each of his protégés how to harness the different forces of nature that are contained in his magical treasure chest. The hot headed Red Ninja (Michael Pena) controls fire; the music-loving Black Ninja (Fred Armisen) has mastered earth; the Blue Ninja (Kumail Nanjiani), lightning; and the Gray Ninja (Abbi Jacobson), water; and the robotic White Ninja’s (Zach Woods) domain is ice.

Their mission is to prevent Lord Garmadon (Justin Theroux) from conquering Ninjago City. It turns out that the evil villain is Lloyd’s long-lost father, who abandoned his wife (Olivia Munn) and baby when she refused to accept his decision to go to the dark side.

As a result, all Lloyd knows about his father is what he’s been told by his mother and uncle. Consequently, Lloyd is eager to meet and defeat the diabolical warlord who has the reputation of being the world’s “Worst Guy Ever.”

If you’ve seen either LEGO or LEGO Batman, then you have an idea of what to expect from the third film in the animated series. Directed by Charlie Bean, the film is not only a visually captivating adventure, but also has pithy asides and clever allusions to screen classics that also make the movie interesting to adults.

In this critic’s opinion, Ninjago is the best episode in the series because of all the positive messages that are delivered by the picture’s end.

Excellent (****). Rated PG for mild action and rude humor. Running time: 101 minutes. Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures.