Review: Nexo Knights TV series

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On Sunday, December 13th, LEGO Day took over Cartoon Network with episodes of Mixels and Ninjago, as well as the LEGO Scooby-Doo: Knight Time Terror special and LEGO DC Comics movies.

Why, exactly? Nexo Knights, the show replacing Legends of Chima, was having a two-episode "sneak peek" that night and they wanted to introduce this new medieval/sci-fi world with a bang.

But did "The Book of Monsters - Parts 1 and 2" live up to the hype? Is the series enjoyable, or as cringe-worthy as Chima was? I'm glad to say that the former is the answer.

Storyline

In the futuristic Kingdom of Knighton, five new graduates of the Knights' Academy (Clay Moorington, Lance Richmond, Macy Halbert, Aaron Fox and Axl) have to do battle with the former royal jester, Jestro.

In a fit of embarrassment performing for the citizens of Knighton and becoming a laughing stock, Jestro is corrupted by a Book of Evil. He summons a lava monster army to do his bidding, through the sentient and sarcastic Book of Monsters.

I won't spoil why this is, but the knights' mentor is a golden holographic wizard named Merlok 2.0. All I will say is that he is a major and welcomed drive for the plot.

While the story is quite predictable, it is a creative one nonetheless.

Score: 3/5

Animation and Visuals

The visuals are stellar. Both the colors and CGI rendering look great. Everything is very pleasing to the eye. Superb!

However, like both Ninjago and Chima's shows, the only LEGO-like models are the minifigure characters. There is actually very good reasoning for this; LEGO doesn't want their shows to look like complete toy commercials.

Sometimes though, there are weird animation errors, but thankfully they aren't prominent. Overall, for both: on par with Chima's, not as great as Ninjago's.

Score: 4.5/5

Character Development, Voice Acting and Humor

Each character gets their own personality and some backstory, and these are played well, as are the relationships. Especially Jestro and the Book of Monsters, who have some great chemistry together; even if it's a little obvious to the audience that the book is playing him. I do wish Axl was developed a little better though, rather than just being obsessed with eating. I'm sure we will get this needed expansion later in the season. And... I dislike Lance's full-of-himself nature.

Unlike Chima, where we got some annoying-sounding characters like Cragger and Eris, every voice actor here is a professional. Thus, all of the knights and supporting cast have decent portrayal.

While some of the jokes are quite childish (which may or may not be a good thing depending on your cup of tea), there are very funny ones that most viewers will appreciate. Some of my favorite parts of these episodes were the Squirebots trying to help out academy students Robin and Ava (who, might I add, are two awesome characters that I can't wait to see more of). Also, King Halbert is quite hilariously incompetent at his job, while the Queen is very much a fighter. I enjoy this contrast.

I have to say, the show has done a great job in this area so far.

Score: 5/5

Verdict

The show does what it's supposed to do. It's entertainment in every way, and will definitely make people want to go out and buy the LEGO sets. While it's not perfect, a lot of things have been done right. An added incentive is that shield powers are shown very clearly in order to be scanned for use in the associated Nexo Knights app. A win-win!

Sure, the target audience is still the same age range as Chima's, but I definitely felt a more mature, Ninjago-like vibe from Nexo Knights. This is a very good thing as adults can get into it too!

Bravo, TLG. I'm excited to see where this show goes next. Set your DVRs, folks: I think it will only get better from here!

Final score: 12.5/15, B

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17 comments on this article

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By in Puerto Rico,

Merlock was clearly trying to sound like Gandalf, can't wait for more episodes.

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By in United States,

Thanks for this review! The premiere hasn't gotten a lot of coverage on other sites, so it's nice to see it make front-page news on Brickset

I really, really enjoyed the Nexo Knights premiere. I was initially worried that it might be another Chima, especially with the uneven quality of the webisodes we've gotten so far. Now I'm worried that I'll end up as invested in this theme as I am in Ninjago! The characters were all compelling, the animation was AMAZING (especially the fight scenes), and the pacing was top-notch. The premiere may not have answered every question I had about the series, but that just made it more compelling—it left me wanting more in a good way.

So far Macy is still my favorite character, but there are a lot of other standouts as well. Jestro pulls off the "good but misguided character becomes evil villain" schtick a lot better than Cragger did—it helps that his temptation by the Book of Monsters feels more authentic and relatable than Cragger just being drugged by his sister. Lance Richmond turned out to be surprisingly appealing, as well—I had previously been put off by his self-absorbed attitude, but it helps that while he's self-centered, he's not mean. The two child characters are ADORABLE—Robin's eagerness plays off Ava's precociousness and attitude so well. Merlok balances whimsy and mysteriousness about as well as you might expect any wizard character to, and King and Queen Halbert are both amazing as well. I agree that Axl got much less development than I would've liked, but I hope for that to change once the series begins in earnest—a good focus episode or two for this mysterious giant could potentially make him as compelling as Zane from Ninjago if the writers play their cards right.

Anyway, I can't wait until the series begins in full next year!

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By in United States,

Nice job on this! Holding really high hopes for the series myself. ^_^

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By in United States,

Really enjoyed the show myself. Kinda surprised but pleasantly surprised

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By in United States,

While I in no way mind that the Female leader ( the queen) had a large and important role, I do tire of the negative portrayals of male leaders (read: father) figures. Sad to see this aspect.

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By in United States,

Is there no way to watch these without a cable subscription? Cord-cutters cut the cable so they can spend more money elsewhere, like Lego for example!

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By in Sweden,

Cyberknights vs Necronomicon and the killer rabbit, not bad! However shield surfing gives me a little bad vibe of Legolas stunts in Helms deep. The doors in the castle looked like the swedish flag hehe.
Good job on the review!

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By in Canada,

It was amazing! I loved the scenes where the Squire Bots said "Is electricity dangerous?" ans when the King said "Darkness has fell upon the kingdom!". XD

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By in Canada,

@wunztwice: I think LEGO has a fairly good track record when it comes to positive portrayals of father figures. Sensei Garmadon (Lloyd's father) in seasons three and four of LEGO Ninjago was a respectable role model, and from what little I've seen of the LEGO Legends of Chima TV series, LaGravis (Laval's father) was also shown to be a fairly reasonable character. Other fathers in LEGO Ninjago have been consistently portrayed as loving and supportive, even if there are times when they embarrass or get upset at their children.

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By in United States,

I somehow missed that Nexo Knights was going to be a TV show, although that makes sense with Chima gone. We love Ninjago in our house (kids and adults) and although some of the voices in Chima were grating I actually grew to really enjoy the show's mythology. I'll miss it and the theme.

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By in Canada,

Great review. It's interesting to see an AFOL's perspective, but it would be really helpful for parents if you could include some extra details like: What age group is the show aimed at? Does that age group like the show? Is there anything in the show that is too scary for pre-schoolers? Thanks!

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By in United States,

^ I'd say it's perfectly good for pre-schoolers. No scarier than Ninjago or Chima, if you can use that as a basis.

Thanks for the positive reception, everyone!

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By in Canada,

@PaulC: The age rating for LEGO Nexo Knights in the United States is the same as for Ninjago and Legends of Chima — TV-Y7 (FV). Which means it was designed for ages seven and up and includes fantasy violence. This is pretty consistent with the age range for the sets, which is 7–14 (8–14 or 9–14 for the larger sets).

Of course, there's a difference between what age range a show is aimed at and what age range it appeals to. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a good example of a show rated TV-Y7 (FV) that appealed to kids, teens, and adults alike.

A lot of the monsters and villains in LEGO Nexo Knights look scarier than most of the enemies from Ninjago and Chima, but the ones we've seen so far act sort of silly. Still, I don't think I'd recommend the show for preschoolers. It seems like the sort of thing that might've scared me a lot when I was three or four, though I was probably a lot more timid back then than others my age.

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By in Canada,

Thanks for the replies, all very helpful. The only show I've seen out of the three is Ninjago and I would say that's definitely not for pre-schoolers! I would say it's not cartoon violence itself, but the level of implied threat and peril i.e. "scaryness" that is the limiting factor. That said, all children are different, and the parent/guardian knows the child best so is the best one to judge. Let's just say based on your info I know it's not suitable for my 3 year old. Then again, he loves Lego Star Wars "The Empire Strikes Out" at the moment so he might be ready for Nexo Knights at 6 or even 5.

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By in United Kingdom,

I must say I'm not a fan of the Lego Star Wars miniseries, they seem rushed and assume perhaps too much of their target audience (prior Star Wars knowledge). However, I've seen a couple of episodes of the Ninjago series and if they can be compared to this, I may be interested in this too. The characters were more nuanced in Ninjago though, whereas in this it sounds like they're very specific types. It's certainly obvious in the minifig faces. But then, it's only the start so I guess there's plenty of room for development.

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