LEGO Nexo Knights is the latest LEGO television series to air on Cartoon Network. We now have the first season on DVD, which collects all 10 episodes on 2 discs. Is this something your kid might want?
Set in a futuristic kingdom we have new graduates of the Knight Academy at the center of the series. Maybe futuristic isn’t the right word. Knighton (ha, get it?) is a land where technology is present but the world is still in what we would term the middle ages – at least relative to where we are now.
It is this combination of an ancient society and futuristic weaponry that is at the heart of Nexo Knights. Yes, there are stories that center on the characters, but the point of this toy and television series is this blending of the two worlds.
Driving the conflict is the usual McGuffin – the king’s jester has stolen a book of monsters, or The Book Of Monsters, and is using it to summon… wait for it… monsters to help him take over the kingdom. It is up to our intrepid, but young, heroes to save the day. Aiding them and also a source of the technology, is Merlok, a holographic wizard.
Predictable? Well, yeah, but this is entertainment geared toward a certain audience. It doesn’t necessarily pander to kids, but it is a bit simplistic. Story-wise I would rate LEGO Nexo Knights above LEGO Legends Of Chima but below LEGO Ninjago.
Visually this is a pretty good series. Better than perhaps some of the average computer generated animation for television. Or maybe it’s that technology has progressed to the point where you just have to really work hard or not care to make a show look plain these days. I like the world of LEGO Nexo Knights and how it is visually represented. The discs present everything in a clear manner showcasing the detail on the screen.
What I don’t necessarily like is the lack of special features. Yes, I know this is just a kid’s show and perhaps we should be lucky this is getting a DVD release, but I would like an audio commentary on an episode or two. Maybe even a featurette looking at the various LEGO Nexo Knights sets that are used in the series and the decision on what to use and when, versus what not to use.
Interestingly many of the characters fall into some of the usual tropes, but they are contrasted by other characters that stand out, particularly the female ones. A good example of this is the king and queen. One is incompetent, the other quite strong. I would like to see a bit more nuance to the characters, but this is certainly a step in the right direction. Hopefully we get to explore the characters a bit more in the second season.
Humor? Yes, LEGO Nexo Knights has plenty of humor. Some of it is quite juvenile and slapstick, but sometimes it is quite clever. Parents might actually enjoy watching this series with their children. Well, once anyway.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.