The LEGO NINJAGO Movie 70608 Master Falls review

Master Wu gets his moment in the spotlight in The LEGO NINJAGO Movie set with a bridge names after him in 70608 Master Falls   Price: £24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99 Pieces: 312 Available: Now This lower priced set is distinguished from the rest of The LEGO NINJAGO Movie theme, as among technologically advanced builds this is much more rustic, representing an isolated rope bridge and hint of a temple. Does this set, with old adversaries Lord Garmadon and Master Wu included, offer something worth picking up? I grew up on the educational children show Seasame Street. Among learning the alphabet and numbers up to ten in Spanish, there was a regular segment titled, 'one of these things is not like the other'. Several objects would be displayed on screen, all but one of which had a similarity. If the segment was resurrected especially for The LEGO NINJAGO Movie theme, then 70608 Master Falls would be the set that doesn't belong. Right out of the gate I must put forward a major caveat, at the time of this writing The LEGO NINJAGO Movie has not yet been released. So 70608 does not currently have the benefit of context - perhaps its dramatic departure from the aesthetic of the other The LEGO NINJAGO Movie sets will be explained. That said, I feel qualified to pass judgement on this set even so because itis the latest in a long line of bridge sets stretching back to the early 1990s. [gallery size="medium" ids="21380,21389,21388"] The problem with these bridges is that they are boring without the castle. Paired with a castle they become really cool, but the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. The LEGO Group released a rash of these pairings in the 1990s and even into the 2000s as part of primarily the Castle theme, but also Pirates and original Ninja theme. It seems that in the movie, Master Falls will lead to the Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon. As a pairing, they do work well together. But Master Falls is dull on its own. Bridges are landmarks that adventurers cross on the way to an objective, they are never the objective themselves. Aside from being a cool place for an interim fight, they have no real place on their own. Considering one can get Nya's awesome 70611 Water Strider for the same amount in the US and only a little more in the UK, this set doesn't even stand out at its price point. The best thing that 70608 has going for it is that it is currently the cheapest set to include both Lord Garmadon and Sensei Wu. However, both of those are available as Collectible Minifigures soon so even that advantage is mitigated. [gallery size="medium" ids="21392,21391,21381"] It should come as no surprise in light of all this that my recommendation on 70608 Master Falls is to only get this set if you have 70617 Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon. Perhaps there will be some redemption for Master Falls in the form of an awesome fight scene in the film, but even that will not be able to rescue it from the curse of being in the LEGO bridge only family. This product was provided for review by the LEGO Group. 70608 Master Falls is available now at shop.LEGO.com. You can help support Brick Fanatics’ work by using our affiliate links. More The LEGO NINJAGO Movie reviews: 70607 NINJAGO City Chase 70608 Master Falls 70609 Manta Ray Bomber 70610 Flying Jelly Sub 70611 Water Strider 70612 Green Ninja Mech Dragon 70613 Garma Mecha Man 70614 Lightning Jet 70615 Fire Mech 70616 Ice Tank 70617 Temple of the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon 70618 Destiny’s Bounty