In this film, Vakama recalls events that took place long before the classic Bionicle stories at Mata Nui, during which he, along with his friends Nuju, Matau, Onewa, Whenua, and Nokama were chosen to be the new Toa of the island of Metru Nui. To save the city, they must prove themselves worthy Toa, find their mask powers, and protect the "Heart of Metru Nui", but they also find themselves caught up in the schemes of the evil Makuta.
The film received mixed reviews, with some noting the filling in of plot holes from the previous film. The series continued to be noted for its visual effects and musical score. It was followed by a sequel, Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows.
Plot
The film begins with Turaga Vakama describing a land that existed before Mata Nui, called Metru Nui. There the local Toa heroes fell in battle one by one, as a relentless shadow sought to conquer the great city.
Lhikan, the last remaining Toa, travels throughout the entire city, giving Toa stones containing fractions of his own power to six Matoran from each of the city's different regions: Whenua, Nuju, Matau, Onewa, Nokama, and Vakama. After giving the last stone to Vakama, Lhikan is captured by two Dark Hunters, Nidhiki and Krekka. Vakama later meets the other Matoran at the Great Temple in Ga-Metru; there, they are transformed into six new Toa. After Vakama has a vision of Metru Nui's destruction, they all set out to recover the six Great Disks hidden throughout Metru Nui, hoping to prove to Turaga Dume, the city's leader, that they are worthy Toa. However, Dume declares that "simple gifts" will not confirm them as Toa, and puts them to a grueling test instead. When the six fail to pass, Dume denounces them as imposters and unleashes the Vahki, the city's law enforcers, upon them. In the ensuing chaos, Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua are captured while Vakama and the others escape the Coliseum by leaping into the city's chute transport system, with the Dark Hunters in pursuit.
The Dark Hunters force a chute worker to reverse the flow of the chute system, forcing Vakama and the others to abandon the chute system in the ice region of Ko-Metru. They then set out to find the other Toa and Lhikan, whom Vakama believes is still alive. They hitch a ride on a Vahki transport to Po-Metru, where they are ambushed by the Dark Hunters and forced to flee from a herd of Kikanalo beasts. Nokama discovers that her mask allows her to speak and understand foreign languages and persuades the Kikanalo to help them find Lhikan; Matau discovers his mask power of shape-shifting along the way.
Meanwhile, Onewa, Whenua, and Nuju are trying unsuccessfully to escape when they are approached by a mysterious Turaga, who explains that Toa mask powers are needed to escape and teaches them how to activate them. Growing impatient, the Toa argue until Onewa's mind-control and Nuju's telekinesis mask powers activate, and Nuju uses his to create an escape route. Whenua then discovers his mask power of night vision before the four reunite with Vakama, Nokama, and Matau. The Turaga then reveals himself to be Lhikan, who sacrificed his power to turn Vakama and company into Toa. He inquires as to the safety of the 'Heart of Metru Nui', which Vakama believed was Lhikan himself, but is actually the Matoran. Vakama then discovers a small canister that contains the real Dume; the Dume from before was an impostor. Pursued by the Vahki, the Toa, along with Lhikan, set out to stop the false Dume, who has summoned the Matoran to the Coliseum to be placed in canisters to sleep. The false Dume reveals himself to be Makuta in disguise, and plunges the Great Spirit Mata Nui into slumber. The Toa gather as many Matoran capsules as they can and race to escape the crumbling city. On their way out, the Dark Hunters attack them again, but are killed, along with a Nivawk (Makuta's spy), when Makuta absorbs them.
As the group leaves Metru Nui, Vakama creates the legendary Mask of Time, which he unsuccessfully tried to do as a Matoran, from the Great Disks. Makuta pursues the Toa, attacking them by raising and dropping pillars of protodermis. With help from Nuju's telekinesis, Vakama is able to get up the cliff to confront Makuta, donning the Mask of Time. However, Lhikan is killed while protecting Vakama in the ensuing battle, whilst the mask is separated from Vakama. In an anguished rage, Vakama knocks the Mask of Time into the sea and defeats Makuta in combat using his newfound mask power, invisibility. The Toa combine their powers to seal Makuta in a protodermis prison and move on to the surface, emerging on an island they name 'Mata Nui', in honor of the Great Spirit. There, they sacrifice their Toa power to awaken the Matoran and become Turaga. Vakama gives Lhikan's mask to a Matoran named Jaller, whose original mask had broken during the journey, to the cheers of the other Matoran and Turaga, and their new lives on Mata Nui begin.
Cast
Alessandro Juliani as Toa Vakama, the Toa of Fire, a former mask-maker who sees prophetic visions of the future.
Gerard Plunkett as Turaga Dume, the leader of Metru Nui.
Tabitha St. Germain as Toa Nokama, the Toa of Water, a former teacher who strives to do her duty.
Michael Dobson as Toa/Turaga Lhikan, a Toa of Fire and former guardian of Metru Nui & Krekka, a powerful but unintelligent Dark Hunter.
Brian Drummond as Toa Matau, the Toa of Air, a lighthearted former test driver & Toa Onewa, the Toa of Stone, a headstrong and independent former carver.
Paul Dobson as Toa Whenua, the Toa of Earth with respect for the past & Nidhiki, a former Toa turned Dark Hunter.
Trevor Devall as Toa Nuju, the Toa of Ice with respect for the future.
Lee Tockar as Makuta, the main antagonist & Kongu, a Matoran operating the chutes in Metru Nui.
Production
Plans were in place before the release of the first Bionicle film to create a second film.[2] The directors Terry Shakespeare and David Molina did have some input into the storyline, though most of the mythology had already been sketched out.[3]
For the visual style of the film, director David Molina explained their direction: "We wanted to give this audience a bigger view of the Bionicle world – more environments, larger vistas. The island of Bionicle 2 is something like Manhattan, with lots of commerce and large buildings. The first film was very intimate, very organic. Metru Nui is more mechanical, so it has a different feel".[4]
Talking about the camera work, director Terry Shakespeare said that they concentrated on depth of field with the camera. Comparing the two Bionicles, he felt that "the first film had primary colors that were coded to the areas and a younger feel. For BIONICLE 2, we opened it up – the palette had to be more sophisticated, more realistic with earth tones, so we desaturated the characters".[4]
Most of the animation was created in Taiwan by CGCG.[3] The process of creating the film, from storyboarding to delivery of the film took 12 months.[3] Molina additionally added that the pipeline and process for creating this film was faster and more refined than the original Bionicle film. Shakespeare said that their strength was to bring characters to life and not just as robots.[4]
Release
Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui was released on DVD on October 6, 2004, in the United States. The DVD included a number of documentaries including the making of the film and associated toy line.[5] There is also a featurette entitled "The Legend Revealed" that has a brief question and answer session with the production team.[6] Some critics were concerned that the DVD makes too much of an attempt to sell the Bionicle product.[7][failed verification]
Cartoon Network'sToonami aired several scenes from the film along with the first Bionicle film Mask of Light.[8] The film was first screened on October 6, 2004, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.[3] Cartoon Network aired the film for the first time less than two months after its release on December 18, at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.[9]
The film aired on Toon Disney in the U.S. from 2006 & 2007.
RTL Disney Television Limited Partnership's Super RTL also aired the film from Germany in 2005.[10]
Nathan Furst, composer of the first film's soundtrack, returned to score Legends of Metru Nui. In place of the tribal elements used in Mask of Light, Furst integrated electronic and techno sounds into the second film's music to accommodate its futuristic style.
The Legends of Metru Nui score was released as a digital album on December 12, 2017,[11] thirteen years after the film's release. Unlike the Mask of Light and Web of Shadows soundtracks which contain the complete scores from their respective films, this release contains most of the Legends of Metru Nui score while omitting music from some scenes. Furst explained that two tracks were excluded on purpose due to their redundancy and because they would have disrupted the "flow" of the album, though he has also said that he plans to distribute them.[12][13][14]
This release includes two "bonus tracks"; the first is an alternate "Desert/Kikeinalo" theme that was unused in the film, while the second is Furst's original sketch for Lhikan's theme which was used partially in the film's DVD menus and incorporated into the score at various moments featuring the character.
The soundtrack's initial lack of availability was partially due to it being lost in a hard drive crash for several years, as Furst stated multiple times.[15][16] Prior to the 2017 release, Furst revealed that the "entire score" was eventually recovered thanks to his assistant.[16]
Though reviewers were still skeptical as to the toy promotional nature of these films, several noted their marked improvement over the original Bionicle film, including its filling-in of major plot holes that had been present in the first film. It was also noted for its references to The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Matrix, and Excalibur.[17] There was concern that the Bionicle brand promoted violence, running counter to the LEGO themes of patience and careful construction.[18] A sequel titled Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows was released in 2005.
Bionicle 2 was nominated at the DVD Exclusive Awards for Best Animated Premiere Movie.[19] It was also nominated for best director and best original score.[20] The film was nominated at the 32nd Annual Saturn Awards for Best DVD release.[21] It was also an iParenting Media Award winner for Best Home Video/DVD.[22][failed verification] Two awards were won by the studio that created Bionicle 2 at the 27th Annual Telly Awards.[23] It also won the Golden Reel Award for Sound Editing in a Direct to Video Release.[24]
Related Research Articles
Bionicle is a line of Lego construction toys, marketed primarily towards 8-to-16-year-olds. The line originally launched in 2001 as a subsidiary of Lego's Technic series. Over the following decade, it became one of Lego's biggest-selling properties, turning into a franchise and being one of the many factors in saving the company from its financial crisis of the late 1990s. Despite a planned twenty-year tenure, the theme was discontinued in 2010, but was rebooted in 2015 for a further two years.
Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows is a 2005 animated science fantasy action film based on the Bionicle toy line by Lego and the third installment in the Bionicle film series. It is a direct sequel to Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui, and largely adapts the 2005 storyline with the majority of events taking place before the previous film's ending. Like Legends of Metru Nui, Web of Shadows is a prequel to the first film, Bionicle: Mask of Light. This is the first Bionicle film to not be given a rating by the MPAA. It was released on DVD on October 11, 2005, by Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the Miramax Home Entertainment label.
Bionicle: Mask of Light, stylized as BIONICLE: Mask of Light — The Movie, is a 2003 animated science fantasy action film based on the Bionicle toyline by Lego, and particularly serves as a direct adaptation to the latter half of the toyline's 2003 narrative. Set in a universe filled with bio-mechanical beings allied with classical element-themed tribes, the story follows two friends from the fire-based village of Ta-Koro on a quest to find the owner of the Mask of Light, a mystical artifact that can potentially defeat Makuta, an evil entity threatening the island.
Bionicle is a 2003 platform video game developed by Argonaut Games and published by Electronic Arts and Lego Interactive for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. A port was released for Mac OS X, and a version was also developed for the Game Boy Advance. In the home console version, the player controls the Toa, elementally-powered warriors, as they traverse through levels; some levels are 3D platformers, while others utilize mechanics like snowboarding or lava surfing. The game's story, which takes creative liberties with the official Bionicle story, follows the Toa as they defend the island of Mata Nui from the return of the evil Makuta and his minions.
Bionicle Heroes is a 2006 video game published by Eidos Interactive and TT Games Publishing and based on Lego's Bionicle line of constructible action figures. The game was released in November 2006 on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS; a Nintendo Wii version was later released in April 2007. The home console and PC versions were developed by Traveller's Tales, while Amaze Entertainment developed the handheld versions. A version of the game for mobile phones, developed by Universomo, was also released. The home console and PC versions of the game are third-person shooters, while the Game Boy Advance version is a run 'n' gun shoot 'em up and the Nintendo DS version is a first-person shooter. The story of Bionicle Heroes, where the player seeks to liberate the island of Voya Nui and its inhabitants from the villainous Piraka, is not canon to the official Bionicle story.
Mata Nui Online Game is a 2001 point-and-click adventure browser game developed by Templar Studios to promote the Lego Bionicle line of constructible action figures. The game follows Takua, a villager on the island of Mata Nui, as he explores the island, encountering other villagers and the Toa, heroic elemental warriors, on their quest to defeat the evil Makuta.
Nathan Furst is an American television and film composer.
Bionicle: The Legend Reborn is a 2009 animated science fantasy action film based on the Bionicle toy line by Lego. It is the fourth and final Bionicle film to be released. Distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, the film is a stand-alone sequel to the trilogy of films released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the Miramax Home Entertainment label. It follows the toy line's 2009 story and features a different set of characters than that of the first three films. The Legend Reborn was released on September 15, 2009, in the United States and Canada, October 5 in the United Kingdom, and September 2 in Australia. The film stars Michael Dorn as the voice of Mata Nui.
Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by Saffire and published by Lego Software for the Game Boy Advance. Based on the Lego Group's Bionicle line of constructible action figures, the game follows Takua, a villager on the island of Mata Nui, on a quest to rescue the island's Turaga elders and summon the Toa, heroic elemental warriors destined to defeat the evil Makuta.
Creative Capers Entertainment is an American animation studio founded by Terry and Sue Shakespeare with David Molina in 1989. Based in Altadena, California, it specializes in Flash and hand-drawn animation in various feature films, television series, commercials, CD-ROMs and video games.
Bionicle: Matoran Adventures is a 2002 platform game based on Lego's Bionicle line of constructible action figures. It was developed by Argonaut Games and co-published by Electronic Arts and Lego Interactive for the Game Boy Advance. The player controls Matoran and Turaga characters, who must work together to repel the invasion of Bohrok, insect-like robots that threaten the island of Mata Nui.
Lego Bionicle: The Legend of Mata Nui is a canceled action-adventure video game developed by Saffire. Based on the Lego Group's Bionicle line of constructible action figures, the game was intended to release on Microsoft Windows computers in late 2001 and the GameCube in early 2002. The game was designed as a direct sequel to Saffire's Game Boy Advance game Lego Bionicle: Quest for the Toa, which was released in October 2001. The story of The Legend of Mata Nui was meant to serve as a conclusion to the 2001 Bionicle story arc, focusing on the Toa, heroic elemental warriors destined to defeat the evil Makuta, who is attacking the island of Mata Nui with corrupted Rahi animals.
The music of the animated direct-to-video feature films based on the Bionicle toy line by Lego was composed by Nathan Furst and John D'Andrea. Furst composed the scores for the first three films released by Miramax & Buena Vista Home Entertainment – Bionicle: Mask of Light (2003), Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui (2004), and Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows (2005) – while D'Andrea composed the music for the fourth film, Bionicle: The Legend Reborn (2009), which was released by Universal Studios.
Bionicle: Masks of Power is an upcoming fan-made action role-playing video game created by Team Kanohi. Based on The Lego Group's Bionicle line of constructible action figures, the game will follow the Toa's quest for the Kanohi masks. Trailers for the game have been received positively, with critics praising its visuals and comparing its combat to Devil May Cry and Nier: Automata. A demo for the game is scheduled for release on Steam in 2024.
Bionicle: Quest for Mata Nui is an upcoming fan-made action role-playing video game created by CrainyCreations. Based on The Lego Group's Bionicle line of constructible action figures, it is an open world action role-playing game and a reimagining of the 2001 Bionicle story. In the game the player controls the Toa, elementally-powered warriors who set out to free Mata Nui and its inhabitants from the evil Makuta, who have corrupted the native Rahi animals. A trailer was released in April 2020, with gameplay and combat trailers released in the following days. The trailers have been received positively by critics, who have praised the gameplay and visuals.
Bionicle is a series of direct-to-video animated science fantasy action films based on the Bionicle toyline from Lego.
Bionicle was a line of toys and associated media made by Lego from 2000 to 2016.
↑ "Saturn Award Nominations". The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. January 3, 2005. Archived from the original on October 9, 2003. Retrieved 2006-06-27.
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