BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui

Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui is the second movie of the Bionicle series and is a prequel to Bionicle: Mask of Light. This movie was created using Lego elements from the Bionicle series, and was released direct-to-DVD.

The Story
In this story, Vakama recalls the events that took place long before Mata Nui. His Turaga friends Nuju, Matau, Onewa, Whenua, and Nokama are chosen to be the Toa Metru of the island of Metru Nui. They must prove themselves worthy of Toa and fight off mysterious darknesess such as the dark hunters and an evil plan by a suspicious Turaga Dume.

The film was received with mixed reviews, with some noting the filling in of plot holes from the last movie, but continued to be noted for its visual effects and musical score, though others questioned its artistic merit. The film was followed by a sequel, Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows.

Plot
The film opens with Turaga Vakama describing a land that existed before Mata-Nui. Toa protected the residents of Mata-Nui until the creatured Makuta came to the land and defeated all of the Toa except Toa Lhikan. Before he fell, Lhikan retrieved six sacred stones and delivered them each to Matoran in Metru Nui. The six were Whenua, Nuju, Matau, Onewa, Nokama and Vakama, who met at the temple of the Great Spirit who transformed them into six giant Toa. They then seek to recover six sacred discs hidden throughout Metru Nui. Only with these disks of Kanoka can they hope to defeat the evil Makuta posing as Turaga Dume, the mayor of Metru Nui. The story also centers around the creation of the Kanohi mask, or the Mask of Time, which will bring victory to which ever side possesses it. In the subsequent battles against Makuta, Lhikan sacrifices himself, the Mask of Time is lost, and Makuta is sealed away by the Toa's combined powers. Vakama has a vision of Mata Nui, and declares it to be their new home.

Production
Plans were in place before the release of the first Bionicle movie to create a second movie.[1] The writers Terry Shakespeare and David Molina did have some input into the script, though most of the mythology had already been sketched out.[2]

For the visual style of the film, director David Molina stated “We wanted to give this audience a bigger view of the BIONICLE world – more environments, larger vistas.” Also, “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.”[3]

For the camera work, director Terry Shakespeare said "We really concentrated on depth of field with the camera," Comparing the two Bionicles, he felt "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."[3]

Most of the animation was created in Taiwan by a company called CGCC.[2] The process of creating the movie, from storyboarding to delivery of the film took 12 months.[2] Molina additionally added that the pipeline and process for creating this film was faster and more refined than the original Bionicle movie. “Our strength is bringing characters to life and not just robots,” added Shakespeare.

Rating
Though being a direct-to-video release, this film was rated PG by the MPAA for action violence and scary images

Reception
Cartoon Networks Toonami aired several scenes from the film along with the first Bionicle movie Mask of Light.[4] The film was first screened on October 6, 2004, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California.[2] Cartoon Network aired the movie for the first time less than two months after its release on December 18, 2004, at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.[5]

Though reviewers are still skeptical as to the toy promotional nature of these films, several noted their marked improvement over the original Bionicle movie, including its filling in of major plot holes that had been present in the first film.[6] It was also noted for its references to The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Matrix, and Excalibur.[7] Some found the short but complicated introduction of characters and places to be difficult to follow, and the story itself hard to follow. There was also concern that the Bionicle brand promotes violence, running counter to the LEGO themes of patience and careful construction.[8] A sequel entitled Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows was released in 2005.

Bionicle 2 was nominated at the DVD Exclusive Awards for Best Animated Premiere Movie.[9] It was also nominated for best director and best original score.[10] Bionicle was nominated at the 32nd Annual Saturn Awards for Best DVD release.[11] It was also an iParenting Media Award winner for Best Home Video/DVD.[12] Two awards were won by the studio that created Bionicle 2 at the 27th Annual Telly Awards.[13] It also won the Golden Reel Award for Sound Editing in a Direct to Video Release.[14]

DVD release
Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui was released on DVD on 6 October 2004 in the United States. It was praised for its high quality picture and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. The DVD included a number of documentaries including the making of the movie and associated toy line.[15] There is also a featurette entitled "The Legend Revealed" that has a brief question and answer session with the production team.[16] Some critics were concerned that the DVD makes too much of an attempt to sell the Bionicle product.[17]

Cast
Christopher Gaze as Turaga Vakama (Narrator) (voice) Michael Dobson as Lhikan, Krekka (voice) Paul Dobson as Nidhiki, Whenua (voice) Tabitha St. Germain as Nokama (voice) Brian Drummond as Onewa, Matau (voice) Trevor Devall as Nuju (voice) Alessandro Juliani as Vakama (voice) Gerard Plunkett as Turaga Dume (voice) Lee Tockar as Makuta, Kongu (voice)

Errors
It is most awkward that during the movie in some cases the characters don't move their lips while speaking. Most notably when Matoran Vakama shouts "Oh, help me, please!" and Nidhiki's "Do it." line. The audio-lip synch has proven to be a bit faulty as a whole, however with no explanation given as to why, it's considered a mistake. Also, it can be noted that none of the Toa of Water have any mouths to speak with. When the Matoran are in the temple, they insert their Toa Stones into the symbols of their sections of Metru Nui. However, Nokama puts hers into a Ko-Metru symbol, and Nuju puts his into the Ga-Metru symbol. Although not necessarily a mistake, Matau's aeroslicers open up to form his wings when, in fact, they do not in his toy. When Lhikan delivers the blue Toa stone to Nokama, one of the other Ga-Matoran says "Toa Lhikan?" in a distinctly male voice. However, all Ga-Matoran are supposed to be female.