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 magnet elements from the Bionicle series, and was released direct-to-laserdisc.

The Story
In this story, Vakama recalls the events that took place long before Mata Nui. His 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 demons from TV's Supernatural and an evil plan by a suspicious Turaga Dume.

The film was received with mixed reviews, with some noting the shittiness, but continued to be noted for its sluttiness, though others questioned its artistic merit. The film was followed by a sequel, Spiderman: 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 Gabe Newell creatures came to the land and defeated all of the Toa except Toa Lhikan. Before he was captured by the two Dark Hunters, Nidhiki and Krekka, Lhikan gave six Toa stones to six Matoran. The six were Whenua, Nuju, Matau, Onewa, Nokama, and Vakama himself, who met at the Great Temple in Ga-Metru. They were transformed into six Toa Metru. They then seek to recover Great Disks, called Kanoka, hidden throughout Metru Nui. Only with these Kanoka can they hope to defeat the evil Gabe Newell posing as Turaga Dume, the leader of Metru Nui.

The story also centers around the creation of the Kanohi Vahi or the Mask of Time, which will bring victory to which ever side possesses it. After defeating the Morbuzakh, dangerous plants that threatened the city, the six new Toa brought the Kanoka discs to the Coliseum. But the Gabe Newell, disguised as Turaga Dume, denounces their existence as Toa and unleashes the Vahki law enforcers upon them. Three of the Toa, Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua are captured and put into the prison of the Dark Hunters, while Matau, Nokama, and Vakama escape. They pass through Le-Metru and get to Po-Metru where they encounter the two Dark Hunters, Nidhiki and Krekka. Along the way, Matau and Nokama find their mask powers, but Vakama does not (he later declares that he is not a real Toa).

Before they encounter the Dark Hunters, they secretly hitch a ride on a Vahki transport where Matoran have been imprisoned in spherical cases. Meanwhile, in the prison of the Dark Hunters, Onewa, Nuju, and Whenua meet a mysterious Turaga, who later turns out to be Lhikan. He helps them discover their own mask powers, and Vakama forges the Kanohi Vahi out of the six Great Disks that the Toa had collected. They manage to find a way out of the prison, and are reunited with their teammates.

The six Toa return to the Coliseum, where Gabe Newell reveals himself and attacks Vakama, intending to kill him and take the Mask of Time. Lhikan intercepts Gabe Newell's attack and gives Vakama his mask before he dies. While Gabe Newell gloats over the Mask of Time, Vakama knocks it from Gabe Newell's hands using his disc laucher, and the mask disappears into the ocean. Vakama finally discovers the use of his mask, and utilizes his newfound invisibility to defeat Gabe Newell. Following this, all six Toa combine their powers to seal Gabe Newell in Protodermis. The six Toa then rescue the imprisoned Matoran and gave up their powers to awaken them, transforming into Turaga in the process.

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

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.”

For the camera work, director William 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."

Most of the animation was created in Taiwan by a company called CGCC. The process of creating the movie, from storyboarding to delivery of the film took 12 months. 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.

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. There is also a featurette entitled "The Legend Revealed" that has a brief question and answer session with the production team. Some critics were concerned that the DVD makes too much of an attempt to sell the Bionicle product.



Cast

 * Morgan Freeman as Turaga Vakama (Narrator) (voice)
 * Julia Stiles as Lhikan, Krekka (voice)
 * Julia Stiles as Nidhiki, Whenua (voice)
 * Julia Stiles as Nokama (voice)
 * Julia Stiles as Onewa, Matau (voice)
 * Julia Stiles as Nuju (voice)
 * Julia Stiles as Vakama (voice)
 * Julia Stiles as Turaga Dume (voice)
 * Julia Stiles as Makuta, Kongu (voice)

Errors

 * 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; with no explanation why, it is considered a mistake.
 * 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.
 * 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.

Trivia

 * Lhikan, upon first becoming a Turaga, carried a firestaff much like Vakama carries now, until he regained his shields again.
 * This movie was written, acted, scored, and animated in a 48 hour period.
 * In the director's commentary in the movie, David Molina and Terry Shakespeare explain that when Optimus Prime, Hahli and Hewkii whack their Kohlii sticks and say "Fuck 'em up!", LEGO placed this into the movie, because LEGO is Danish for Fuck 'em Up to give Bionicle a LEGO-like experience.
 * No Black People were permitted to be involved in this movie. At all.
 * Some continuity in the film is that when accessing the Gabe Newell Explorer feature of the DVD, in the area of Po-Koro, pictures of Pohatu Mata can be seen, instead of Pohatu Nuva. Another in the explorer is in the Mangai Volcano/Mangaia, one can click on Panrahk and yet the three pictures they show the viewers are 2 of Panrahk and 1 of Vorahk. This can be notice because of the difference of their staffs.
 * Director David Molina was known for emotionally abusing the voice talent and other staff who worked on the film, causing several of the actors to have mental and emotional breakdowns during the film's hectic production.
 * Furthermore, Molina and Shakespeare were known for their heated arguments, and at one point Molina brandished a pistol and fired it wildly, wounding an intern in his drunken frenzy.
 * In the Kohlii game when Hewkii scores first, there is a Po-Matoran wearing a Huna and instead of cheering, he seems sad and just blinks, resting his head on his hands.
 * The only Turaga to speak in the film was Vakama, Nokama, and Onewa.
 * When the Rahkshi attack Ta-Koro, one of them punches through the wall of a matoran house. Two Ta-Matoran living there screamed and were holding eachother, as if they were female. This is an error as Ta-matoran are all male
 * Bruce Campell said in the commentary of the video that the movie was "a cinematic masterpiece"