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, and mostly BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows. This movie was created using Lego elements from the BIONICLE series, and was released direct-to-DVD.

The film was released on DVD on October 19, 2004 in the United States. 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.

Plot
The film opens with Turaga Vakama describing a land that existed before Mata Nui. Toa protected the residents of Metru Nui until the Makuta came to the land and defeated all of the Toa except Lhikan. Before he was captured by the two Dark Hunters, Nidhiki and Krekka, Lhikan gave six Toa stones to six Matoran. While grieving for Lhikan's capture and wondering the meaning of the Toa Stone he was given, the Matoran Vakama was confronted by Turaga Dume, who told Vakama once again about the importance of the creation of the Vahi, Kanohi Mask Of Time. The six Matoran given a stone were Whenua, Nuju, Matau, Onewa, Nokama, and Vakama himself, who met at the Great Temple in Ga-Metru. They were transformed into the six Toa Metru after depositing their stones into the Suva. After receiving a vision from Vakama, they then seek to recover Great Disks, called Kanoka, hidden throughout Metru Nui.

After defeating the Morbuzakh, dangerous plants that threatened the city, the six new Toa brought the Kanoka discs to the Coliseum. But Makuta Teridax, disguised as Turaga Dume, puts them through a rigorous test. After failing, he 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 after Vakama launches a disc at a statue of Lhikan and smashes the Vahki. They escape and pass through Le-Metru, but Nidhiki and Krekka reverse the flow of the Protodermis tube their escaping in, and they end up swinging to a tower. However, Matau's grasp slips and he falls, but discovers a unique ability and flies to saftey. Meanwhile, in the prison of the Dark Hunters, Onewa, Nuju, and Onewa meet a mysterious Turaga who helps them discover their mask powers, which in turn create an exit. On the ground, Vakama finds the discs they discovered fuse, but he looks to the sky and sees Lhikan's Spirit Star, heading for Po-Metru. Wondering how to get to Po-Metru, the question is answered when they see a Brigade of Vahki Transports heading that way, and they hop on. The transport carries spherical cases (Designed to hold Matoran). Vakama sees a vision where many Matoran are being held in said containers, but it turns out nothing is in their. Feeling awkward for his random and strange visions, Vakama feels he is not a real Toa. They get to Po-Metru where they encounter the two Dark Hunters, Nidhiki and Krekka. During the battle, a herd of Kikanalo stampedes through the empty desert, but as she flees, Nokama confronts the heard, and finds her mask power; Rahi Translating. She finds out that the Vahki have taken Lhikan and has the Kikanalo take them to where he's being held. A battle ensues as they arrive and they make their way to the entrance of Lhikan's holding cell. While the other Toa and Turaga walk down the cave, the path becomes very dark, and Whenua discovers his mask power, which allows them to see through. However, they hear a sound and what appears to be a Vahki tackles Whenua, but the Vahki turns out to be a shape-shifted Matau; his mask power. The two teams reunite, and the Turaga reveals himself to be Lhikan, turned into a Turaga from the effects of the Toa Stones. Vakama finds the real Turaga Dume imprisoned in the Spherical Cases they found on the Vahki Transports, and he discovers the identity of the fake.

The Matoran turn out to be imprisoned, called to the Coliseum by the imposing Turaga Dume, and forced into the spheres by the Vahki. The six Toa return to the Coliseum, in one of the many Vahki Transport Vehicles. They load the Vehicle with as many containers as they can, and return to the tower, where Makuta reveals himself and and finally lays The Great Spirit to sleep. The Toa and Lhikan escape from the Vahki, floating on the Protodermis Sea. However, Teridax, now fused with Nivawk, Krekka, And Nidhiki, takes control over the lake of Protodermis, and knocks the Toa, Matoran, and Lhikan out of the Vehicle, which ruins Nuju's telekenetic hold on Vakama, who falls in front of Teridax. He dons the Mask Of Time, attempting to slow down Makuta's shadow hand, but he has little control over the mask. Before the Shadow Hand can reach Vakama, Lhikan intercepts Makuta's attack with his shield, and the force the force not only severely injures Lhikan, but rips the Mask off of Vakama's face, and Makuta persues it. As Vakama witnesses Lhikan pass, he takes his mask as Lhikan had wished. He then discovers his mask power: Invisibility. He uses it against Teridax, and fires his Kanoka Launcher at the Mask, knocking it out of Teridax's hand and the mask is lost to the depths. Vakama confronts Teridax, whoes Shadow Hand works against him. Eventually, he grabs a Stone Column so large it smashes him into the wall. He then tries to demoralize Vakama, but he is backed up by the other Toa, who have saved the remaining Matoran, and they combine their Elemental Powers to create a Toa Seal, which seals Teridax in Protodermis. The Toa evacuate into a New Island, and give their Toa Power to open the Matoran Spheres. After the canisters are opened, Takua shows Vakama to Jaller, who's mask was broken. Realizing something, he reaches and finds Lhikan's Hau, and gives it to Jaller. The Turaga proclaim the newfound Island Mata Nui, after the Great Spirit. Vakama finally narrates the end of the story;

'''Matoran Into Toa; Toa Into Turaga; Turaga Into Legends; This is the way... Of the Bionicle.'''

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 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."

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. The film would to be the last in the franchise to recieve a rating in the US, as the following BIONICLE films were released unrated.

In Australia it was rated PG for Low Level Violence and Mature Themes.

Reception
BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui 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. It was praised for its high quality picture and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Some critics were concerned that the DVD makes too much of an attempt to sell the BIONICLE product.

Cast

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

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 been shown to be a bit faulty as a wholee.
 * 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.
 * When Vakama replaces Jaller's mask at the end of the film, there is a noticeable render error visible. This comes in the form of the top-right side of Jaller's head appearing through his mask. This is possibly due to the effect of Lhikan's mask being morphed, causing the model to bug out when rendered.

Trivia

 * Lhikan, upon first becoming a Turaga, carried a firestaff much like Vakama carries now, until he regained his shields again.
 * Only two of the six Vahki types are seen in the movie: Rorzakh in the Coliseum, and Zadakh in Po-Metru.
 * The Vahki in the movie also seem to use the same staffs in the film rather than thier own.
 * Although the scene of the Toa sacrificing their powers were shown in this movie, the ending scene actually takes place after Web of Shadows.