I honestly believe that Web of Shadows was MUCH better than Legends of Metru Nui. 2 had the big issue of trying to establish characters we've already kind of seen with the Turaga. Once again the entire movie is just a road trip that leads back to where they started. Web of Shadows, while being a "road trip" movie was much less about the journey and more about the characters interpersonal relationships. It took the issues Vakama and Matau had in 2 and really fleshed them out. Vakama went from this meek, insecure person to this genuinely great strategist. He got a big head immediately and his team got hit for it. It was very clear HOW that affected Vakama, his feelings of inadequacy and seeing the strife among the team that he tried to hold together. It would make sense that when he feels he was essentially stripped of his title of Toa that he would then abandon his goals, especially after such a loss. Pair that with Roodaka's influence and it makes sense how he started to think of leading as being done through fear and respect rather than unity.
All that stuff you said about Vakama is exactly what I was thinking while watching this guy’s review on the third movie (in fact, I wish he had shared that same opinion in his review)
I have fond memories of these movies. I think they are fine as movies go. I was crushed when the death scene occured and they impact still to this day.
It's a shame about the third one. The story behind it is, actually, one of the most compelling and sinister to come out of Bionicle. Mind you, ever since, I've only been able to think of Vakama as Rodaka's consort.
@TheMRB It's not just his heroes. The Toa Code thing was planned from even back in 2001, as evidenced by this line in the alpha build of the unreleased The Legend of Mata Nui, said by Turaga Whenua to Onua: "You must remember, Great Onua, the code of honor that guides the actions of all Toa. While you have great strength and awesome abilities, you must never use your powers in anger! Conflict is the crude way of the enemy - you must always seek to rise above the methods employed by Makuta. Victory cannot come through strength alone. Only a strong spirit teamed with a sharp mind can put an end to Makuta and his schemes!" Also, Vakama's turn is more believable in Greg's novelization due to all the thoughts he adds to his character. He did everything he could, and this is something he's said himself, to make it work more and make more sense for his character.
The reason that the character designs are different from the toys is because everyone from the Matoran Universe is biomechanical. They actually have muscles and organs along with their robo bits, so technically the movie renders are the most accurate depiction.
"The theme of Mask of Light is responsibility." Spot on! 😉 *Jordan Peterson has entered the chat* "Ah, but have you cleaned up your room?" "Yes Jordan, Toa of Lobsters - there are Bohrok scattered across my room everywhere."
15:36 I don’t agree. Matau would have been an obvious choice of betrayal being seen s mile away. It doesn’t even make sense. “Oh, i hate this body and being a monster, but i want to give in to my inner monster and not be transformed into my handsome self. I want to be a Visorak warlord, have followers and friends that won’t treat me like a joke” Secondly, Vakama is the only hero that has so much emotion and vulnerability in the second film with his regret and guilt, after he is blinded by his courage after defeating the most feared legend Makuta, he reverts back to the regretful leader he was, feeling he was casted out and not accepted or appreciated as the chosen leader of the Toa Metru Nui, which led to him giving into the beast within for power and loyalty with the Visorak Horde. See, that makes much much more sense.
According TTV 2005 story did happen because the writers want to stay in Metru Nui one more year. Why they did not pick the Toa Nuva since they were going to the city anyway is beyond me
because the toa nuva return in 2006 they didnt have the story for it and probably didnt want to confuse the target audience by having a movie that didnt match the toys they were selling
5:23 Makuta later takes over Mata Nui’s rock body and intraps everyone inside him b4 traveling to space and trying to take out Mata Nui dawning a foam given to him by the mask of light, so, i mean, his claims of his plan always changed
You have made a Bionicle fan here my friend. I can see 3 videos where you covered Bionicle are there more? You make very well thought out videos,easy to understand. Keep up the good work. And do you cover Sentai or ultraman
My (in universe) guess for 10:53 is because it took until then for the Toa Metru’s elemental powers to finally finish recharging and them doing so is also them combining said powers. In fact, the third movie said so during its opening narration (and no offense, but 1:10 sounds like a negative overstatement to me)
If I remember correctly the red star is busted at this point and only teleported likahn up after the toa metru started their initial journey, where he was fixed but due to the teleporter being damaged, no one who was repaired on the red star could return.
Thanks for this review. Really appeals to my nostalgia. Hopefully I'll come back to this video later in the near future with opinions to change and/or add because it's been FOREVER since I last watched these films as a kid. Keep in mind, the last time I watched any of them was way before I critiqued movies the way I do nowadays. Plus, I never fully understood and familiarized myself with every context and detail of the overall Bionicle lore, so my perspective is a bit more limited than I would like it to be. These are my current opinions on the trilogy as of 10/1/22: From Best to Good #1. Web of Shadows (8/10): I always enjoyed this one the most because of its darker tone and for having a pretty awesome third act final battle in the coliseum with the addition of the duel between Vakama and Matau. And I do enjoy Vakama's dual role of hero and villain. Plus, the Hordika are cool and the Visorak are cool. And it has a decent narrative of dealing with inner beasts and the ideals of being a true leader. And of course I love the song during the credits. #2. Mask of Light (8/10): I honestly really need to rewatch this film the most because a good chunk of it is a mental wash. I'm sure the action scenes between the Toa Nuva and the Rahkshi are enjoyable. I do love the designs and characterizations of both the Toa Nuva and the Rahkshi. Granted I'm not into the Rahkshi having metal faces that split apart to show off their split snake-squid interior faces, and the action figures for the Rahkshi I like better, but still the Rahkshi are still badass. One thing I remember being mixed about is that the movie focuses on two Matoran characters on a road trip with their cutesy crab creature pet instead of the Toa. Plus, I would've loved to have seen the Bohrok, Bohrok-Kal, and the Bohrok-Val. Also, I really need to rewatch the final duel between Takanuva and Makuta because I vaguely remember it being some sport game as a call back to the sport game earlier, which even as a kid I felt was kinda silly. #3. Legends of Metru Nui (7/10): The characters, the designs, and the look and detail of Metru Nui are all great. I like that the setting for this film looks like a sci-fi Greek or Roman world. In addition to the Toa, I also really love Nidhiki and Krekka who are a pretty cool evil henchman duo, though I would've loved to have seen more of them. It especially bums me out seeing them get absorbed by Makuta. But if memory serves me well, this film didn't have enough of the best action. Maybe some cool moments here and there, but not enough. The Toa hardly do any cool fight scenes with multiple enemies like the Dark Hunters or the Vahki army. Vakama is the only Toa who uses his given weapon out of thin-air, a disc-launcher/crossbow, and that's only like twice in the movie. And as far as I remember, not only is the third act the least exciting compared to Mask of Light and Web of Shadows, but the final fight with Makuta almost as weak as the one between him and Takanuva in terms of choreography and visuals. Plus, some of these action scenes don't really take place in interesting settings like within the city of Metru Nui. The coliseum sequence could've been cool, but Web of Shadows did it better by being an actual battle rather than an obstacle course. Everything else happens inside certain rooms and facilities or out in the desert. Again, I really need to revisit these movies to validate my opinions. I can only guess what I'll think afterwards for better or for worst.
i always assumed that was the original dume talking to makuta and thje sometime inbetween that and when we see that he has replaced dume is when he replaced dume.
for the longest time I thought Bionicle only had the first movie when I was younger and that I thought the other 2 movies were were dreams I'd had until finally taking the time to look it up in like mid 2010's and discovering that they were real movies.
The first movie doesn’t have plot holes, the mask of light later give life and a body to Mata Nui and the mask of Life, so he could revive Jaller. Light is life in religion, kind of. And the the Destiny mark giving life back to Takanuva, that was mata nui. The islands are mystical, not to mention the powers are too. It’s witchcraft, there can’t be many inconsistencies😂
@@achi-baba Well, it's not too bad that there's a whole species of them. From what I remember, Roodaka was an outlier and everyone hated her, even her own kind. Also, why? 😂 Have we crossed paths on a Beyblade video or something?
Takanuva's there, he's on the top left on the Ussanui, though he's missing his shoulder armor. My Metru were all scrapped for parts over the years, and given how I was trying to hit the anniversary deadline, I couldn't find and rebuild them in time. Since then, I could only find the parts to rebuild Vakama and Nuju, and none of the Hordika. So I put the Turaga there in order to at least get one form of them onscreen.
These movies were perfection to my childhood self. Why they stopped at three will forever be a mystery to me.
Lego's contract with Miramax ended. Why they never continued it or made a new one is a mystery
The ignition trilogy would be perfect
I honestly believe that Web of Shadows was MUCH better than Legends of Metru Nui. 2 had the big issue of trying to establish characters we've already kind of seen with the Turaga. Once again the entire movie is just a road trip that leads back to where they started. Web of Shadows, while being a "road trip" movie was much less about the journey and more about the characters interpersonal relationships. It took the issues Vakama and Matau had in 2 and really fleshed them out. Vakama went from this meek, insecure person to this genuinely great strategist. He got a big head immediately and his team got hit for it. It was very clear HOW that affected Vakama, his feelings of inadequacy and seeing the strife among the team that he tried to hold together. It would make sense that when he feels he was essentially stripped of his title of Toa that he would then abandon his goals, especially after such a loss. Pair that with Roodaka's influence and it makes sense how he started to think of leading as being done through fear and respect rather than unity.
All that stuff you said about Vakama is exactly what I was thinking while watching this guy’s review on the third movie (in fact, I wish he had shared that same opinion in his review)
I have fond memories of these movies. I think they are fine as movies go. I was crushed when the death scene occured and they impact still to this day.
Some of them may be flawed, but they're classics to us!
It's a shame about the third one. The story behind it is, actually, one of the most compelling and sinister to come out of Bionicle. Mind you, ever since, I've only been able to think of Vakama as Rodaka's consort.
@TheMRB It's not just his heroes. The Toa Code thing was planned from even back in 2001, as evidenced by this line in the alpha build of the unreleased The Legend of Mata Nui, said by Turaga Whenua to Onua:
"You must remember, Great Onua, the code of honor that guides the actions of all Toa.
While you have great strength and awesome abilities, you must never use your powers in anger!
Conflict is the crude way of the enemy - you must always seek to rise above the methods employed by Makuta.
Victory cannot come through strength alone. Only a strong spirit teamed with a sharp mind can put an end to Makuta and his schemes!"
Also, Vakama's turn is more believable in Greg's novelization due to all the thoughts he adds to his character. He did everything he could, and this is something he's said himself, to make it work more and make more sense for his character.
The reason that the character designs are different from the toys is because everyone from the Matoran Universe is biomechanical. They actually have muscles and organs along with their robo bits, so technically the movie renders are the most accurate depiction.
I wish they had stayed just a little bit closer to the sets, but still done the heartlights and the organic tissue.
fun fact though they used the toys from the commercials as a base model to make the movie version
"The theme of Mask of Light is responsibility." Spot on! 😉
*Jordan Peterson has entered the chat*
"Ah, but have you cleaned up your room?"
"Yes Jordan, Toa of Lobsters - there are Bohrok scattered across my room everywhere."
15:36 I don’t agree. Matau would have been an obvious choice of betrayal being seen s mile away. It doesn’t even make sense. “Oh, i hate this body and being a monster, but i want to give in to my inner monster and not be transformed into my handsome self. I want to be a Visorak warlord, have followers and friends that won’t treat me like a joke”
Secondly, Vakama is the only hero that has so much emotion and vulnerability in the second film with his regret and guilt, after he is blinded by his courage after defeating the most feared legend Makuta, he reverts back to the regretful leader he was, feeling he was casted out and not accepted or appreciated as the chosen leader of the Toa Metru Nui, which led to him giving into the beast within for power and loyalty with the Visorak Horde. See, that makes much much more sense.
According TTV 2005 story did happen because the writers want to stay in Metru Nui one more year. Why they did not pick the Toa Nuva since they were going to the city anyway is beyond me
because the toa nuva return in 2006 they didnt have the story for it and probably didnt want to confuse the target audience by having a movie that didnt match the toys they were selling
4:20 I like to believe it's because Jaller was ALSO destined to become a Toa
5:23 Makuta later takes over Mata Nui’s rock body and intraps everyone inside him b4 traveling to space and trying to take out Mata Nui dawning a foam given to him by the mask of light, so, i mean, his claims of his plan always changed
You have made a Bionicle fan here my friend. I can see 3 videos where you covered Bionicle are there more? You make very well thought out videos,easy to understand. Keep up the good work. And do you cover Sentai or ultraman
My (in universe) guess for 10:53 is because it took until then for the Toa Metru’s elemental powers to finally finish recharging and them doing so is also them combining said powers. In fact, the third movie said so during its opening narration (and no offense, but 1:10 sounds like a negative overstatement to me)
If I remember correctly the red star is busted at this point and only teleported likahn up after the toa metru started their initial journey, where he was fixed but due to the teleporter being damaged, no one who was repaired on the red star could return.
Thanks for this review. Really appeals to my nostalgia.
Hopefully I'll come back to this video later in the near future with opinions to change and/or add because it's been FOREVER since I last watched these films as a kid. Keep in mind, the last time I watched any of them was way before I critiqued movies the way I do nowadays. Plus, I never fully understood and familiarized myself with every context and detail of the overall Bionicle lore, so my perspective is a bit more limited than I would like it to be. These are my current opinions on the trilogy as of 10/1/22:
From Best to Good
#1. Web of Shadows (8/10): I always enjoyed this one the most because of its darker tone and for having a pretty awesome third act final battle in the coliseum with the addition of the duel between Vakama and Matau. And I do enjoy Vakama's dual role of hero and villain. Plus, the Hordika are cool and the Visorak are cool. And it has a decent narrative of dealing with inner beasts and the ideals of being a true leader. And of course I love the song during the credits.
#2. Mask of Light (8/10): I honestly really need to rewatch this film the most because a good chunk of it is a mental wash. I'm sure the action scenes between the Toa Nuva and the Rahkshi are enjoyable. I do love the designs and characterizations of both the Toa Nuva and the Rahkshi. Granted I'm not into the Rahkshi having metal faces that split apart to show off their split snake-squid interior faces, and the action figures for the Rahkshi I like better, but still the Rahkshi are still badass. One thing I remember being mixed about is that the movie focuses on two Matoran characters on a road trip with their cutesy crab creature pet instead of the Toa. Plus, I would've loved to have seen the Bohrok, Bohrok-Kal, and the Bohrok-Val. Also, I really need to rewatch the final duel between Takanuva and Makuta because I vaguely remember it being some sport game as a call back to the sport game earlier, which even as a kid I felt was kinda silly.
#3. Legends of Metru Nui (7/10): The characters, the designs, and the look and detail of Metru Nui are all great. I like that the setting for this film looks like a sci-fi Greek or Roman world. In addition to the Toa, I also really love Nidhiki and Krekka who are a pretty cool evil henchman duo, though I would've loved to have seen more of them. It especially bums me out seeing them get absorbed by Makuta. But if memory serves me well, this film didn't have enough of the best action. Maybe some cool moments here and there, but not enough. The Toa hardly do any cool fight scenes with multiple enemies like the Dark Hunters or the Vahki army. Vakama is the only Toa who uses his given weapon out of thin-air, a disc-launcher/crossbow, and that's only like twice in the movie. And as far as I remember, not only is the third act the least exciting compared to Mask of Light and Web of Shadows, but the final fight with Makuta almost as weak as the one between him and Takanuva in terms of choreography and visuals. Plus, some of these action scenes don't really take place in interesting settings like within the city of Metru Nui. The coliseum sequence could've been cool, but Web of Shadows did it better by being an actual battle rather than an obstacle course. Everything else happens inside certain rooms and facilities or out in the desert.
Again, I really need to revisit these movies to validate my opinions. I can only guess what I'll think afterwards for better or for worst.
i always assumed that was the original dume talking to makuta and thje sometime inbetween that and when we see that he has replaced dume is when he replaced dume.
for the longest time I thought Bionicle only had the first movie when I was younger and that I thought the other 2 movies were were dreams I'd had until finally taking the time to look it up in like mid 2010's and discovering that they were real movies.
The first movie doesn’t have plot holes, the mask of light later give life and a body to Mata Nui and the mask of Life, so he could revive Jaller. Light is life in religion, kind of. And the the Destiny mark giving life back to Takanuva, that was mata nui. The islands are mystical, not to mention the powers are too. It’s witchcraft, there can’t be many inconsistencies😂
favrite movie is web of shadows
Same here
I always liked 3 because I thought the Hordika designs were cool, and like Vakama, I simped for the big snake robot.
Woah, crazy findin you in the comments section! It's scary that there's a whole island of beings just like Roodaka.
@@achi-baba Well, it's not too bad that there's a whole species of them. From what I remember, Roodaka was an outlier and everyone hated her, even her own kind.
Also, why? 😂 Have we crossed paths on a Beyblade video or something?
@@achi-baba I kinda think Rodaka was one of Bionicle's best villains.
Oh Mata Nui the Rule34 that exists......
9:03 hey woah!!
3:13 Mask of Light’s score isn’t on Instagram :(
Your first two (and even fourth) reviews are pretty spot on but your third one, ehhh not so much (in fact, I find it underrated).
If you don't mind my asking, how come you don't have any Toa Metru characters on your shelf (or Takanuva for that matter)?
Takanuva's there, he's on the top left on the Ussanui, though he's missing his shoulder armor.
My Metru were all scrapped for parts over the years, and given how I was trying to hit the anniversary deadline, I couldn't find and rebuild them in time. Since then, I could only find the parts to rebuild Vakama and Nuju, and none of the Hordika. So I put the Turaga there in order to at least get one form of them onscreen.
The Bionicle movies should be put on the same level of pedigree and nostalgia value as Barbie movies
Great review
3rd movie is my favorite
You need more subss
11:33 Jesus Talks to God, 🤷♂️
👍🏿💚👍🏿💚
No mention of bewbs... or Simporac Simping for the simp who was simping for Makuta... 2/10