Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui

Plot

The film begins with Turaga Vakama describing a land that existed before Mata Nui called Metru Nui. The residents of the great city believed that the warriors known as the Toa would protect them, but eventually they fell one by one, defeated by an unrelenting shadow that sought to conquer the city.

Lhikan, the last remaining Toa, travels throughout the entire city, giving Toa stones to six Matoran: 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, 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 issues that "small 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 a chute system, with the Dark Hunters giving chase.

Vakama, Nokama, and Matau abandon the chute system at Ko-Metru when the Dark Hunters get the flow reversed and 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 are ambushed by the Dark Hunters and 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, shape-shifting, along the way. Meanwhile, Onewa, Whenua, and Nuju are trying unsuccessfully to escape when are approached by a mysterious Turaga, who explains that Toa mask powers are needed to escape. To activate them, the Turaga puts them through a test in which they perform seemingly pointless tasks. Onewa discovers his mask power, mind-control, during an argument with Whenua, just as Nuju discovers his mask power, telekinesis, which he uses to create an escape route. As they traverse the tunnels of Onu-Metru, Whenua finds his mask power, night-vision, before the four reunite with Vakama, Nokama, and Matau. The Turaga then reveals himself to be Lhikan, whose power was drained from him when they became 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 Dume; the Dume from before was an impostor. Pursued by the Vahki, the Toa Metru, 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 the way out, the Dark Hunters attack them again, but are killed, along with a Nivawk (Makuta's spy), when the 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 gives chase, and in the ensuing battle, Lhikan is killed protecting Vakama. Anguished, Vakama discovers his mask power of invisibility and knocks the Mask of Time into the sea, preventing Makuta from claiming it. The Toa Metru 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 an injured Matoran named Jaller, to the cheers of the other Matoran and Turaga, and their new lives on Mata Nui begin.

Cast

Production

Plans were in place before the release of the first Bionicle movie to create a second movie. The directors Terry Shakespeare and David Molina did have some input into the storyline, 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.”

Talking about 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 CGCG. 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.

Music

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.

While the soundtrack has not been officially released, a number of excerpts are available for streaming through an archive of Nathan Furst's now-inactive website. Furst himself has also posted the complete prologue and end credits themes on YouTube and SoundCloud, respectively.

While promoting the Mask of Light soundtrack release on his Facebook and Twitter pages, Furst announced that the soundtrack from Legends of Metru Nui (as well as its sequel, Web of Shadows) is planned for eventual release, depending on the success of the Mask of Light soundtrack.

Reception

Cartoon Network's Toonami aired several scenes from the film along with the first Bionicle movie Mask of Light. The film was first screened on October 6, 2004, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California. 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.

Though reviewers were 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. It was also noted for its references to The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Matrix, and Excalibur. There was concern that the Bionicle brand promoted violence, running counter to the LEGO themes of patience and careful construction. 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. It was also nominated for best director and best original score. Bionicle was nominated at the 32nd Annual Saturn Awards for Best DVD release. It was also an iParenting Media Award winner for Best Home Video/DVD. Two awards were won by the studio that created Bionicle 2 at the 27th Annual Telly Awards. It also won the Golden Reel Award for Sound Editing in a Direct to Video Release.

DVD 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 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.