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Happy 15th anniversary, Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows! :)


Lenny7092

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Hi, guys. Today, on October 11, 2005, the third BIONICLE direct-to-video movie, BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows, was released, and it’s made by Miramax. It is set in between Legends of Metru and Mask of Light, after the Toa Metru defeated Makuta and before they turned into Turaga. They have to save the Matoran, who are asleep. Metru Nui is taken over by evil giant spiders called the Visorak, who are led by their king named Sidorak and viceroy named Roodaka. The Visroak captured the Toa Metru and turned them into monsters called the Toa Hordika, but the Toa are still themselves. They teamed up with the Rahaga to fight the Visorak. 
 

Anyway, what do you think of the movie when you watched it? For me, I like it. I love the final battle. However, I didn’t like how Vakama was arrogant and then let his animal side turn him evil (I thought Roodaka mind-controlled him, but it’s actually his animal side. Plus, Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith in 2005, much?), and then the Toa freed Makuta. I mean, they unleashed the ultimate evil onto their world. I am not fond of the set inaccuracies, and there wasn’t much action, either. It’s nice to see Takanuva, Jaller, and Hahli in the end. :) Thus, this movie is the least favorite, but yes. Sadly, there’s no character who is a combo Titan set in there, and there was no movie since 2005 and until 2009. No Piraka movie, no Barraki movie, and no 2008 movie. :( 

 

Anyway, happy 15th anniversary, Web of Shadows! It’s been long ago. :)
 

 

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I like Lego, Bionicle, and Hero Factory!:)

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Regarding set inaccuracies, I've always liked the different style the movies go for - adapting the usually pretty rigid-looking early designs into things that look alive. Whilst a lot of Mask of Light's visuals fail to hold up today, Web of Shadows' effects really stick together, especially in the beginning whilst the Toa walk through the Visorak infected city. 

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10 hours ago, Lenny7092 said:

However, I didn’t like how Vakama was arrogant and then let his animal side turn him evil (I thought Roodaka mind-controlled him, but it’s actually his animal side.

7 hours ago, Bambi said:

I think people would get more out of it if they read Adventures five through seven, as those do a better job showing Vakama's changes in personality.

I think I remember reading how Greg originally wanted Matau to be the one who turned, not Vakama, as Matau's vanity and idealized version of what a Toa 'should be', having been shattered becoming Hordika would have shaken him up enough to make switching sides more plausible. But I'm also not convinced vanity is a deeply rooted enough motivation to do a 180. 

But having also re-read some of the Toa Metru arc (because nostalgia), I think Vakama turning was done decently well (books, haven't watched the movie in a while, I imagine it would be hard to pull off). From what I remember, he was initially one of the more insecure of the group to embrace their role as Toa, really feeling the burden of it especially when Lhikan was captured at his (Vakama's) expense. Like, living up to Lhikan's legacy really drove him, and not necessarily in a good way. And then his teammates gave him a hard time for this and that, some more than others (to put it briefly), and even for a reluctant leader like he was, lack of respect has really got to eat at you on the inside. The overall loss of their entire home, history, and all their friends trapped in coma spheres was Makuta's win, even though they trapped him in that seal in the end. I think Vakama's overconfidence we see at the beginning of Web of Shadows is him clinging on to (maybe not even consciously) that last shred of hope, that victory over Makuta, and not grasping the enormity of the task of saving/rehousing the entire population of everyone they've ever known, essentially. 

Then Hordika stuff happens, which is bad, and all these new emotions etc. etc. But even without that, I think the groundwork was already laid pretty well. When Roodaka comes along with the offer of respect, the chance to command, I could see pre-Hordika Vakama taking that offer. Roodaka would have probably had to use the "save the Matoran"/"for a greater good" angle somehow, but I think his allegiance could have been swayed. 

That Matau, one of the team who needles Vakama most, is the one who fights hardest to bring Vakama back is also a personal highlight for me - really drives home the sense of brotherhood. 

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(disclaimer: none of this banner art is original, I just smooshed it together in gimp. Torchic, Matau)
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Those pesky firespitters... 
Library | The Sculptors and the Smelters | The Ternion Review Topic 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I think the most jarring thing about this is the realisation that it means Web of Shadows has now existed for more than half of my current lifetime. (Actually, last year it would have been exactly half, but I didn't think about it then.)

I don't know what to do with this realisation, but it makes me mildly uncomfortable because it just DOES NOT feel like that long ago in the slightest.

 

On 10/12/2020 at 3:33 AM, Aderia said:

That Matau, one of the team who needles Vakama most, is the one who fights hardest to bring Vakama back is also a personal highlight for me - really drives home the sense of brotherhood. 

Oh yeah, I absolutely agree: that is, hands down, my favourite part of the movie's arc. The fact that it's Matau, of all the team, who is one who puts the most determination into bringing Vakama back. Honestly, that's probably what makes the whole movie for me; Matau's character growth there is so easily understated, but seeing the way he comes around to fight SO HARD for Vakama at the end is just so good, imo.

 

I will say, though... that in-universe, I feel like Vakama hyped the story up to be darker than it actually ended up being? At the end of Challenge of the Hordika, this is how he builds it up:

Quote

Now it was Vakama’s turn to laugh – a long, cold laugh that would haunt the Toa Nuva in their dreams. “There is more to tell,” said the Turaga. “Much more, but it must wait for another night. The stars shine too brightly on this evening, and the fire brings too much warmth. This story is one that must be told on a night as dark as Makuta’s heart, when the cold grips your bones like Zivon’s claws. We will wait for such a night... and then we will continue.”

And I have to say, reading that for the first time several years later, my reaction was something along the lines of how is he talking about Web of Shadows in its finished form? What was the story ORIGINALLY going to be like to justify that intense build-up? xD

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"New legends awake, but old lessons must be remembered.
For that is the way
of the BIONICLE."

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On 11/1/2020 at 9:34 AM, That Matoran with a Vahi said:

I will say, though... that in-universe, I feel like Vakama hyped the story up to be darker than it actually ended up being? At the end of Challenge of the Hordika, this is how he builds it up:

And I have to say, reading that for the first time several years later, my reaction was something along the lines of how is he talking about Web of Shadows in its finished form? What was the story ORIGINALLY going to be like to justify that intense build-up? xD

I agree that it seems overly hyped. However, I think that the corruption of the Hordika went deeper than just a fall from being a toa. To me, Hordika is a complete corruption of the values the matoran hold (unity, duty, and destiny) and in that case Hordika is infinitely scarier than just a Power Rangers: Jungle Fury rip-off.

:m: :a: :x:    :n: :u: :i:

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