Happy 10th anniversary, Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows! :)

[Lenny7092]

Hi, guys! This year is the 10th anniversary on the third Bionicle movie, Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows!

It is about the Toa Metru trying to save the Matoran, who are in a coma, but they were trapped and mutated by the evil Visorak into the animal-like Toa Hordika. Despite the mutation, the Toa are still determined heroes. With the help of the Rahaga, they have to find a creature called the Keetongu and fight against the Visorak and their leaders, Sidorak and Roodaka, in order to change back to normal.

I know that some of you guys remembered and said that movie isn't the best of the movie series, but I'll bet some of you do liked the movie. True it's sad in some ways, like Vakama betraying the Toa and helping the bad guys and the Toa purposely unleashed their dreaded and powerful archenemy, Makuta, who got out of their prison (and goes to take over the universe), but the movie shows some good character development and how Makuta got out of his prison.

Anyway, the movie came out in October 11th, 2005, which was ten years ago, and is the last Bionicle to be made by Miramax before Bionicle: The Legend Reborn.

So, how can we celebrate it? A birthday cake? What is your favorite part of the movie if you watched it? For me, I liked the part where Matau was complaining and that made Keetongu laugh.

[Kopekemaster]

Favorite part: Keetongu squishing Sidorak. Even just thinking about that scene puts a smile on my face.

 

This one might've been my favorite of the three (Miramax) Bionicle films. I loved the common black/dark glowing green colour combo, as well as the sometimes fairly dark feel of it.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Kopekemaster

[Ta-metru_defender]

Wait, it's been ten years?

 

Wuuuuut?

[emily]

I can't in good conscience say I completely enjoyed Web of Shadows, but I respect it for being by far the most ambitious of the four films as far as character-driven plot goes.

[Xboxtravis]

Yeah, I don't really enjoy the films to much as an adult now: but I was 11 when Web Of Shadows came out and I enjoyed it then! Might not be the best Bionicle film, but it is still very nostalgic for me.

[fishers64]

Matau's nightmare is 10 years old. Hopefully he never has that dream ever again. 

[FrozenFlash]

You know, the best part of Web of Shadows was when Vakama got rid of that angsty leader attitude by the ending. It was a bit unbearable in LoMN. It's great seeing the character development in effect.

 

Happy 10th anniversary, WoS!

Edited October 24, 2015 by FF the Forgotten

[Toa Smoke Monster]

I actually consider Web of Shadows to be my favorite Bionicle movie. I really liked the darker atmosphere around it, like when Roodaka told a Visorak to throw itself off the edge of the Coliseum, just to show her style of leadership to Vakama. It fell on a ledge of the book, but in the movie it actually died. That was something very frightening to see, especially in a kids movie.

 

My favorite scene will probably be the battle between the Toa Hordika and Visorka in the Coliseum at the end of the movie. It gave the other Toa besides Vakama and Matau some screen time, and I thought the action scenes were cool as well. 

[Rooster Nui]

While I didn't mind the darker tone, it was a bit over-the-top in some areas. It was still an enjoyable movie at the time of being a kid and also now, though I still prefer to watch the first two than this one. 

 

Happy Anniversary, Bionicle: Web of Shadows!

[masterchirox580]

These days I'd have to say that web of shadows was the best one. It had a lot of focus on characters. It was much darker and more intense. And it had some really nice effects. I really don't see why people didn't like it. 

[LewaLew]

Web of Shadows has never been my favorite, since I wasn't a huge fan of 2005's story anyway, but I did like that it engaged in some character development. It's just irritating that Vakama had to undergo a Hordika-induced character derailment for it to happen. Best part is Matau vs. Vakama at the Coliseum. Second best part is Keetongu shutting Sidorak up.

[sydorack]

Oh man this movie dominated my life for like half a year.  Definitely my favorite of the 4 movies.  It was the only one I actually owned a physical copy of back in the day.  I was in high school when it came out, and practically everyday, I would watch it when I got in bed after attempting to do homework.  I always kept my love of bionicle hidden from my friends.  I had all of my figures posed on my desk and dresser, and I would never invite people to my house, I would always go to other peoples houses to hang out.  Man thinking about this is bringing up some wild stuff in my head from my past.  I can't believe that was a decade ago.  Crazy.  

[Xarok]

God, I love over-analyzing movies, here we go.

It has its moments. I think I prefer LoMN, but Web of Shadows is alright for a direct to dvd movie based on toys. That being said, I can't help but feel there was a lot of missed opportunity. We finally got an antagonist that wasn't Makuta but we ended up just getting someone who wanted to bring him back. Still, I think Roodaka was a really cool villain and it was interesting to see a bad guy who wasn't Makuta. I wasn't too happy about Matau's attitude towards Vakama, and it still feels oddly hilarious to hear a Bionicle character complain about his looks. It's just surreal hearing Matau talking about wanting to be beautiful again. I have a whole rant about how the Vakama defecting thing could have been better in another topic so I won't go into that here.

Another thing I really liked was how the characters transitioned from toys to movie form. I'm not crazy about the story in Web of Shadows but they made some really good visual choices. I liked how the Hordika only had one actual hand while the other had their tool fused to it. Even then they only had clawed hands which put more emphasis on their beastly forms. I really wish they toys were that cool, (and no I'm not a Hordika hater, I just think they had the coolest looking movie forms out of the Toa that were featured in the movies) The way the Hordika slouched and walked more like gorillas was also a great choice, I was a little confused when I first saw it, but now I can't imagine them walking upright. I'll also never forget the first time I saw the Visorak in B3, I loved how creepy the lead up to them was, all the green fog and then hearing their roar or screech, whatever that was, it was freaky for a kid's movie. The way they had mechanical teeth and seeing the green web drip from their mouth was just creepy stuff. This was probably the first time I ever felt scared from a bad guy in Bionicle. They looked creepy to me when I was a kid, but what they did always creeped me out most of all. I liked how Web of Shadows had the slightest hint of body-horror with the transformation, you don't see it happening but the book described it as "having one's mind ripped apart by force and crudely pieced back together" or something like that, just that passage made me shudder. I think had they put more effort into expressing that aspect, Matau's attitude might have felt a little more justified. Had they shown more of the fear of changing into something warped or unknown, I feel like it would add more gravity to the situation. I really wish they had been given more time in the Bionicle movies, they had so much plot they were forced to condense to just a little over an hour.

 

Who could forget the part where Keetongu (who's seen as one of the good guys) crushes Sidorak to death. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this was the first time I remember a good guy actually killing someone, sure we'd seen deaths before but it was always a bad guy killing a supporting role or another bad guy, never a hero killing a villain. It also reminds us that while Keetongu is intelligent and powerful, he is still an animal, or rahi and it really emphasized what made the Toa different from him or other rahi.

 

The fight with Vakama and Matau was intense. We know Vakama won't stay bad because he's there telling the story in present day to all his friends, but gosh it was disheartening to see two of my favorite characters fighting, and I mean that in a good way. They weren't throwing energy blasts at each other or playing a game, but they were actually throwing punches. I still think it's a little corny how easy Vakama came back buuut that fight scene and Matau's speech was nice and I was just happy to see them getting along again. I almost feel like it would make more sense for Matau to defect because he's the most afraid and childish of the bunch. 

 

Perhaps I'm reading too deep into a movie made for kids to sell toys, but Bionicle 3 is certainly the most interesting and ambitious of all the movies and it's got some really cool stuff in there. It's a little messy and the pacing isn't very good, but it's the little things that make it really neat.

[Irrie]

Webs is the only of the four movies that I haven't seen yet. The reason why is that I fell in love with the 2005 storyline so much that I didn't want to have the images I'd created in my mind switched out with those from a film. For example, the way I saw the interior of the coliseum could have been radically different from how it was made on-screen, but I want to preserve the uniqueness of the human mind when it reads something. 

This is also the reason why I haven't, and refuse to, see the movies for the Hobbit, LoTR, and the Chronicles of Narnia. 

[Petewa]

I remember watching Web of Shadows on Netflix with my sister not too long ago, we had a little conversation as the title sequence played.

 

Her: Are those spiderwebs?

Me: Of sorts.

Her: Is this the movie that your whackaskulls are based off of?

Me: The Skull Spiders?

Her: Yeah, those.

Me: No, this is much older, about much different, larger, spiders.

Her: Oh...who's--

Me: It'll all make sense if you watch the film quietly.

[LewaLew]

That's about how it went with my little sisters watching every BIONICLE movie.

 

At least they figured out who Vakama, Matau, and Nokama were by the time LoMN was done.

[Shadow Destroyer]

I dislike 2005's story in general, and I wasn't a fan of how Sidorak was depicted in the movie. However, I can respect Web of Shadows for trying new things, and I can't believe it's already been ten years.

[Lenny7092]

I remember watching Web of Shadows on Netflix with my sister not too long ago, we had a little conversation as the title sequence played.

 

Her: Are those spiderwebs?

Me: Of sorts.

Her: Is this the movie that your whackaskulls are based off of?

Me: The Skull Spiders?

Her: Yeah, those.

Me: No, this is much older, about much different, larger, spiders.

Her: Oh...who's--

Me: It'll all make sense if you watch the film quietly.

Interesting that you mentioned Skull Spiders because I always think that the reason why the Skull Spiders are major villains in 2015 is probably because they are based on the Visorak to celebrate the 2005 storyline's 10th anniversary. Or is it just an interesting coincidence.

 

Anyway, I do love the the huge fight between the Toa Hordika and the Visorak. That was intense.

[Erasmus Graves]

Good grief, ten years already?

I loved Web of Shadows, (though it's not my favourite of the movies). The thematic darkness, soundtrack, voice acting and characterisations are great.

The Toa develop as characters, and the elegant buildings of Metru Nui become a sinister jungle of madness and spiderwebs. My favourite part would be the huge battle in the Coliseum, with the cutting between most of the Hordika vs. the Visorak on the ground, with Matau vs. Vakama on the upper regions. It's not just a mindless, exciting brawl, but an intense psychological conflict when it comes to the fight between Matau and Vakama.

The scene where the Hordika examine themselves by morning's light is grotesquely funny but also sad, in its own way. 

I didn't like how Sidorak was portrayed as an incompetent (his upgrade in competence and awesome is one of the many reasons why the novelisation is superior to the film), save in four scenes. 1. His awesome line while observing the captured Toa:

"Drop them".

That was a pragmatic, easy and clever idea.

2. His interrogation of Vakama via the security camera 3. His entry with his personal guard, silhouetted against the door's light. 4. The end of that scene where he takes Vakama to 'meet the horde'. After being friendly and getting smartmouthed, his amiability drains away as they approach the doors, leaving a tough, competent attitude that is more in place with his book portrayal.  

Anyway, Happy 10th Anniversary Web of Shadows!  

 

PS: Mask of Light is turning 13 this year. Legends of Metru Nui is turning 12 this year. The Legend Reborn is turning 6 this year. 

Edited November 21, 2015 by Erasmus Graves