Happy 15th anniversary, Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui! :)

[Lenny7092]

Exactly 15 years ago, on October 19, 2004, a second direct-to-video Bionicle movie called Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui was released. It’s based on the 2004 storyline, as it is a prequel. It’s about the Turaga of Mata Nui as a team of Toa called the Toa Metru long ago. They were learning on how to become heroes while they were trying save their home city called Metru Nui from a mysterious evil force. 

Anyway, like the first film, it’s made by Miramax, as the characters look like real cyborgs. The movie also shows how the Turaga know about being Toa, using Kanohi masks, where the Mask of Time came from, where the Matoran came from, and how did Makuta put Mata Nui to sleep. Plus, we learn that Matoran can turn into Toa and then a Turaga. 

I watched and loved the movie. It was great and epic. I like the character development, action scenes, and Matau’s crashing-onto-stuff moments. Lol!:) 

I felt sad at the scene where Vakama was having self-doubts and Lhikan died.:( 

I like that the Toa Metru had Matoran forms and Turaga Dume looks like an actual Turaga from the first movie rather than his Matoran-like set, which looks silly on him because of what he is. 

Now, for the negatives, well, I have a few. The Toa don’t use their elemental powers, not every Toa has all of their weapons, the Great Disk Matoran weren’t there, the battle with the Morburakh plant wasn’t there despite the plant having a cameo, there are only the brown and black types of Vahki, and these guys use the green type’s staffs, they never shoot Kanoka, Teridax acts like that he’s talking to himself, and his giant winged forms looks like his 2003 form with wings rather than his skeletal form in his Titan combo set for some reason. Plus, like the first film, the Matoran gave this thing with red eyes and some masks commonly. 

So, if any of you guys watched the movie, what do you think? Anyway, happy 15th anniversary, movie! Man, it’s so long ago! Good memories. We should do something to celebrate it.:D

[Valendale]

I just saw something about this earlier. When I think back on it, seeing the ads for this movie were probably the earliest memory I have of Bionicle. From those, I somehow surmised that it must be incredibly violent and wholly inappropriate for a kid my age. Thus, it would be another couple years before I actually found myself getting into the series.

As for the movie itself, I don't remember a whole lot about it. I didn't like that the Toa never used their elemental powers, that's one. I also wish Makuta had looked more like the Ultimate Dume set rather the 2003 version with wings, but that may be an unpopular opinion as I've realized I'm one of the few people that actually likes Ultimate Dume. All in all, I've always preferred other forms of story content to the movies.

[Danska: Shadow Master]

It's definitely my favourite film. The thing I always remember most is the music. It's beautiful and mysterious and really atmospheric in a way that lends a huge amount to a film that's already doing a great job at bringing a truly unique and interesting world to life. 

My biggest complaint is definitely that the Toa don't use their elemental powers. I know this was justified in the books and such, but it still irked me that the thing Toa are most well known for is the thing they didn't use at all.

It also bugs me that they still refused to show anyone unmasked so had Vakama put the Vahi over his mask. That's not how Kanohi work!

Honestly though, I love that film. I did a rewatch of all the Bionicle films recently and I enjoyed Legends of Metru Nui so much! And I know I've already mentioned it, but the music really is incredible.

[Mukaukau Nuva]

Legends of Metru Nui is the only Bionicle film that keeps pulling me back. Mask of Light? I haven't seen that film in at least 10 years. Web of Shadows? I only really watch it because it's the direct sequel to LoMN. And The Legend Reborn isn't strong enough as a complete story to pull me in.

That's what LoMN gets right, I think. You can appreciate it within the bounds of the whole Bionicle story, of course (Hahli at end, Kongu in the middle, the twin 'suns' in Mata Nui's head), but it works just as well (if not better) as a standalone story.

In particular, I want to talk about the journey to Mata Nui. In 'canon,' this trip consists of a scouting mission on the Lhikan, a trip back to Metru Nui, and a final airship passage back to Mata Nui. LoMN wisely condenses this trip down to just one passage, knowing correctly that what really matters here isn't the minutia of continuity, but thematic coherence and plot structure. Bionicle, as something to be uncovered, isn't a story; it is mythology crafted for children. The myths of our own world are full of contradiction and simplification, and yet this does not lessen their impact. LoMN, I think, is smart enough to know this.

I probably have a lot more to say but I'll leave it right here for now.

[Valendale]

3 hours ago, Mukaukau Nuva said:

In particular, I want to talk about the journey to Mata Nui. In 'canon,' this trip consists of a scouting mission on the Lhikan, a trip back to Metru Nui, and a final airship passage back to Mata Nui. LoMN wisely condenses this trip down to just one passage, knowing correctly that what really matters here isn't the minutia of continuity, but thematic coherence and plot structure. Bionicle, as something to be uncovered, isn't a story; it is mythology crafted for children. The myths of our own world are full of contradiction and simplification, and yet this does not lessen their impact. LoMN, I think, is smart enough to know this.

That was actually another thing I didn't like about the film. As I said earlier, I didn't get into Bionicle until later, so I didn't see LoMN until far after the fact, so I already had a good idea of the over all story. I remember thinking something along the lines of "wait, where's the part where they go back for the rest of the matoran and find Metru Nui infested with spiders"

[Mukaukau Nuva]

1 hour ago, Valendale said:

That was actually another thing I didn't like about the film. As I said earlier, I didn't get into Bionicle until later, so I didn't see LoMN until far after the fact, so I already had a good idea of the over all story. I remember thinking something along the lines of "wait, where's the part where they go back for the rest of the matoran and find Metru Nui infested with spiders"

Well, you only have to imagine that if they had included it, the complaints instead would have been "why did they bother to stop the film for 15 minutes to show this journey?"

[Valendale]

Personally I would have just ended it there, let the rest be included in the next year where it's more relevant. Of course, it may be easier to say all this looking back at it.

[Metru Minstrel]

Another year to sit back thinking, 'Gosh, I'm old!'

 

I love this movie. I don't know which I enjoy more- Mask of Light or Legends.  Mask has that wonderful dark atmosphere and sense of hopelessness, but Legends has heart. Not that there aren't memorable characters in Mask- they sealed the popularity of Bionicle for years to come. But Vakama's band always struck me as real people you could bump into. Like Takua and Jaller, they had a natural chemistry that wasn't perfect and ebbed and flowed with the mood. I appreciated that they were written to clash rather than work, and it wasn't all solved with easy fixes and feelgood moments. That isn't how life works, and we don't tell children that through media anymore. They grew together over time, and I wish we would have gotten more opportunities to see that on screen and pages.

 

That and Matau. Flamboyant goofball. Every good guy side needs a likable team jerk- no faction is perfect.

[That Matoran with a Vahi]

I'd probably have to agree with those saying they like LoMN best out of the Bionicle movies. Mask of Light? I adored it at the time, but it suffered because it expected itself to only be watched by people who already knew the Bionicle lore, it didn't make provision for the fact that it would be many people's jumping-in point to the fandom. Web of Shadows? My opinion fluctuates, because there are parts of it I really like, but other parts that... feel like Vakama's fall to the Dark Side was just an easy way to cash in on the Revenge of the Sith hype.

Legends of Metru Nui, though? It just feels consistently good, while its fellows were a touch more hit-and-miss.

They certainly learned from the mistakes of MoL; Legends of Metru Nui didn't require anyone to know the full depth of the lore before they could appreciate it. It established what you needed to know about the city, about the characters, and even if established fans already knew those things? It still introduced new elements into the midst of them - most notably Toa Lhikan, who remains one of my personal favourite Bionicle characters to this day - that made them feel fresh, not just a rehash of the comic scenes we'd seen before. I feel like it had just the right amount of world-building; not so little (as MoL did) that it left a newcomer baffled, but not so much as to overwhelm. Right off the bat, it established Metru Nui as a fascinating environment that its inhabitants cared about, and it was easy for a viewer to learn to care about it too. The characters, as well, we got to see right from the start of their development (where, again, MoL jumped in half-way through, relying on viewers already knowing the comics for context) and it shaped them into really appealing figures. The Toa Metru hadn't fully 'clicked' with me as characters until that point; LoMN sold me on them completely.

I remember LoMN had a staggered release date around the world; different countries got it within a few days of each other. I remember convincing my mum to take me to pick up the movie from Woolworths as soon as school was over that day. I remember watching it almost as soon as I get home... my clearest memory is that dinner was ready right in the middle of the Kikanalo scene, so I had to pause the movie just as Nokama's mask started glowing, leaving me in suspense until after we'd finished eating.

Even now, returning to it? I genuinely can't see anything wrong with it as a movie. Is it perfect? No. Does Vakama's battle with Makuta, tricking him into hitting himself with rocks repeatedly, feel a touch too much like a boss fight out of a video game? For sure. But it's still an involving, well-put-together little thing, and I enjoy it for what it is... and still love that we got the soundtrack releases relatively recently. I'm never not thrilled when I'm listening to my music on random shuffle and a Bionicle track turns up

 

A tangential note, maybe; but does anyone else remember the whole 'mystery hype' surrounding Toa Lhikan in the run-up to the movie? The first glimpse we got of him, in the trailer, was simply the hologram - or whatever it was - in the temple, where he tells the soon-to-be-Toa that the Great Spirit will guide them; and it sparked off SO MANY THEORIES. About Lhikan's element - he had gold on him, and was the seventh Toa of Metru Nui that we knew of... did that make him another Toa of Light?; about his mask, which couldn't be seen clearly in that shot; about his role... everything. In fact, a quick browse through BZPower usernames with Lhikan in them - particularly of accounts that haven't been touched since 2004 - gives possibly the best representation of that; we have members named everything from Lhikan, Vahi Master and Lhikan_Metru_of_Light to Lhikan_The_First_Toa and Lhikan Spirit of Energy, all of which were popular theories regarding him, back in the day. I just found myself reminiscing about that recently, and... this seemed like the most fitting place to share, I guess? I just found it cool to look back on, and wondered if anyone else remembered that.

 

13 hours ago, Valendale said:

That was actually another thing I didn't like about the film. As I said earlier, I didn't get into Bionicle until later, so I didn't see LoMN until far after the fact, so I already had a good idea of the over all story. I remember thinking something along the lines of "wait, where's the part where they go back for the rest of the matoran and find Metru Nui infested with spiders"

I remember reading about that... in 2004, the movie writers didn't know whether they were going to get the go-ahead to make a third movie or not; so rather than leaving the arc hanging forever, with the Matoran all still asleep, if the final movie wasn't greenlit, they decided to skip ahead and give it a conclusion then and there. In hindsight, we know that wasn't necessary because Web of Shadows did indeed get made in 2005; but there was, at least, a reasoning behind it ^^

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

IMO LoMN is the absolute weakest of the Miramax trilogy. I share the complaints of the OP, and little of their affection for it. It fails to integrate the rest of the 2004 storyline, Whenua only has one Proto-Piton and it's misinterpreted as a pickaxe, the Matoran models are lazy and so are the Vahki, aside from Matau flying the movie largely forgets the Toa have elemental powers, Makuta's "Ultimate Dume" form is portrayed as the 2003 set with Nivawk's wings stapled on... I would also like to add that the final battle is far too video game-y and unlike with MoL there's no reason for the other Toa to be just standing there.

Mask of Light was never meant as a jumping-on point. It was meant as the grand finale to the Mata Nui saga and I was off that the subsequent storylines undermined that. I will continue to remain off until LEGO fixes that mistake, and I will NEVER forgive Greg Farshtey.