I really like The Legend Reborn.

[HeartOfMetruNui]

Yes, I really do. Despite this movie getting lots of hate, I think its really awesome.

First, Im going to acknowledge the fact that it is toned down compared to the other movies. It never feels as dark, or as threatening as the other three. However, a movie can be lighthearted and still be fun.

So, Im gonna list the things that I like about the movie:

The universe just got a lot bigger:

After all these years we spent in the matoran universe, we are suddenly exposed to a new world, with an all new culture. The universe just got a lot bigger with Bara Magna. It's ystem of tribes and glatorians is simply awesome, and unique. The movie does well to introduce this idea:

"Back in the day, the villages settled disputes the old-fashioned way, by destroying each other. Very messy. Lot of clean-up.So we came up with a solution."

"Not sport, problem solving. Much more honorable than slaughtering each other. And considerably more profitable." - Metus.

This line is very subtle, but also very deep.

You may also notice a minor detail about their culture: 

In the matoran universe, when two beings want to greet each other they clash fists (at least that's what I know from the movies, I havn't gotten into all the cannon sources). However, Metus greeted Mata Nui with a hand shake. It such a small detail, but it goes to see that the cultures are different even in subtle ways.

Mata Nui's character is awesome:

Mata Nui, the great spirit himself, finds himself alone and powerless, a stranger in a new world. He says to click:

"Before this day I never needed help from anyone or anything, thank you."

He is weak, and almost unable to stand his own. In his fight agains strakk, he trippes over a rock, loses his balance every now and then. He is unaccustomed to his new, small body. There's actually a shot of him trembling in fear! He was saved only by the power of the ignika.

after Ackar calles him a friend for the first time, his reaction is "Strange. I have worn many titles, been called a lot of things. but never 'friend'".

Before being called a friend, Mata Nui stated that he had to leave the group to fight his own battle. But after being called a friend, Ackar askes him yet again if he will stay, and this time, Mata Nui's answer is "Then, as a friend, I will stay". This is his journy of becoming one of a group, instead of a ruler.

He displays this well in his battle agains Tuma, when he sais "Be careful. Arrogance can topple giants. Trust me, I know."

Overall, Mata Nui really is the star of 2009/2010 for me, and I find it cool to like him not as a great spirit, but as "only a part".

The prototype robot:

You can see that the prototype robot was well planned through this movie. In almost everyBe careful. other scene you can locate pieces of the robot somewhere in the frame, beginning to end.

As you watch the movie for the first time, you always notice that "hmm, this rock looks like a Bionicle part, strange.. is that just an artistic choise?" until the ending where all the pieces come together.

Then, our characters find the labratory. Mata Nui explains that he "saw a ghost" - the plans for a giant robot, much like the one that was his own body.

And at the end of the movie, we witness the prototype robot being built, and when seeing this the first time I was so excited. Maybe some of you figured it out during the movie, but for me the revelation that the terrain actually formed another robot was shocking.

Also, this is an artistic way of differentiating both worlds: The matoran universe was inside a giant robot, and Bara magna was built on the ruins of one.

 

If you judge this movie as a part of a bigger picture, it really pays off in my opinion. Mata Nui's journy to learn about friendship, the grand scheme of the spirit robots, and the personal story of the villages are all very appealing to me.

Edited November 2, 2019 by HeartOfMetruNui

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

It's part of a big picture that had been growing increasingly covered in toxic mold since late 2005, and anything good in it is undermined by the fact that's built on a road paved with utter garbage that the story should never have taken in the first place. You know how you said " However, a movie can be lighthearted and still be fun"? You're absolutely right, and so can most any story. It's a shame that outside of this movie, the writing attitude for Bionicle from late 2005 on was "lightheartedness is for babies, everything must be edgy edgy edgy edgy edgy! Substance and happiness bad, edginess and darkness good!"

Why yes, I am bitter. I am very bitter, and it will take an apology and a massive external retcon from LEGO to make me stop being bitter.

Edited November 7, 2019 by ZeldaTheSwordsman

[TheZOMBIEJ]

i thought the movie was awesome! it is a shame that the two sequels planned for release in 2010 and 2011 were scrapped! at least the story got some sort ov closure with the online book "Journey's End"! i would have loved to see them turn Bionicle: Journey's End" into a movie with the same animation style as TLR but tidied up a bit! and also an actual physical release ov the book would have been nice too! but what happened happened and there is nothing anybody can do about it! so there's my two cents! your welcome!  

[Danska: Shadow Master]

There are parts of it I enjoy, but I'm always thrown by the fact that Mata Nui goes from being unable to walk to single-handedly defeating the most powerful, skilled and highly trained warlord on the entire planet within what, a couple of days at most? Plus the Skrall were built up (not in the film, admittedly) to be individually better fighters than every Glatorian, winning every fight without fail, yet suddenly less than half a dozen Glatorian can handle an army of Skrall - including the Elite Skrall? And that's without using their elemental powers most of the time, which would of course give them an edge.

I think it may stand better by itself than the other Bionicle films. It doesn't carry much baggage from previous years, and if you're not familiar with the rest of the story from that year you can ignore everything I said above and probably enjoy it more. So as an enjoyable film and a potential jumping-on point for fans I can see its merits, but since I was already an adult when it came out who loved delving into every scrap of lore, perhaps it was never going to be my cup of tea.

[Mukaukau Nuva]

I think the first 30 minutes of TLR are quite strong (given the standards of the medium). Really the main structural issue with the film is that the narrative problem it establishes (Mata Nui has been expelled from his "realm") is not the one that it solves at the end (the Agori tribes have banded together). Don't get me wrong; these plot points are interrelated. But the narrative satisfaction of TLR as a single film is going to be limited when it requires resolution from a different film (one that never got released) to fully tie up its inciting incident.

None of this would be a problem if TLR was a pilot for a TV show (one that actually got made) or some other serial medium. Film works better in self-contained units (which is why LoMN is the most solid of the films). Strict trilogies (ones like Lord of the Rings where none of the films stand alone and require each other to achieve narrative satisfaction) can work, but are quite creatively ambitious endeavors that can be taxing for creators unprepared for them.

The other issue is that the problem it solves (the Agori society being squalid and spartan) is a bit too complex for the film to "solve" without breaking the suspension of disbelief. Again, big societal problems aren't impossible to address in children's animation (see: Avatar: The Last Airbender) but providing satisfying answers to those questions is harder. I don't think TLR does a bad job at this, but I think the cloned designs of the Agori in this film desensitize the viewer to their plight, and make it harder for us to care about them.