Bionicle: Mask of Light

Bionicle: Mask of Light: The Movie
Directed by	Terry Shakespeare, David Molina
Produced by	Sue Shakespeare, Janice Ross, Stig Blicher
Written by	Bob Thompson, Alastair Swinnerton, Henry Gilroy, Greg Weisman
Starring	Jason Michas Andrew Francis Scott McNeil Dale Wilson Kathleen Barr Lee Tockar
Music by	Nathan Furst
Edited by	Craig Russo
Production company	Creative Capers Entertainment Lego
Distributed by	Miramax Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release dates	September 16, 2003
Running time	70 min.
Language	English
Budget	US$5.2 million

Bionicle: Mask of Light (also known as Bionicle: Mask of Light—The Movie) is a 2003 direct-to-video fantasy film based on the Lego toy series Bionicle, produced by Creative Capers Entertainment and released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Miramax Films. It has sold over 40 million copies worldwide since its release.^[1]

The movie revolves around the latter half of the 2003 storyline, on the island called Mata Nui, home to six tribes of biomechanical creatures. The spirit protecting the island was put into a deep sleep, and only the Mask of Light, in the hands of two Matoran who are assisted by six Toa, can return it to the Toa of Light, who is predicted to defeat the Makuta.

The direct-to-video sales made Mask of Light one of the top selling DVDs of 2003 in the United States, and has helped the development of three more movies in the franchise. It was praised for its visual effects and sound direction, but thought to be average in its storyline and character development.^[2] The movie was followed by the two prequels Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui, Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows and one sequel Bionicle: The Legend Reborn.

Plot

The story begins with Turaga Vakama retelling the original BIONICLE legend; long ago, the Great Spirit Mata Nui descended from the heavens to an island paradise, bringing with him the islanders known as the Matoran. They were initially without purpose, so the Great Spirit united them with three virtues: unity, duty and destiny. In gratitude of these gifts, the Matoran named their island in his honor. Yet their happiness didn't last, as Mata Nui's envious brother, Makuta, betrayed him by casting a spell over the Great Spirit, sending him into an endless sleep. With his brother struck down, Makuta had free rein to spread his evil across the island.

The story then shifts to the fortress village of Ta-Koro, located in a lake of lava, as a Ta-Matoran named Jaller is looking for his Kolhii (a lacrosse-like game) teammate, Takua. He soon finds him inspecting a warning totem next to a lava flow. Just before they leave, Takua picks up the totem, unwittingly setting off a booby trap, and dropping the artifact into the lava, revealing a Kanohi mask that was embedded in the totem. At that moment, a wave of lava begins to rush through the chamber at Takua, who throws the mask to Jaller and tries to use a lavaboard to cross the lava. Just as he is about to be killed, he is saved by Tahu, the Toa of Fire. Takua and Jaller then rush to the Kolhii field for the match, which ends up with their loss of the game to the Ga-Koro team, Hahli and Maku. After the match ends, the mask Takua found falls out of Jaller's pack, shining when in contact with Takua, who tilts it towards Jaller. The Turaga reveal that the mask is the Mask of Light which is to be worn by a legendary Seventh Toa that will defeat the Makuta. The Mask of Light will lead its herald to the Seventh Toa, but Takua, who was supposed to be the Herald, is unwilling to admit it so Jaller is mistakenly believed to be so. Unfortunately for Takua, he still has to come along to chronicle Jaller’s quest. Pohatu, the Toa of Stone, leaves to spread word about the Seventh Toa, while Gali, the Toa of Water, departs to ponder the situation, noticing a seventh spirit star in the sky. The two Matoran leave Ta-Koro the next day and follow the mask’s light to the jungle region of Le-Wahi.

Deep beneath Mata Nui, Makuta is fully aware of what is happening above. He decides to release three of his spawns of shadow, the Rahkshi, to find and destroy the Herald. On the surface, Gali is meditating at Kini-Nui, the Great Temple, when the Rahkshi burst from the center of the temple and attack her. She narrowly escapes by hiding in the river. Realizing the Rahkshi are headed for Ta-Koro, she hurries there to warn the villagers. Despite Tahu's and Gali's attempts to protect the village, the Rahkshi burst through the walls of Ta-Koro, using their powers of fragmentation (Panrahk), disintegration (Guurahk), and poison (Lerahk) that eventually destroy the village and Tahu's mask was poisoned by Lerahk in the struggle, further damaged unintentionally by Gali. Fortunately, all the Matoran and Turaga were able to escape unharmed.

Meanwhile, Takua and Jaller are traveling through the jungle of Le-Wahi, going where the Mask of Light shows them to go. Attacked by a Graalok ash bear, they are rescued by Lewa, the Toa of Air. He gives them a faster way of traveling, a Gukko bird, which quickly carries them to the frozen region of Ko-Wahi. Upon their arrival, they learn of Ta-Koro's destruction, and Lewa flies to Ta-Wahi to learn more, leaving Takua and Jaller behind. They get caught in a blizzard where they run into Kopaka, Toa of Ice. Upon arriving at Ko-Koro, they are attacked by the Rahkshi who had already ransacked the village, and escape down the side of a mountain where Kopaka freezes the three of them in a lake. Kopaka then leaves to see his village and the Matoran leave for the underground region of Onu-Wahi.

Takua gets lost in the Onu-Koro Highway and is surprised by the eyes of Makuta, who warns Takua that if he does not give him the mask, Jaller will die. Although Takua refuses, Makuta's threat worries him and he decides to abandon his duty, leaving Jaller to continue the journey alone. Takua arrives in the village of Onu-Koro in time to find Pohatu telling Onua, the Toa of Earth and the villagers about the Seventh Toa. However, three more Rahkshi—with the power of fear (Turahk), anger (Kurahk), and hunger (Vorahk)—appear, sent by Makuta in response to Takua's refusal of his 'good will' and quickly incapacitate the two Toa. Realizing his mistake, Takua escapes from Onu-Koro to find Jaller with the help of Tahu, Gali, and Lewa. While defending Takua, Tahu is hit by Kurahk’s anger energy, which worsens the Lerahk's poison and completely infects him, causing him to attack Gali in a blind rage, but he is stopped when Kopaka arrives and freezes him. Meanwhile, Pohatu and Onua cause a cave-in in attempt to stop the Rakhshi, resulting in them being trapped inside the village. After escaping from Onu-Koro, Gali, Kopaka, and Lewa cure Tahu from Lerahk's poison.

Takua finds Jaller, warning him about the second wave of Rahkshi and the fact that the Rahkshi were after the Herald rather than the mask. The two ended up at Kini Nui, where the mask says the Seventh Toa would be found. However, the six Rahkshi caught up to them, followed by the Toa. United, the Toa defeat all the Rahkshi except Turahk. Turahk then tries to kill Takua, only for Jaller to take the blow instead. As the dying Jaller tells Takua how he was "always different", the Chronicler realizes that he wasn't the Herald, but rather the Seventh Toa himself. Takua puts on the Mask of Light and becomes the Toa of Light, renaming himself Takanuva as he destroys Turahk. After mourning for Jaller's death, he builds a vehicle out of the Rahkshi’s armor, called the Ussanui - powered by the discarded Kraata of the Rahkshi - and flies down to Makuta's lair.

There, Makuta challenges Takanuva to a game of Kohlii with the agreement that the Toa of Light would try to awaken Mata Nui if he won or relinquish his mask upon losing. Takanuva prevails, knocking down Makuta. Makuta, however, rises again and refuses to admit defeat, claiming that as he is duty bound to protect Mata Nui by his own Mask of Shadows, his brother will suffer upon awakening. In response, Takanuva tries to rip the mask off of Makuta's face, resulting in both falling into a pool of energized protodermis and emerging as Takutanuva. The combined being leads the Matoran, Turaga, and Toa (who had been led down to witness Makuta's defeat by Hahli, a Ga-Matoran and close friend of Jaller), through a gate in the Kanohi mask statue. Takutanuva, who is holding the gate up, resurrects Jaller by transferring part of his life energy into Jaller’s mask. However, this transfer weakens Takutanuva and the door crushes him, with only the Mask of Light remaining. They then proceed to attempt to awaken Mata Nui, reviving Takanuva in the process, and his light makes a hole in the cavern, revealing a city long forgotten by the Matoran.

Cast

• Jason Michas as Takua/Takanuva, & Takutanuva, the Ta-Matoran Chronicler and the Seventh Toa.^[3]
• Andrew Francis as Jaller, the Captain of Ta-Koro's Guard, who is mistakenly designated the Herald of the Seventh Toa.^[3]
• Scott McNeil as Tahu Nuva, the headstrong Toa of Fire, Onua Nuva, the wise Toa of Earth, & Graalok the Ash Bear, a Rahi from Le-Wahi.^[3]
• Dale Wilson as Lewa Nuva, the light-hearted Toa of Air & Turaga Onewa, leader of the Po-Matoran.^[3]
• Kathleen Barr as Gali Nuva, the Toa of Water.^[3]
• Lee Tockar as the Makuta (Teridax, though this name is not used in the film), the main antagonist, Takutanuva, & Pewku, Takua's pet Ussal Crab.
• Christopher Gaze as Turaga Vakama, the leader of the Ta-Matoran.^[3]
• Lesley Ewen as Turaga Nokama, the leader of the Ga-Matoran.^[3]
• Michael Dobson as Kopaka Nuva, the solitary Toa of Ice & Hewkii, a Po-Matoran kohlii player.^[3]
• Trevor Devall as Pohatu Nuva, the Toa of Stone.^[3]
• Chiara Zanni as Hahli, a Ga-Matoran and a close friend of Jaller's.^[3]
• Julian B. Wilson as the Ta-Matoran Guard, & the Rahkshi (vocal effects), the "sons" of the Makuta.^[3]
• Doc Harris as Kolhii Announcer.^[3]

Production

Structure of a character in production.

Miramax and Lego made a partnership in 2002 to develop and distribute three Bionicle movies.^[4] The directors Terry Shakespeare and David Molina noted that there were several already existing interpretations of the Bionicle look, including the flash web comic, comic book, and CG commercials, and eventually decided to base it on the CG commercial look. After attending several days of "Bionicle school" in Denmark, they were given a grounding in how they were developed. Several features were redesigned for the movie, including the introduction of a movable mouth to allow for a more human character. Also, the characters such as the Toa Nuva were redesigned, beginning with the creation of a skeleton and muscles.^[5] The main change from the original models was the inclusion of hands, which was a necessity if the character performances were to be made realistic.^[6] For the design, Shakespeare noted that "The first film had primary colors that were coded to the areas and a younger feel."^[7] The voice actors and their performances were chosen so they would not sound like they came from a specific area of the world, instead sound like they came from and belonged in the Bionicle universe.^[6]

Two scripts for the Bionicle movie were created, one by writer Alastair Swinnerton (also one of the original Bionicle creators) and one from the other, Henry Gilroy, to see who would write the better script. Due to time constraints, however, the Gilroy script was accepted with some of Alastair's ideas included. He reported that the creator Bob Thompson, who had reportedly had some of the characters in mind for years. "I really made it my duty to stick close by his vision, while bringing my ideas of comical character and big screen action, all the while staying true to the LEGO ideals of construction and community."^[8] As part of the world and character development, expressions and exclamations unique to the world were created: a cited example is Jaller saying "You could have been Lava-Bones" when Takua narrowly escapes being killed by a flood of lava.^[6] The Lego Company insists they would "never compromise their values for the bottom line."^[9] The movie was also an occasion for the expansion of the Bionicle universe by the addition of the Rahkshi and its line of toys.^[10]

Reception

The film premiered on September 13, 2003, at Legoland in Carlsbad, California, which featured a huge mosaic built of Lego and a special effects show.^[11] The DVD was one of the ten best selling premiere DVDs of 2003. Cartoon Network acquired the license to broadcast Mask of Light, airing for the first time on April 17, 2004 for the Saturday night block premiere of Toonami. A preview for Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui was shown at the end of the premiere, which several hours before the movie premiered, the Bionicle website posted a question for the fans to quote Vakama's speech during the sneak peek in order to obtain special content on the website's Kanoka Club page.^[12]

Entertainment Weekly gave the first Bionicle movie a "B+"^[13] The film was thought to be spectacular with its visual effects and sound mix, but lacking in dynamic characters, and possessing a simple plot,^[2] though others thought that thanks to skilled voice acting, the characters were allowed to grow.^[14] The assumption that people are already familiar with the story made it difficult to follow for the uninitiated.^[15] Some reviewers noted references to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harry Potter and Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings lauded film trilogy (whose final film was released in December later the same year) throughout the story.^[16] A video game based on the movie was released on the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance receiving below average reviews.^[17] There was also a novelization of the film and a line of toys from it.^[18]

Bionicle won the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in a DVD Premiere Movie.^[19] Composer Nathan Furst was nominated for his second consecutive DVD Exclusive Award for Best Original Score.^[20] Mask of Light was also nominated for Best Director, Best Animated Premiere Movie, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, and Best Editing.^[21]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Bionicle: Mask of Light

• Bionicle:Mask of Light Official Site
• Bionicle: Mask of Light at the Internet Movie Database
• Bionicle: Mask of Light at AllMovie