OK, let me just get this out of the way first: "Bionicle" is the one word that pretty much defines my childhood. I grew up with these "some-assembly-required" action figures. Bionicle has been with me since I was 6 years old, and even though Bionicle was ended a few years back, I will always cherish the many memories this franchise has brought me, and I will never forget. Heck, I still keep all the parts and figures I've bought over the years, they're in a large box under my bed, and hardly a week goes by without me taking it out and just playing around with them again.
Anyway, let's get on with the review: I was really excited to see the recent Bara Magna storyline be wrapped up with a movie. It isn't the first time Bionicle has been brought to the big screen, but it will probably be the last.
The movie does a good job of portraying the characters and bringing them to life: Mata Nui acts appropriately out-of-place for a god that has been banished from his own universe, Ackar plays the "old sage" role well, Kiina is the cheerful and confident one, while Gresh is the inexperienced hothead. The characters are mostly well done, but I do have complaints: Tuma and the Skrall.
When Mata Nui And Tuma fight at what is supposedly the movie's climax, Tuman waltzes around and brags without paying attention, letting Mata Nui exploit a weakness that doesn't even make any sense.
Also, since when did the Skrall mysteriously lose the ability to talk? Not a single Skrall in the entire movie said a word, just grunts and growls, coming off like they were some sort of heavily confused Brakas monkeys(gotta love Bionicle references).
Voice acting, however, is well done: James Arnold Taylor I already know thanks to me being a huge fan of the Ratchet & Clank series of games, and he does a great job of making Berix the movie's source of comic relief. The rest of the cast is also great at their jobs.
The characters in the movie and the environments are well designed, they way the gears in the character's bodies swirl around is a nice touch of realism, and their designs stay true to their real-life toy counterparts.
The storyline is one of the weaker aspects, but Mata Nui manages to carve his own niche in the legacy of heroes that Bionicle has produced over the years, but aside from this the story is pretty weak.
For starters, it fails to stand on its own merits: In order to really understand what's going on you'll need some background, it's hard to get a grasp without an extensive knowledge of the Bionicle lore. Since I've been following Bionicle ever since its very beginning, I had no problems with this, but I came across many scenes in the movie where I only felt like I knew what was going on because I knew the backstory.
Second: The story is linear and predictable, even if you don't know the backstory. We Bionicle fans already knew Metus was a traitor beforehand, since it had been revealed in an earlier web-story, but I couldn't shake the feeling that even if I didn't know, I probably would've figured it out rather quickly.
Thirdly: The movie doesn't really feature a satisfying ending for casual movie fans. Granted, the story is continued on Bionicle's websites, but as a stand-alone story the ending leaves you with a lot of questions that will pretty much go unanswered.
As for the animation and camera work, action sequences and so on, I can only say one thing: "LAZY"
The movie's fight scenes usually just feature characters banging swords and shields for the most part, although the initial battle between Strakk and Ackar wasn't too shabby. The second Glatorian duel between Tarix and Vastus, on the other hand, is rather baffling, are they fighting or performing exceedingly violent aerobics?
The same goes for the huge battle at the movie's climax. According to pretty much every piece of Bionicle lore outside of the movie, the Skrall were supposed to be incredibly fierce warriors that were unbeatable in the arena, so why does it all of a sudden seem like they're a bunch of dimwitted grunts who hardly know how to swing a sword? This is the kind of stuff I'm left wondering about.
I had an easier time enjoying the movie because I was familiar with Bionicle, but that's cold comfort I suppose.
Anyway, let's get on with the review: I was really excited to see the recent Bara Magna storyline be wrapped up with a movie. It isn't the first time Bionicle has been brought to the big screen, but it will probably be the last.
The movie does a good job of portraying the characters and bringing them to life: Mata Nui acts appropriately out-of-place for a god that has been banished from his own universe, Ackar plays the "old sage" role well, Kiina is the cheerful and confident one, while Gresh is the inexperienced hothead. The characters are mostly well done, but I do have complaints: Tuma and the Skrall.
When Mata Nui And Tuma fight at what is supposedly the movie's climax, Tuman waltzes around and brags without paying attention, letting Mata Nui exploit a weakness that doesn't even make any sense.
Also, since when did the Skrall mysteriously lose the ability to talk? Not a single Skrall in the entire movie said a word, just grunts and growls, coming off like they were some sort of heavily confused Brakas monkeys(gotta love Bionicle references).
Voice acting, however, is well done: James Arnold Taylor I already know thanks to me being a huge fan of the Ratchet & Clank series of games, and he does a great job of making Berix the movie's source of comic relief. The rest of the cast is also great at their jobs.
The characters in the movie and the environments are well designed, they way the gears in the character's bodies swirl around is a nice touch of realism, and their designs stay true to their real-life toy counterparts.
The storyline is one of the weaker aspects, but Mata Nui manages to carve his own niche in the legacy of heroes that Bionicle has produced over the years, but aside from this the story is pretty weak.
For starters, it fails to stand on its own merits: In order to really understand what's going on you'll need some background, it's hard to get a grasp without an extensive knowledge of the Bionicle lore. Since I've been following Bionicle ever since its very beginning, I had no problems with this, but I came across many scenes in the movie where I only felt like I knew what was going on because I knew the backstory.
Second: The story is linear and predictable, even if you don't know the backstory. We Bionicle fans already knew Metus was a traitor beforehand, since it had been revealed in an earlier web-story, but I couldn't shake the feeling that even if I didn't know, I probably would've figured it out rather quickly.
Thirdly: The movie doesn't really feature a satisfying ending for casual movie fans. Granted, the story is continued on Bionicle's websites, but as a stand-alone story the ending leaves you with a lot of questions that will pretty much go unanswered.
As for the animation and camera work, action sequences and so on, I can only say one thing: "LAZY"
The movie's fight scenes usually just feature characters banging swords and shields for the most part, although the initial battle between Strakk and Ackar wasn't too shabby. The second Glatorian duel between Tarix and Vastus, on the other hand, is rather baffling, are they fighting or performing exceedingly violent aerobics?
The same goes for the huge battle at the movie's climax. According to pretty much every piece of Bionicle lore outside of the movie, the Skrall were supposed to be incredibly fierce warriors that were unbeatable in the arena, so why does it all of a sudden seem like they're a bunch of dimwitted grunts who hardly know how to swing a sword? This is the kind of stuff I'm left wondering about.
I had an easier time enjoying the movie because I was familiar with Bionicle, but that's cold comfort I suppose.