Bionicle: Mask of Light: The Movie

BIONICLE: Mask of Light, released in 2003, is a CGI movie made to tell the story (and sell the toys) of LEGO's BIONICLE line. It follows Takua and Jaller, two Matoran friends, on their adventure to find the rightful owner of the Mask of Light, the Seventh Toa. If you couldn't tell, there's plenty of jargon (Kanohi = Mask, Toa = Hero, Matoran = Villager, etc.) and there are no human names your kids will be familiar with. This might be overwhelming for very young children who aren't already BIONICLE fans. Some kids won't care what all these words mean, but if your child is really into it, you might want to have a Wiki handy, so that you can punch in and define unfamiliar terms. So, how's the movie? It's a generic, but fairly harmless fantasy flick for kids that fans will enjoy, but the average consumer might not. It's cliche at times, it's kinda corny, but the animation holds up surprisingly well, considering this is a direct-to-video movie from fourteen years ago. There are decent messages scattered throughout - The classic BIONICLE virtues of Unity, Duty, and Destiny are present, and (Spoilers) Jaller proves that you don't need to be a famous hero to save others when he sacrifices himself for his friend. There's animated violence, but it's high fantasy - Bio-mechanical beings fighting with swords, spears, elemental powers, etc. Heroes are shown in danger, which might scare very young viewers. Of course, the movie exists to sell toys, and it kinda shows, with characters who don't really progress the plot showing up for a few minutes at a time to remind everyone "Hey, I have a toy, y'know. You can buy me." before disappearing until the very end(These toys aren't sold anymore, though, so your kids likely haven't seen advertisements or anything). All in all, a perfectly okay movie. If it's on TV or it's two bucks at a yard sale, it might be worth your time. The sequels are a mixed bag, but if this one does well with your family, you should consider them.

pretty good animation and action scenes. Still, a bit too basic at times, and a bit odd for todays audience. Everyone who saw it as a child is probably late teens-early twenties at least, so its a bit childish as well. Great when it came out, but today its best for fans of the new releases interested in the old (and far better) storyline.