Bionicle: Mask of Light
Year: 2003
Director: David Molina & Terry Shakespeare
Starring: Kathleen Barr, Andrew Francis, Scott McNeil, Jason Michas, Lee Tockar & Dale Wilson
Runtime: 70 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 04/08/22
Director: David Molina & Terry Shakespeare
Starring: Kathleen Barr, Andrew Francis, Scott McNeil, Jason Michas, Lee Tockar & Dale Wilson
Runtime: 70 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 04/08/22
When I was young there were only two toys I cared about more than anything. One was Action Man which served me well from the age of around three up to ten, and the other was Lego’s Bionicle line which I collected all the way up until my mid-teens. Bionicle was the line that saved Lego in the early 00’s with its attached lore and multimedia approach, encouraging youngsters to buy all the toys and engage in the story across mediums. Lego ultimately ended the line in 2010 (though did bring it back briefly in 2015 to little success) due to dwindling sales, but the Bionicle brand is one that I hold extremely close to my heart. Not only do I own most of the sets that were produced, but I was a sucker for the story. So with Lego's ninetieth anniversary this year, I felt compelled to go back to Lego’s first tentative steps into the realm of animated films and explore the four Bionicle films, starting of course with 2003’s Mask of Light!
Legend tells of the great spirit Mata-Nui who created an island bearing his name and populated it with life; the people of the island, the Matoran, created clans based on the elemental forces found on the island (Fire, Water, Ice, Air, Stone, and Earth). Jealous of his brother, the evil Makuta (Lee Tockar) placed Mata-Nui into a deep slumber and spread darkness across the island.
Fire Matoran, Takaua (Jason Michaels) and Jaller (Andrew Francis), discover an ancient Toa mask of Light whilst out adventuring one day. The village elders recount the prophecy of a seventh Toa of Light that along with the six existing elemental Toa will bring about the demise of Makuta and awaken Mata-Nui. Takua and Jaller are tasked with finding this seventh Toa with the aid of the six current Toa, Tahu (Scott McNeil), Gali (Kathleen Barr), Lewa (Dale Wilson), Kopaka (Michael Dobson), Pohatu (Trevor Devall), and Onua (also Scott McNeil).
Meanwhile Makuta plans to thwart the discovery of the seventh Toa by sending his sons, the Rakhshi, to defeat the Toa and claim the mask of Light.
Legend tells of the great spirit Mata-Nui who created an island bearing his name and populated it with life; the people of the island, the Matoran, created clans based on the elemental forces found on the island (Fire, Water, Ice, Air, Stone, and Earth). Jealous of his brother, the evil Makuta (Lee Tockar) placed Mata-Nui into a deep slumber and spread darkness across the island.
Fire Matoran, Takaua (Jason Michaels) and Jaller (Andrew Francis), discover an ancient Toa mask of Light whilst out adventuring one day. The village elders recount the prophecy of a seventh Toa of Light that along with the six existing elemental Toa will bring about the demise of Makuta and awaken Mata-Nui. Takua and Jaller are tasked with finding this seventh Toa with the aid of the six current Toa, Tahu (Scott McNeil), Gali (Kathleen Barr), Lewa (Dale Wilson), Kopaka (Michael Dobson), Pohatu (Trevor Devall), and Onua (also Scott McNeil).
Meanwhile Makuta plans to thwart the discovery of the seventh Toa by sending his sons, the Rakhshi, to defeat the Toa and claim the mask of Light.
Bionicle: Mask of Light is a half decent adaptation of the toy line’s first major storyline for home video; however, it does have some significant shortfalls when it comes to how it communicates that story, and to the general quality of the film. The biggest hurdle facing audiences when sitting down to watch Mask of Light is that it requires a reasonably extensive knowledge of the first Bionicle story arc as this only adapts the second half of that arc. Whilst the intro provides a concise outline of the beginning of the story, it ignores everything about how the six elemental Toa came into existence and their encounter with Makuta’s first major threat, the Bohrok. These are occasionally alluded to throughout the film but never given any kind of explanation, so when Takua and Jaller come across a dead Bohrok for example you’re left as an audience member unsure as to what it is unless you’re already well versed in Bionicle lore.
That being said, Mask of Light’s primary purpose was to help sell the new toy lines that were being released such as the Rahkshi and Makuta models, as well as bolster sales for the somewhat recent release of the Toa Nuva models. In this respect, Mask of Light does go above and beyond just being a glorified toy advert. The effort that goes into trying to communicate the story is impressive, and the film does have good production values when it comes to its audio-visual quality.
For a 3D computer animated film on a budget of less than five million, Mask of Light looks and sounds reasonably good. Some of the vocal performances can feel a little stiff (looking at you Kathleen Barr), but in terms of sound quality Mask of Light is surprisingly great. Nathan Hurst composed a fantastic score for the film that mixes an orchestra with elements of techno and tribal music to really communicate the feel of the bio-mechanical nature of Bionicle. As for the video quality, whilst some of the animation certainly looks a little stiff today, for the most part Mask of Light was far beyond the capabilities of most straight to DVD offerings in 2003. Watching the film in 2022 on my massive LED TV did show a number of low pixel elements particularly to the environments, but at the time, on a CRT display these things would have been difficult to spot.
Would I recommend seeking out Mask of Light? If you’ve never had an interest in Bionicle then no. But I would say if you were fond of the toys when they were in their prime then it’s worth checking out for nostalgia’s sake alone. The film probably could have been significantly improved if it had covered the entire story arc, but that would have needed a significantly longer film and a much larger budget. But as it stands, Mask of Light is a fun yet flawed beginning to Lego’s venture into filmmaking. Would they make the same mistakes with the sequels?
That being said, Mask of Light’s primary purpose was to help sell the new toy lines that were being released such as the Rahkshi and Makuta models, as well as bolster sales for the somewhat recent release of the Toa Nuva models. In this respect, Mask of Light does go above and beyond just being a glorified toy advert. The effort that goes into trying to communicate the story is impressive, and the film does have good production values when it comes to its audio-visual quality.
For a 3D computer animated film on a budget of less than five million, Mask of Light looks and sounds reasonably good. Some of the vocal performances can feel a little stiff (looking at you Kathleen Barr), but in terms of sound quality Mask of Light is surprisingly great. Nathan Hurst composed a fantastic score for the film that mixes an orchestra with elements of techno and tribal music to really communicate the feel of the bio-mechanical nature of Bionicle. As for the video quality, whilst some of the animation certainly looks a little stiff today, for the most part Mask of Light was far beyond the capabilities of most straight to DVD offerings in 2003. Watching the film in 2022 on my massive LED TV did show a number of low pixel elements particularly to the environments, but at the time, on a CRT display these things would have been difficult to spot.
Would I recommend seeking out Mask of Light? If you’ve never had an interest in Bionicle then no. But I would say if you were fond of the toys when they were in their prime then it’s worth checking out for nostalgia’s sake alone. The film probably could have been significantly improved if it had covered the entire story arc, but that would have needed a significantly longer film and a much larger budget. But as it stands, Mask of Light is a fun yet flawed beginning to Lego’s venture into filmmaking. Would they make the same mistakes with the sequels?