Search - Bionicle - Mask Of Light on DVD

Entertaining, despite the flaws

Minh Doan | Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada | 02/21/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am a Lego fan, even in my late 20`s. So I was excited when I heard about this movie.Now that I got it, here is my 2-cent-worth review.It is an entertaining little romp in the world of the Bionicle. Some kids were amazed to see their favourite toys brought to life onscreen. The animators manage to take some liberties in adding some features to the characters for obvious reasons (i.e. adding fingers to the hands, slight mask modifications to allow mouth movement...) while maintaining the spirit of the Bionicle. And the story is good for a kid-oriented movie. Adults would be able to watch it with their children without feeling bored.As pleasant this movie has been, there are a few issues that brought the score down. First is the art and animation. As great as it may be, I have found some of the design and scenarios to be uneven. An example would be a scene where a character pokes her head out of the water near the top of a waterfall. As the raging water comes rushing, the head does not seem to be affected by the flow of water. There is no water turbulence, splash or drag animated around the head. There is barely a ripple. After seeing the movie, I do not understand why more details where added, since the rest of the movie was of an above average quality.Also, the story seems to have some holes that do not explain certain plot details. Sometimes a character would just suddenly KNOW something out of the blue, without any explanation on how he/she got to that conclusion. At other times, heroes would conveniently appear during critical situations without explaining why and how. Things like this makes you scratch your head and wonder if you have missed something. After seeing the movies four times, I still do not have all my questions answered.But despite all this, the movie entertains us. The characters are more than cardboard, bland figures based on toys. They have emotions, personalities and behaviours that make you forget that this movie is based on a Lego product. The music is also well delivered, with a good quality orchestra. Although not memorable, the main theme may echo in your head for a while.In my book, for a first movie from Lego and Miramax, the producers did a good job. Here`s hoping that there will be more."

Very impressive

Minh Doan | 09/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow....What can I say. This is a very good movie. I had never heard of Bionicle before but because it is a 3D movie, I have to give it a shot. This movie is awesome. It's by far one of the most interesting 3D movie around. I mean, this movie is very unique in a lot of ways. It's not a complicated science fiction movie like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within or a cute movie like A Bug's Life and Finding Nemo. The story is about good and evil, light and darkness in a very cool way. There is a lot of magical fighting sequence in the movie. It reminds me a lot of japanese videogames and cartoons like Dragon Ball, Transformers and Heavy Gear.The story is simple but very interesting. The movie is only 70 mins. The video and sound are excellent. Anamorphic 1.78:1 with DTS 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. I'm 23, I had a great time with it so does my 5,7 and 9 years old nephews. Overall, everybody can enjoy this film. I can't believe this is a direct-to-video movie. I can't wait for their next DVD release in 2004."