Bionicle: Mask of Light (2003, DVD)

You know there is a phenomenon when a toy becomes a movie franchise. GI JOE and Barbie couldn't do it, nor oucld the care Bears or Cabbage patch Kids. Mostly, it's the other way around, witness Disney and Sesame Street.

For those parents not yet tainted, Bionicles are quasi-alien robot/creatures invented by LEGO together with Hawaiian sounding names like TAKANUVA, or GALLI NUVA. They've been around for about five or six years. Designed originally for kids 7 and above, they have been steadily gathering momentum, so that they can be found now in playgrounds from 5 year olds to 12 year olds.

Bionicles look like a cross between the PREDATOR and a MECHWARRIOR. While they are more skeleton than body, they are very much alive---according to my 6 year old son. Each Bionicle comes in its own plastic container describing its "powers" and its role in the Bionicle mythos.

This movie follows a "recent" episode of the Bionicle Chronicle. In a time after The reign of the terrible Bulrogs, the Toa's must come together to find the 7th Toa, and then wake the slumbering Mata-Nui, or Bionicle Island will be plunged forever into darkness. Standing in the way of the Toa's is Makuta and his menacing Rakshi.

The Mask of Light introduces some "smaller" characters called Matorans, so that kids can identify with them. There are "girl" Bionicles in blue (!). A new ball game, called Cohli, is explained. And the kids are indoctrinated with the concepts of UNITY DUTY and DESTINY.

As a movie, the story is rather typical sunday morning fare. It talks a little about working together to defeat evil, and how sacrifices must be made to attain glory. Of course, the "kids" lead the big Toa's to a happy ending.

The entire movie appears to be CGI based, and the graphics are up to the current standards. The scenery gets a little disjointed, and I had trouble understanding how creatures that flew and surfed on lava got stuck on just a tiny little island on a big planet.

There is violence, but a lot less than on Saturday Morning TV, and the violence tends to be "power" oriented, so baddies are frozen, rather than blown to smithereens. The crises are scary enough for 10 year olds, but no more. And the resolutions are satisfying in a way that can be explained to 10 year olds.

All in all, not a bad movie. Buy or rent? My kid tends to watch things like this over and over and over and over again, so I buy. But if you are watching it ahead of your kid, you may want to preview a rental first, to see if they would like it.

For kids totally obsessed with Bionicles (like mine), the movie helps them with their fantasies. I can hear my son's stories and "dialogue" between bionicles change after watching the movie.

Thanks to the movie and its merchandise tie ins, assuming I can keep the nagging down for long enough, I also already know what to get him for Christmas.