Starring:
Kathleen Barr as Roodaka
Trevor Devall as Iruini
Paul Dobson as Sidorak
Brian Drummond as Matau
Christopher Gaze as Turaga Vakama
Alessandro Juliani as Vakama
Scott McNeil as Bomonga
Tabitha St. Germain as Nokama
French Tickner as Norik
Special Features:
Bionicle Explorer — Go deeper into the characters’ backgrounds
Bionicle Comic Book — An exclusive animatic version of the popular Bionicle
Comic Book
Web Movie — Exciting animated movie from the Bionicle website
Bionicle Music
Bionicle 3 Extras
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.78:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Running Time: 76 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is the description from the DVD cover:
“The legendary Bionicle heroes are snared in webs of deceit, intrigue, and betrayal in Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows. Even more secrets will be revealed from deep within the world of Bionicle as the Toa face all-new villains in the most action-packed Bionicle movie yet. With one final duty to fulfill before they can build their new home on the island of Mata Nui, six great Toa heroes return to Metru Nui and find their once-glorious city shrouded in shadows and overrun by a sinister army of spidery, web-slinging Visorak. Mysteriously transformed into strange beast-like creatures known as Toa Hordika, the Toa realize their mission to rescue the stranded Matoran — held captive by dark powers — will be anything but easy. Poisonous foes, extraordinary friends, and epic trials and triumphs are spun into this all-new CGI-animated adventure! Experience Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows and discover why future generations hail these Toa as the greatest heroes of all time!”
Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows is not rated.
The Movie:
This latest Bionicle sequel is pretty much the same as the first two films it has a lot of cool graphics but a story that makes very little sense. I did my very best to follow the story, but I frequently found myself lost and unable to follow what the heck was going on. I’m only a little familiar with the Bionicle toys and storylines and I saw the first two films, but even that wasn’t enough to help me get through Bionicle 3. It didn’t help matters much that this was a prequel of sorts, so none of the characters from the previous films are featured here (at least until the final moments of the film). If they had used previous characters again, I think I would have been able to follow it better (but it wouldn’t do much to help them sell new Lego toys). As it is, this story is basically the Bionicle version of Revenge of the Sith where one of the heroes turns to the Dark Side and it’s up this his friends to help redeem him.
As already mentioned, the computer graphics are cool. There are a couple of new villains that look quite impressive in their CG incarnations. An army of CG spiders also looks pretty cool. The movie is most entertaining when action takes place and there is a fair amount of it. You’re not sure who is fighting or why they are fighting, but they look good doing it.
Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows is only for young Bionicle fans and really big fans of computer animation. I wouldn’t recommend this one to anyone else.
The Extras:
There are a few bonus features here that Bionicle fans should enjoy:
Bionicle Explorer These are simply profiles of the characters from the film. There’s a little dialogue describing their backgrounds and powers as well as a rotating image of the character.
Bionicle Comic Book – This is a comic book of the Bionicles on a new adventure. There are no word balloons, but there is some nice artwork.
Web Movie Originally featured on the Bionicle website, this Flash Animation movie features the new characters in an adventure. There’s no dialogue, but there is text at the bottom of the screen with the character’s lines. This should make Bionicle fans happy to have on DVD.
Bionicle Music You have the option of playing some of the music from the film while the Bionicle logo sits on the screen.
Bionicle 3 Extras These are some of the toy commercials for the latest line of Bionicle figures.
The Bottom Line:
Despite the great animation, there’s little here in the way of story to please anyone but the most die-hard Bionicle fans.
