Biomecha: The Helmet of Power

Biomecha: The Helmet of Power is a thriller film released on September 16, 2015. It is the first stop motion movie rated PG-13 for violence and scary images.

Plot
The story starts with the backstory explained; I-Abundant brings the Matarun to an isle, which they name after him in honor. However, Likuta, leader of the brotherhood of Darxi, assassinates I-Abundant. The story than shifts to a castle tribe Thank-Heart, which is a volcano. The island-wide Kohli championship is about to start and Mahoganer is looking for his teammate Paise the Priest. He soon finds him, looking at a warning totem next to a lava river. Just before they are about to leave, Paise picks up the totem, and a piercing shadow aproaches. He drops the artifact into the magma, revealing a Org helmet that was embedded in the totem. At that moment, a wave of molten rock rushes through the chamber at Paise. He throws the helmet to Mahoganer and uses a surfboard to get across the molten rock, but only gets halfway. As he becomes "molten bones", he is saved by the Warri of fire, Know. The two then rush to the Kohli field, and Mahoganer puts the mask in his belt. At the field, Vaksa introduces the three Warri present: Know, Dig, the Warri of Rain, and Tuber the Warri of Rock. He then introduces the three teams: Po-Matarun Kanohi and Hafu of the desert Pea-Clapper, Ga-Matarun Halli and Macht of Pea-Clapper, which is built over a lake, and Paise and Mahoganer. The match caries on into the night, until Pea-Clapper turns out victorious. At the end, the Helmet Paise found falls out of Mahoganer's belt, shining a bright radiance on him. The Mana deduce that this is the Helmet of Power, which is to be worn by a legendary Seventh Warri that will kill Likuta. The Helmet of Light will lead its chosen herald to the seventh Warri. The Helmet's beam of light originally fell on Paise, but the Priest- unwilling to accept the mantle of responsibility - had nudged the helmet so that its beam of light fell on Mahoganer instead, leading all the others to think that he's the destined Herald. Unfortunately for Paise, Mahoganer volunteers him to come along as well to chronicle Mahoganer’s heroics. Tuber leaves to spread word about the Seventh Warri, and Dig has left already. Mahoganer and Paise leave Thank-Heart the next day on Paise's Crab, Peak, with the Helmet leading them to Milk-Get.

Deep beneath I-Abundant, Likuta, is fully aware of what is happening above. He talks to a large statue of a Misfortune Helmet, which he refers to as his brother I-Abundant. He then releases three of his spawns of slaughter, one of which, the Rackrain, to find and kill the Herald. On the surface, Dig is at the Great-Present, a huge temple at the center of the island. The Rackrain bursts from the center of the Rackrain and attacks Dig, who narrowly escapes by hiding in a river. Realizing the Rackrain are headed for Thank-Heart, she gets there before them and alerts the city. The Rackrain bursts through the walls of Thank-Heart anyway, using it's powers of slicing, impaling, and shooting to wreak havoc and destroy the neighborhood, but some of the Matarun escape unharmed, and the behemoth is killed. While the next beast, Bombaim, is knocking stones, Dig runs and confronted it by using his swords to create beams to make the symbol of I-Abundant. As Dig and Know take care of the Rackrain, Bombaim hisses at the two scared Matarun in their hiding place. In the fight, Know is killed by the Bombaim, sucking his soul out. Dig slices Bombaim's head off, though, as she is far more concerned about Know's death than destruction of his tribe.

Meanwhile, Paise and Mahoganer are heading through a factory, following where the Helmet of Power shows them to go. They are then attacked by Spidermatons, and are rescued by Authority, Warri of Wind, who gives them a fast way of traveling, Raid Zeppelin, with the use to fly to the icy Cow-Get. Upon their arrival, they learn of Thank-Heart's destruction, the message sent by the Drums of Le-Trib. Authority then flies to Thankget to find out more, leaving Paise and Mahoganer behind. They are caught in a blizzard, and run into Flappin, Warri of Ice, whose personality is as cold as his powers (freezing Borok). Upon arriving at Desilaugh, they are attacked by Anguis, a beast with a half human head, and escape down the side of a mountain. Flappin is shot by a mysterious ray and morphed with Anguis, and Paise gets away across a lake, using Flappin's shield as a raft and the Mask as a paddle. Peak (who had been left behind in Milk-Get) arrives, and the Matarun leave for the underground Eyeone.

In the underground network of tunnels, Paise gets lost. He is surprised by Likuta, who appears before him in the form of two fluorescent red eyes. He warns Paise that if he does not give him the Helmet of Power, Mahoganer will die. Paise refuses, but later panics and leaves Mahoganer and the helmet and behind. Tuber and Ona (The Warri of Earth), are telling the Cave Matarun about the Seventh Warri when Paise and Peak arrive. Anguis and a million Spidermatons arrive soon after. As the Matarun's tribe is killed, Paise realizes this is his fault, as he is the real Herald, meaning the behemoths are looking for him, Dig, and Authority. Meanwhile, Tuber and Ona cause a cave in, and the Warri are forced to flee the neighborhood.

Paise finds Mahoganer and the two head for the Gin Big, which the helmet says the Seventh Warri should be. Nothing happens, though, and Anguis arrives them. However, Anguis is tricked into running into a trap, which slices it in half. The Warri come to their aid, and destroy all the Spidermatons. However, Likuta arrives and sucks the soul out of Mahoganer's eyepatch, leaving a smokey pit inside of his eye. Paise is told by Ona that the Herald doesn't find the Seventh Warri, the Herald is the Seventh Warri. Paise puts on the Helmet of Power and becomes Paisenuef, Warri of Power. He destroys all the monstrosities Likuta created with a burst of radiance, then mournfully picks up Mahoganer's carcass and carries it from the Great Temple.

Later, Paisenuef is insane from depression at Mahoganer's grave, and he wonders aloud whether Mahoganer's death was worth it. Vaksa, however, walks up and reassures him. Later, the Warri finish building the Ussa out of corpse parts, and Hafu adds the final touch to the front of the vehicle: Mahoganer's face. As Paisenuef mounts the vehicle and prepares to fly it into Likuta's lair, his fellow Toa ask why they can't come with him. Paisenuef replies that it is his destiny to defeat Likuta, while theirs lies with the Matarun. The Warri of Power flies down through the dark tunnels and jumps out of the Ussa before it could hit a rock door. As he passes, Hafu comes out of the rubble, picking up Mahoganer's face, declaring himself the new Priest. Paisenuef comes into Likuta's lair, (with the same shadow Kraatta that powered the Ussa) where the Sensei of Shadows taunts him, and tells him that he is a fool, guided by curiosity. To decide the fate of I-Abundant (Both the isle and the Great Spirit), Likuta challenges Paisenuef to a "game of Kolhi" (played with a charge of fire). If Paisenuef wins, he can try to open the Hauen-shaped gate; lose, and Likuta gets the Helmet of Power.

While the players competed, Hafu returns to the surface to tell everyone to come below and awaken I-Abundant. when they arrive, Likuta destroyed the cavern entrance. Paisenuef uses his Kolhi move to throw the ball at Likuta. When all seemed right, Likuta rose again, claiming that if I-Abundant is awakened, he will suffer from great pain. Paisenuef leaps onto the Sensei of Shadows and rips off his face and the master falls into a pool of lava and burns away. Paisenuef uses an amulet he finds to kill Likuta, and revives every hero who previously died. However, their souls decide they need to be in heaven, and fly of, causing a rain of bacteria. Paisenuef uses his power to make an abyss in the cave, revealing the long lost city of Metert.

Cast

 * Jeff Brides as Vaksa.
 * Powers Boothe as Know
 * Clark Duke as Mahoganer
 * Marshall Allman as Ona
 * Jojo as Dig
 * K-DOT as Flappin
 * Jackson Brundage as Paisenuef

Sex & Nudity
N/A

Violence & Gore
Strong violence
 * Several scenes of fantasy violence and realistic towards villains involving guns, blades, and natural weapons, all powered by energy.
 * Mahoganer has an eye cut out.
 * Rackrain breaks into the city and stabs some people.
 * The most family unfriendly death is Anguis getting sliced in two.
 * Characters get killed in lava.
 * Bombeim is decapitated.
 * Spidermatons are killed in graphic manners, however, by being frozen in glass and shattered, burnt in a molten pool, decapitated and being shot at by concentrated radiance.
 * The final fight between Paise and Likuta, while disguised as a game, is also brutal, but not bloody.
 * There is a sustained nature throughout which will be disturbing to young audiences.
 * Half of the main characters have the life sucked out of them with a ray beam. It is shown in full view and they lay motionless after the life is sucked out of them.
 * The backstory involves a war between humans against robots. Humans are shot up by robots (depicted). Robots poison the air to kill life forms (not seen).

Profanity
N/A

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking
Implied Drug Use
 * The most amusing scene is of Authority is shown sniffing flour for his own enjoyment and groaning. He is getting high off of the dust, but it is only implied.

Frightening/Intense Scenes
Suggested Ratings:
 * Being the first stop motion film to receive a PG-13 rating, there are many horrors themes.
 * Anguis is really scary, being an anaconda with half of a human head which is later mutilated and burnt into a skull on the half. It also makes horror noises, sounding like a person run over by a car. In addition, it has scary teeth and an eye removed.
 * There are a few corpses of humans during the beginning of the film, one of which is a child and his father in a jalopy. No decay or anything graphic is shown, but the implied image is still frightening.
 * A few jump scares.
 * The villainous Spidermatons' blood curdling screech several times, during which their face rips open, and a slug becomes visible. Their sounds are also scary.
 * A tribe is massacred during a scene. No blood, but it is an emotion-filled and dark scene.
 * The death of Mahoganer is extremely intense and scary.
 * Authority has his eyes sewn shut. No blood, but still disturbing.
 * A vision Likuta shows to Paise, in addition to predicting Mahoganer's death, also shows Tuber getting poisoned and killing his friends with a minigun. He then goes through big torture, and his agony is unnerving.
 * The final fight is also intense, and involves the most gigantic bullet cannon being fired in attempts of slaughtering Likuta.
 * The action itself is horrifying if you think of the characters as humans rather than electronic robots.
 * Many souls are sucked out of the Biomecha and several die during intense fighting scenes.
 * Although animated, Young children should not see this because it contains scary imagery and mild jump scenes

MPAA: PG-13 for violence and adult content.

ESRB: T: Violence

PEGI: 12: Violence

TV-14 V

Common Sense Media
Age: 12

Quality: 5 Stars

Positive Messages: 1/5: The value of unity and duty lives throughout.

Violence: 4/5: Frequent fantasy violence and peril. Characters fight with blades and gun. Characters get deadly close to lava flows.

Consumerism: 5/5: The characters have popular toys manufactured by LEGO.

Parent Previews
Violence: D

Sexual Content: A

Profanity: A

Substance Use: B+

Portrayals of the aftermath of war, death and bombings are included in every background. There are also depictions of corpses, including dead parents and children having done suicide. Shadow dogs and birds hunt down and shoot the characters in this story. One character is captured and carried off by a robot. Others are killed or injured. An individual unknowingly plays with a bullet. An explosive releases a dangerous gas across the village that kills the populace. Characters have their eyes burned out. Flour causes a mind-altering experience for one of the Biomecha. Biomecha are engulfed in flames. Mega explosions cause the destruction of homes and factories. Characters participate in a funeral and are subjected to repeated moments of peril.

Prodcution
1001 Spears planned to develop and distribute three BIOMECHA movies during 2014. When choosing a style for the movie to follow, directors noted that there were many already existing interpretations of the BIOMECHA look, including the flash web comic, comic book, and CG commercials; he eventually decided upon the commercial look.

After attending many days of "Biomecha school" in California, the animators were given a grounding in how Trigger developed them. Many features were redesigned for the movie, including the introduction of a movable mouth to allow for a human-like character. Also, characters such as the Know were redesigned, beginning with the creation of a skeleton and muscles. For the design, Trigger noted that "The first film had primary colors that were coded to the areas and a young feel."

Two scripts for the movie were created, one by screenwriter Tim Burton and one from the other, Brendan Trigger, to see who would write the better script. Due to time constraints, however, the Trigger script was accepted with some of Burton's ideas included. Trigger reported that he had some the characters in mind for a year. "I really made it my duty to stick close by my vision, while bringing my ideas of serious character and big screen action, all the while staying true to the ideals of construction and community." The Lego Company insists they would "never compromise their values for the bottom line." The movie was also an occasion for the expansion of the BIOMECHA universe by the addition of the Behemoths and its line of toys.

Reception
It is one of the ten best selling movies of 2015.

Trivia

 * At the end of the credits, there is a message saying "No BIOMECHA were harmed in the making of this film".
 * The film is 130 minutes long, making it the longest stop motion movie ever made.

Contains References To

 * Nazi Germany: The brotherhood of Darxi is based on Nazism, as Likuta plays a role like Adolf Hitler, the Darxi members shout "Hiell!", and in their lair, the plays.
 * Wizard of Oz: The characters relax to Somewhere Over the Rainbow, until Mahoganer is killed by Likuta in the ashes.
 * Toy Story: The child who committed suicide slightly resembles Andy.
 * War of the Worlds: The design of the Iron Beasts.
 * Terminator: Anguis' crimson eyeball and when they blow up the machine's factory, half of the machine is still alive.

Rating
PG-13 for violence and scary images.

Tropes

 * Bittersweet Ending: The Paise, Kanohi, Hafu, and Dig live to see the bacteria bring life back, but the other Biomecha have nothing left but there souls, flown into heaven.
 * Downer Beginning: Everyone is dead, Paise is alone, and he is unbeknownst of Bombeim tracking him.
 * Tear Jerker: Literally everything in the film is. To the highest node.