Where Rise of the Rookies introduced a new collection of heroes to the premiere team of Alpha 1, Savage Planet has the team on a rescue mission to save a new rookie. Since the events of the Von Nebula attacks, Furno, Stormer, Bulk, Nex and the rest of the group have been upgraded to 2.0, so they all look a little taller and stronger than they did in the first DVD collection, but that upgrade won't be enough for their new challenge.
When rookie Rocka intercepts a distress signal while leaving a mission, he ends up trapped on a strange planet. The core of the planet is made from the same material used to create Hero Cores, but when it was determined that mining the planet endangered the wildlife, it was turned into a nature reserve. Rocka lands to investigate the signal from a former Hero Factory professor, Dr. Aldous Witch, but when communication is lost, Stormer, Bulk, Furno, Nex and Stringer are deployed and given new upgrades that allow them to take on the attributes of fierce animals.
It isn't long before the team meets up with Rocka and learns that the old teacher has gone mad and started harvesting the precious ore on his own. With a new upgrade of his own, Rocka tells the team about Witch Doctor and they set off. It isn't long before they find a portal that will take them straight to the temple the evil robot is at, but there is a problem. It looks like the portal will only transport three people before its batteries will have to recharge, a recharge that will take several days. The team is split into two parts, one led by Furro, and the other by his young, new rival Rocka.
While Rocka's use of the portal gets them to the site faster, they don't count on the fact that the corrupted portal has actually shrunk his squad. That team does all it can to slow Witch Doctor down so that the regular-sized heroes can come in and deal out some real damage.
The only special feature on this DVD is a bonus episode. Oddly enough, this is the missing piece of the puzzle. "Ordeal of Fire" goes between the Von Nebula episodes and Savage Planet and not only introduces Nex, but also the upgrade that brings our heroes from version 1.0 to 2.0. Knowing that, I would recommend watching the bonus episode before diving into the 45 minute movie, as it might keep any fans who don't already know about the upgrade (i.e. me) from getting confused when the film opens up.
Overall, Savage Planet is a fun ride and, if you are a part of the target audience, then you will enjoy the show. There are plenty of cheesy puns to be had, but that is kind of expected. While I don't think the series quite lives up to the grandeur that Bionicles was able to portray, it's still a good effort.
