Medabots (2008 film)

Medabots is a 2008 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Michael Bay and is based on the video game franchise of the same name. Produced by Kasumi Kobayashi and Hiroshi Yajima, the film stars and  as its main cast.

Medabots was released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures on June 8, 2008. It received generally negative reviews from critics, with some praise for Cole Sand’s chemistry, action sequences, and sense of fun, but criticized mean-spirited humor, plot and direction. The film grossed $150 million worldwide.

Plot
In August 1995, a KBT-type Medabot named Metal Beetle, also called Metabee for short, reaches Earth and crash-lands in Miami, disrupting a training exercise by the Terror Intelligence Agency, a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth. Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey from Bad Boys presume Metabee to be a hostile invader and order their men to attack. Metabee scans a Willys MB jeep and flees to a mine, where he is ambushed by TJO-type Medabot First Ace. When Metabee refuses to reveal Rokusho's whereabouts, First Ace damages his memory core; yet Metabee stabs and destroys First Ace with one of his own missiles. Metabee flees from the soldiers and collapses from his injuries.

Three years pass to a nine-year-old boy named Ikki Tenryō, who wants to become a champion of the World Robattle Tournament. However, Ikki is unable to afford a Medabot, and his parents refuse to buy him one. However, he manages to get enough money to buy an outdated model, and, with a bit of luck, he finds a medal in a river. Ikki quickly inserts it into the Medabot he purchased named Metabee. The only problem is that the medal he found gives Metabee a severe attitude problem (a problem rarely seen in a Medabot), which leads Ikki to think he is defective. However, this theory is proven wrong later, as it is revealed that Metabee actually has a "rare" medal.

The rare medals were kept secret by the Medabot Corporation, as very little was known about them. However, a Medabot with a rare medal would be able to call upon an attack called the "Medaforce". It is shown as a way of increasing the power of the Medabot's special skill into a focused beam attack.

Another important aspect is the story of Henry, the store clerk who sold Ikki Metabee. The film finds out that he is, quite obviously, Phantom Renegade. A running gag of the film was Henry almost telling everyone he is The Phantom, with no one ever discovering this fact. The film is then introduced to Space Medafighter X, who is another one of Henry's secret identities, the number one medafighter in Japan. Later, during the World Finals, he rarely shows up to the fights, instead sending substitutes and working behind the scenes. This being because he supposedly started The Ten Days of Darkness, which occurred eight years before the events in the series during the World Robattle Cup when Henry fought as Hikaru Agata with the original Metabee (however, the medal was different). The Medabots went on a rampage during the Ten Days of Darkness, which stopped when Henry was forced to kill his Medabot by destroying his medal.

It is revealed that Victor (a medafighter for Team Kenya and Warbandit's owner) was helping Dr. Meta-evil to get medals during the tournament. During the finals, Metabee and Warbandit continue to fight, even with their partners lost and their bodies damaged. It is during this event that Dr. Meta-evil starts his plan using Metabee and Warbandit's medals; trapping them both in a dream. However, Ikki manages to get Metabee to wake up from the dream, while the other medabots, free now, help Metabee to fight against Dr. Meta-evil. Ikki must also stop the plans of the nefarious "RubberRobo Gang".

Later, Medabots are found to be actually thousands of years old; remnants of an ancient civilization who called themselves Medalorians. The Medalorians were obsessed with war, and to become more effective warriors they fastened metal armor to themselves. However, their wars decimated the civilization, and the survivors coded their memories onto hexagonal pieces of metal. These, "Medals", cloned and mass-produced by the Medabot Corporation (a corporation founded by Dr. Aki), are the Medabot equivalent of a brain and soul. The original medals, referred to as "rare" medals, are kept in storage because of the extreme power they have.

Humans

 * as Ikki Tenryō, a lively and easygoing boy, although a bit timid, he is the main protagonist of the film. At first Ikki is unable to afford a Medabot. But after finding a medal in a river, he manages to buy a model, which is named Metabee. However, the medal he found appears to be defective, as Metabee is short-tempered and disobedient. In spite of this, a strong bond grows between them after several robattles. Though Ikki is not a full-fledged Medafighter, he gradually matures through the Robattles he engages in.
 * Bianca Grava as Erika Amazake, a reporter for the Riverview School. Her best friend is Ikki. She owns a Sailor-Multi, a sailor type Medabot, that she calls Brass.
 * Amanda Graham as Samantha, the leader of The Screws. She owns Peppercat, a cat type Medabot. She likes to use her skill in Robattling to harass other pupils of her school. Samantha is shown to also have a soft side, by helping her friends when they need it, but she doesn't like to admit she is soft.
 * Chet Hanks as Henry, a store clerk. He isn't seen with a Medabot for most of the film, and he is the one who sells Metabee to Ikki.
 * as Marcus Miles Burnett from Bad Boys, a former U.S. Army Colonel and agent of the Terror Intelligence Agency.
 * as Michael Eugene "Mike" Lowrey from Bad Boys, a former U.S. Army Colonel and agent of the Terror Intelligence Agency.
 * as Dr. Stanley Goodspeed from The Rock, an agent of the Terror Intelligence Agency.
 * as Francis X. 'Frank' Hummel from The Rock, an agent of the Terror Intelligence Agency.

Voices

 * as Metabee, whose name is a portmanteau of Metal Beetle, the main antihero of the series, a Medabot belonging to Ikki Tenryou. Metabee is a beetle type Medabot, specializing in revolver tactics. He possesses a rare medal that allows him to access the Medaforce. Metabee is known to be a rebellious and arrogant Medabot who often causes problems due to his headstrong personality. He is often sarcastic to his owner Ikki, but he shares a close bond with him, and so Ikki trusts him deeply.
 * Susan Quinn as Brass, originally named Sailor-Multi, an SLR-type Medabot belonging to Erika Amazake.
 * as Peppercat, a CAT-type Medabot belonging to Samantha.
 * as First Ace, a TJO-type Medabot who is responsible for damaging Metabee's memory core.