 For as many times as I've mentioned not being that into 'Transformers' throughout my childhood, I must admit to a phase of time when I was very much into it. 'Transformers' never really hit me as something awesome until the 90s, when the new advent of fully CG-generated cartoons unleashed 'Beast Wars' (which I also remember being called 'Beasties' at some point or another). Looking back on it now, it's a bit of a mess when it comes to the old CG animation, but bear in mind that at the time, it looked pretty amazing, and was kind of a big deal.
I was actually pretty excited when the first trailer for this dropped, especially considering how open I was to new 'Transformers' ideas with Mr. Bay out of the picture. When 'Bumblebee' came along, it completely reignited my interest in the franchise for the fist time since watching trailers for the '07 movie. So, adding my favourite series of 'Transformers' to the mix just sweetened the deal. So with all this promise of another solid 'Transformers' movie, was I gonna get one? Or are we back to square one with this? I will say that with everything going on, it did make for a pretty good mishmash of 'Transformers' material for fans. The problem, however, may lie with the fact that there IS a lot to absorb here from different facets of 'Transformers'. From my perspective, this isn't quite as simple as 'Bumblebee,' but it does carry a lot more for actual fans of 'Transformers' in general. We get a bit of the G1 series, we get a bit of 'Beast Wars', we get a bit of the original animated movie, and I've gotta give the film credit. It brings it all together in a way that seems to make sense (at least to me). The film opens with Unicron (Colman Domingo) attacking the Maximal's home world, sending his heralds, Scourge (Peter Dinklage) and the Terrorcons; Battletrap (David Sobolov) and Nightbird (Michaela Jaé Rodriguez) to obtain the "Transwarp Key", which can open portals through space and time. Maximal leader, Apelinq (David Sobolov again), stays behind to fight while he allows the other Maximals; Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman), Cheetor (Tongayi Chirisa), Rhinox (David Sobolov a third time) and Airazor (Michelle Yeoh) to escape, using the key, which brings them all to a past-era Earth, where they remain dormant. We then head to 1994, Brooklyn, where ex-military electronics expert, Noah Diaz (Anthony Ramos) is desperate to support his family, which leads to a tip from his friend Reek (Tobe Nwigwe) about a Porche 911 he can steal and sell. This Porche, however, ends up being an Autobot named Mirage (Pete Davidson). Meanwhile, museum intern Elena Wallace (Dominique Fishback) studies a mysterious bird statue that has half of the Transwarp Key inside of it. The key sends an energy pulse that can only be seen by the bots, getting the attention of Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), who calls on all Autobots to meet up. Eventually, the Terrorcons catch on, and head to Earth to intercept the key for their master, Unicron. If Unicron gets it, it could mean the end of everything as we know it, so Optimus, along with the rest of the Autobots on Earth team up with the Maximals and the humans of Earth to stop it all from happening. So yes, in many ways, we're back to old formulas, but I will say this for the film; it's much smoother to watch than a typical Bay flick of this series. It more or less told old formulas and made them a bit better. They COULD have given the Maximals a bit more spotlight, though. I think if you're an all-around fan, it can be a really good time, but if you're not, it's a little above your typical 'Transformers' film, and it lacks the human element 'Bumblebee' had. I'll give them credit for a successful execution of everything they were going for, though, and making things a bit easier to watch as opposed to the all-over-the-place editing to some of Bay's material. Last but not least, I must give further credit for a pretty cool twist at the end that has the potential to lead to something pretty awesome! 3/5
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Transformers
All
|
RSS Feed