Roll out

[moonwise]

So, we went to see the Transformers movie on 4th of July. And there was much rejoicing, for it was not a complete travesty, and Peter Cullen was in it.

I will definitely be needing a Bumblebee-as-'74-Camaro with the caption "BITCHIN' CAMARO."



Okay, the plot was full of holes you could drive Prime through and Sam was a little wiener and there was not NEARLY enough Decepticon screen time/interaction, but it was a damn fun ride. A++++++ WOULD SEE AGAIN. A lot of the reviews have complained that the movie seemed to be selling GM products - and I admit that I died a little to see transforming Chevy commercials with Optimus Prime in them during the F1 race today - but hell, wasn't the G1 cartoon designed mostly to sell toys?

Y'all probably don't know that I dabbled in TransFandom before Soul Reaver got me onto Livejournal. Never did much more than read fic and buy some horribly crappy tapes of the entire series, but I did set my usenet nick to Seastreak for the once or twice I posted to alt.toys.transformers. It happens to be the name of the ferries that run between NJ and NY, but hey. It was only my good sense and great intelligence (why yes, there is no conceit in my family) that kept a large amount of Mary Sueage from being written, mostly convoluted crossovers with Cheysuli (Jennifer Roberson's series about shapechangers.) Anyway, what I'm getting at is that there was a severe interest in this movie being decent, and it was, and now I have a jones for the G1 series and will spend next week obtaining it in various ways.

A review would be pointless, but here's the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

PETER CULLEN AS OPTIMUS PRIME. I cannot say this enough, especially since the fans screamed so loudly that Bay capitulated. It's so sad but so sweet, all these interviews with Cullen indicate that he had no idea how much everyone loved Prime because Hasbro never bothered forwarding him the mail addressed to "Optimus Prime," and he thought Oppy got whacked in TF:TM because no one liked him. And then he gets the role in the movie because the fans didn't want anyone else.

Classic cartoon lines thrown into Bay's movie. "One shall stand; one shall fall" is right out of TF:TM, and "You have failed me for the last time, Starscream!" or some permutation thereof was probably uttered in every ep of the G1 series. More on Megs and Screamer later.

Bumblebee's matchmaking. He was bored. "O HAY LET'S GET THE KIDS TOGETHER!" Like jaina, I would totally read Sam and Bumblebee roadtrip fic.

The military was not portrayed as the enemy or as complete bozos.

The Autobots had to be told "no stomping the squishies, even if they pee on you."

Expanding on that, a generous amount of humor. The Autobots sneaking around Sam's yard were priceless. The cartoon was outright funny at times, with the pinnacle probably being the drunk Decepticons, and it was nice to see some comic relief. The movie also states that the Transformers learned about humans from the Internet, and I have a great scenelet in my head where Prime gravely informs Sam that the All Spark is "over nine thousand."

Frenzy. Even though the movie did not put the FIRRIB/RIRFIB debate to rest, Rumble and Frenzy were kinda the Beavis and Butthead of the Decepticons, and Movie!Frenzy was true to that manic spirit.

IRONHIDE. Even though his pastime is throwing monkeys, I still love him.

The Bad

Not enough interaction with the bots. There were a couple plotlines that didn't go anywhere, and they could have been replaced with more character-building. When Megatron pulled Jazz in half, I had no idea who had just died and whether I should care about it.

It was very hard to tell the bots apart if they were not in alt mode.

NEEDED MOAR DECEPTICONS. Especially Megatron and Starscream bitching at one another. (*a moment of silence for Chris Latta*)

Prime's characterization. It took me a while to put my finger on this, but while cartoon!Prime did get annoyed at his troops from time to time and might have handed out some stern criticism, it was never the "you assholes, I can't take you anywhere" type of criticism. Also, I never want to hear him say "My bad" again.

Elrond as Megatron. Okay, I don't have a problem with this per se, but why would you acquiesce to Cullen-as-Prime but not Welker-as-Megatron? At least Activision got it right.

The Ugly

Cringeworthy humor. Peeing on the Sector Seven guy was completely unnecessary. So was the "masturbation" thing with Sam, even though it was humorous. And why would Ratchet bother remarking about Sam's pheromone levels?

The Weird

Sam and Mikaela making out on Bumblebee's hood is strange enough, but WHY ARE THE REST OF THE AUTOBOTS STANDING AROUND WATCHING?? WHAT. HELLO, YOUR CAR IS SENTIENT, HAVING SEX IN THE BACKSEAT MAYBE IS NOT THE BEST IDEA. (cf. The Airazors and the Buzzsaws from World's Worst Fanfiction)

Flaws aside, I'd definitely see this movie again, and I am praying a silent fandom prayer that Bay makes a deal with someone besides Chevy for the next one so that we can see Mirage and he can be a proper F1 car. Maybe even Honda.

Comments

[jaina.livejournal.com]

I can answer a question! Welker wasn't cast as Megatron because they loved his voice, but thought it was too light for their big beast in the film.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Welker wasn't cast as Megatron because they loved his voice, but thought it was too light for their big beast in the film.

They were wrong, is all. :P

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was "WAIT TO GO HOME BEFORE YOU HAVE SEX?" XD

(I got what you meant. ^_^)

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

It's just cause the cars got her hotter than Sam did. Not that I blame her.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

It's so sad but so sweet, all these interviews with Cullen indicate that he had no idea how much everyone loved Prime because Hasbro never bothered forwarding him the mail addressed to "Optimus Prime," and he thought Oppy got whacked in TF:TM because no one liked him. And then he gets the role in the movie because the fans didn't want anyone else.

That is ten kinds of adorable. Also, Hasbro suxxors.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Srsly. How heartbreaking to read that legions of little kids sent in fan mail, and it was never read by its intended recipient? The actors probably would have gotten a kick out of responding to some of the letters, aside from the whole "you like me, you really really like me" aspect.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I know! Losers.

[sarcasticval.livejournal.com]

WHY ARE THE REST OF THE AUTOBOTS STANDING AROUND WATCHING?? WHAT. HELLO, YOUR CAR IS SENTIENT, HAVING SEX IN THE BACKSEAT MAYBE IS NOT THE BEST IDEA.

WORD! I was thinking the same thing.