Fanboy Review # 18 – Transformers One

[Note: I do not consider myself a movie critic. What follows is just one fanboy’s opinion based off of a single double viewing of the film. Oh, and there are SPOILERS ahead for this movie, so take heed.]

If you have followed this blog, you may have noticed that the Transformers franchise presents itself a little in my writing. It was certainly my favorite toy line while growing up, and Optimus Prime can, in fact, be a favorite fictitious character of all time. I don’t really have love for live films from Bayverse Transformers outside the haunting musical scores of Steve Jablonsky and the fantastic voice. But, for the most part, I don’t care. Bourdon is the only exception. I had hoped that it would open the way, but Ascension of animals showed me that the cinematographic franchise on the whole had learned nothing from the release of films on the retro theme of Travis Knight.

So, it didn’t surprise me when I started to hear about Transformers One. Transformers as I knew came from animation, and the franchise has been kept alive over the years thanks to many different animated series. Thus, a version of CGI-Animée in history adapted to the big screen was inevitable, especially since Hasbro has trouble staying afloat.

First impressions

I must admit that when I saw the first trailer for Transformers OneI was … skeptical. We returned once again to the deep causes of the war for cybertron, and the growing fracture between Autobot and Decipon, which was done again and again. I was not particularly enthusiastic about another restart of what seems to be a rapid series of restarting transformers by Hasbro in recent years.

The general atmosphere that the trailer was released seemed that we will be in a wacky adventure game and Slap-Stick on Cybertron. In addition, the fact that Peter Cullen and Frank Welker will not resume their emblematic roles of Optimus Prime and Megatron were a big boost for me.

But, I could see that my young son was interested in going to see him, so I accumulated myself and I went to theaters while waiting for an attempt to effort with a little effort to obtain a younger generation to embrace a franchise of toys several decades.

While I was sitting there in my tilting seat, however, I quickly started to realize how false, well, well, All Regarding this film. The tone was very different from what I had guessed, and for the best. More than that, this film exceeded my expectations and played in the meta-lore of the transforming universe much more than I would have guessed.

What I liked

Musical score: I know that a film score is good when I can’t wait to get back from the theater and download it. I found, to my greatest pleasure, that Brian Tyler had composed the score. This explained the sublime meaning of the mystery and fear that permeates the musical landscape of this film. Tyler is one of my favorites of the “modern” harvest of film composers. He made the scoring for Iron Man 3Which is excellent. He also partition of the Syfy Mini-Series version of DuneWhich really raised the drama. Oh, and he also made the theme for Prime TransformersMaybe the best transformers have ever struck on the small screen.

Orion Pax and D-16: It was great to see them both as friends, even with the knowledge of the knowledge that they would finally become the greatest enemies. They did a good job to establish their basic personalities who contain the seeds of the upcoming conflict. Orion Pax does not care to break the rules he sees are unfair or at the service of the discovery of truth. He sees the potential of his minor colleagues and wants to become more than they are current. D-16, on the other hand, prefers to follow the rules of the letter, to stick to the established protocols. When it is finally revealed that the rules he was so strictly adhered is a lie, he is crushed, which makes him become angry and avenger.

Animation and models: The narration based on CGI has traveled a long way, and the transformers franchise has increased its game since the original time Beast wars. I was surprised to see how beautiful and natural part of the animation was in this film, even when applied to anthropomorphic robots which turn into vehicles. I was also impressed by the way the four main emotional and expressive characters were on the screen.

Megatron’s eyes: I resumed this little gem during my first vision of the film. A good indicator of the climbing of history is in the color of Megatron’s eyes. They start a bright yellow, but as things are revealed and the road he darkens, his eyes begin to turn more orange color. I predicted that they would get red at a critical moment, and of course, I was right. It was a subtle touch that really gives you this line of division between D -16 as we knew as well as his new character as Megatron – who continues to name his faction after the great deception that he had his hand in destruction.

Two leadership styles: Once Orion and D-16 come back from the savage, but before taking their emblematic names, you can see how they effectively lead their respective groups. Orion Pax is an inspiring figure, who leads forward, and is excellent for making people around him believe, they are capable of greater things than they believed. On the other hand, the D-16 consists in showing its strength thanks to acts of force, which calls for dangerous and more military sensitivities of the high guard. When the D-16 is captured by Sentinel Prime, the ex-midor prefers to die on his feet than to crawl on knees. Even when it is overturned, it gets back with even more challenge.

A satisfactory story: In a feature film, the characters’ arcs must move quickly, faster than they do in a series format. However, Transformers One Cloque at 104 respectable minutes, which is not bad for an animated show. I think the story is progressing fairly quickly, but stops in places for a great character development and a construction of the world. At the end of this, it seems that the characters were part of an adventure defining the era which puts the current conflict in the Cybertronian war to come. After seeing this re-return material again and again, this socket was cool and just “correct” for the continuity they had installed.

What I didn’t like

Lack of original voice actors: I think Brian Tyree Henry and Chris Hemsworth have made admirable jobs as a voice actor for Megatron and Optimus Prime, respectively. I don’t want to denigrate their performance because I think it was excellent. The problem is that Peter Cullen and Frank Welker “possess” their personalities of their transformers in a way that we do not see very often. Their voices give Megs and OP a kind of authentic spark (full word game intended) to the characters who are really irreplaceable. I think it was a missed opportunity to include them in this project. Can you imagine that Orion comes back from the heart of the planet with the matrix, now with the emblematic vocal style of Peter Cullen? Or, when Megatron proclaims “I finished saving you”, the fact that the voice of Frank Welker takes over for the rest?

Human characteristics on robots: At one point, we see Orion’s lips beating in the wind while the train accelerates. Later, when they avoid the quintesses in the ruins, we seem to seem to breathe hard. It is such a minor thing, but these very human features seemed completely moved on a model of character which is a robot. It removed me from the moment it happened.

The death of Alpha Trion: Alpha Trion is the archetypical character of the mentor in the transformers, actually Merlin to the king of Optimus Prime Arthur. While Alpha Trion was able to eliminate random hell men with the cheeky replica of “not too old for you”, he was essentially there to deliver an exhibition and be executed in the hands of Sentinel. If we get a sequel, they could always bring it back in one way or another, but the total time that he was able to spend with Orion Pax here is measured in a few moments. I had hoped to see a father-son relationship developing between them.

The persistent smell of Bayverse: There are a few points where I could tell that the story still had some of the small fatty fingerprints of Michael Bay from live action films. Sentinel prime being a pure and simple villain and a tyrant (rather than a simple intimidator and a hole in Transformers: animated) has the impression that he took clues Blackness. Bumblebee named B-127 recalls a Bayverse bee before it has its land name. In addition, there are (or) several prime numbers both rather than being a succession of one both by the stewardship of the leadership matrix. It seems that we cannot entirely escape Bayverse here, but to be fair, there were much more head sees G1.

Conclusions

The continuity of the G1 will always be my favorite story in the history of the transformers. In my heart, the origins of Orion Pax’s transformation into Optimus Prime are in episode n ° 59 of the Sunbow cartoon entitled “War Dawn”. Unfortunately, apart from video games Transfomers: devastation And a few selected comics, we no longer get narrative continuations of this version of Transformers.

That said, I realize that transformers fans are the age of my son who want something new, something more updated to call them. Some of Hasbro’s attempts to provide this in recent years, as War for Cybertron,, Disguised robotsAnd Earth gap seemed shy and disposable. Transformers OneHowever, felt as an honest attempt to advance transformers to a more modern audience. There is a real heart to this film that many other recent versions of Transformers have just missed. I was surprised how much I appreciated the experience – on occasion.

And, you know, if the continuity of this film becomes the basis of the middle of the transformers of the generation of my son, I agree with that. It remains to be seen if we obtain more from this branch of the transformers universe, however. As pleasant as I found this film, and with it receiving decent criticism of criticism, it unfortunately did not do as well as expected. I hope this is not the last that we see from Transformers One crew. I wish them many other heroic adventures. So, from me to the distribution and the team of this film, let me say simply: “Up to everyone!

And that’s how this fanboy sees it.