Cartoon review: Transformers Earthspark season 1

Season 1 (episodes 1-10) are now available in Australia on Paramount+ and Foxtel/Binge.

I completed the series last night and would love to know what others think and to discuss some things that might spoil it for those that haven't seen it yet.

My initial response (posted elsewhere) was it’s a thumbs up from me.

It combines a elements from some of the best previous cartoon series (G1, Masterforce, Beast Wars, Animated, Prime, and there's a bit of Armada in it too) and from some comics. It felt familiar but new.

All the characters based on G1 were reimagined in strong ways, clearly inspired by the past but done in new and interesting ways.

The animation style is a lot nicer than the Netflix show, and the use of some 2D elements gave it a nice unique look too.

It's also a successful toy commercial and the first time in a while where human figures would be nice to have too.

Enjoyed it overall and see great things in future.

PROS
-love the premise, it leans more to IDW than it does to Geewun and Bayverse whilst still being undisputed it's own thing. See great things in future in terms of plot points and character development.
-love the new takes on classic characters where they've done them.
-love the main villain's name
-animation and action choreography is best yet for TV. It feels like a full departure from the old let's watch some wooden 3d models get vectored around in a bland backdrop. Megatron steals the show with his badass choreography and the final episode holds nothing back.
-from a family show perspective the messages/themes/role models are quite decent and don't lean too heavily on existing stereotypes.

CONS
-whilst the pilot episode was a banger, episodes 2 and 3 were so holdrum it nearly made me quit the show. The show picks up again after this.
-there's some very looney tune style nonsense where a couple of characters successfully brawl robots using bamboo sticks and twigs. This could easily have been fixed to avoid breaking suspension of disbelief and it's kind of baffling the writers/animators chose not to.
-the new transformers don't get much development in this first season and are kind of uninteresting, I hope they give them more rope in future seasons.

This is probably going to come off a little harsh, so I apologise in advance.

However I thought this was pretty terrible.

None of the human cast were likeable, nor the Terrans. Every episode they had something else to complain or mope about. The neural/emotional link thing the kids and Terrans shared didn't seem to have any set rules with abilities being picked up or dropped at random.

Is it a new interpretation, or are these supposed to be the same guys from the 80's? I like the intent, however what's the deal with gender swapping Skywarp, or doing... whatever it was they did to Rumble. Just introduce new characters if that's what you're after, or don't try to pretend it's a continuation.

Also hey... If Mum was a soldier fighting with the Autobots in the 80's, that puts her in her mid 60's now. She's looking good and in fine shape for a woman of her age.

Loved the 2d animation for smoke/flames/explosions, it looked so dynamic and alive. The only problem was, it really showed how static and lifeless the 3d animation was, especially the humans and their faces. The bots themselves standing around did look good, however when in fight scenes they looked clunky, bouncing off of each other and various surfaces. That said, the direction for action in the final episode was handled well.

Why is it producers/creators think kids won't know who's talking if we can't see their mouth (not only a prime thing in this case).

Pretty dirty on how easily Skullcruncher was taken down. However still happy to see him.

Overall, both Cyberverse and Botbots was better than this, however Cyberverse S1 was pretty shaky too, so hopefully this will get better?

I was expecting some people would have reviews like this, but it still seems like very few have watched it yet, I'm seeing the same in the award votes, so I'm keeping my spoilers quiet for the moment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KELPIE

are these supposed to be the same guys from the 80's?

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It's not the same universe, too many things contradict the 80s cartoon, but it's a universe similar to it in many ways, but different in a few key ones (more girls in general). Dot probably wasn't a solider in the 80s, as she worked with a character who would have still been an enemy at that point; but there's still missing info on exactly when/how that change of sides happened. She'd be more late 30s in age (or the Transformers gave her some nucleon and it stopped the aging process!?)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

I was expecting some people would have reviews like this, but it still seems like very few have watched it yet, I'm seeing the same in the award votes, so I'm keeping my spoilers quiet for the moment.

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I ummed and aahd over your OP on whether you were saying we can talk about spoilers here but not in the other thread... I the end I went with spoilers. Hopefully people come in expecting that, if not - apologise

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paulbot

It's not the same universe, too many things contradict the 80s cartoon, but it's a universe similar to it in many ways, but different in a few key ones (more girls in general). Dot probably wasn't a solider in the 80s, as she worked with a character who would have still been an enemy at that point; but there's still missing info on exactly when/how that change of sides happened. She'd be more late 30s in age (or the Transformers gave her some nucleon and it stopped the aging process!?)

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I'm not fussed that there are more "girls", I'm pretty sure Skywarp was a girl in Cyberverse. However the marketing and even the first episode leans really hard in trying to say these are your 80's bots.

She fought with the Autobots against the Decepticons. Without re-watching, I think they said something along the lines of Megatron joining the Autobots a couple years after the space bridge was destroyed. They certainly made it look like the space bridge was destroyed in the 80's. Sooo.... lets go with the Nucleon option :P