Transformers Prime cartoon reviews/comments (spoilers)

[Lint]

I'm not really impressed yet. But like the original beast wars if given enough time it could develop into something good.

A 'few' things that irk me:
-Overuse of dramatic cinematic music. I found this comical in Orci and Kurtzman's Star Trek remake but its just plain annoying here. I hope they tone this right down in future episodes.
-The whole atmosphere seems very broody and emo. The lack of hope or optimism is kind of stifling.
-Star Trekky sound effects whenever anyone shoots stuff.
-Welker's interpretation of the modern cold-and-calculating Megatron. It's almost painful hearing this voice subdued when you're used to the maniacal screams and laughter

They're really going for the dark and gritty mood in this new series and for now its really overbearing. It's like watching an episode of CSI:NY (or so i've been told)

On the upside, the character models aren't annoying me as much as I thought they would. I reckon Starscream is the best of all the fresh characterisations in this series.

[GoktimusPrime]

How exactly? Bulkhead barely did anything in these two episodes and yet somehow you think it's a "big improvement"? I'd rather watch clumsy good-natured Animated Bulkhead anyday. So far the Prime characters don't look like they will have any fun. Not surprising when the five of them are apparently the only Autobots left.

Let me rephrase: Prime Bulkhead has made a much better first impression on me than Animated Bulkhead.

2 things annoy me though: the transformers mouths/faces (why can't they be robotic like the rest of their body, they just look wrong),

The faces don't bug me that much. Maybe cos the comic book got me acclimatised. I do find Optimus Prime's face to be the least appealing though. None of them have noses, but I think Prime's helmet central-ridge thingamajig doesn't descend far enough to act as a pseudo-nose (hence why it stands out more).

What do you guys think about them all having eyebrows though? I suspect this was done to help them facially emote. Interestingly enough, Megatron's massive 'brows coupled with his buckethead makes him look like Beast Wars Second Galvatron. Not sure if this was done as an intentional homage or if it's just a happy accident.

and the little know-it-all kid who can translate Bumblebee's voice and fix computers.

I can suspend disbelief in Rafael being a computer whizz-kid... fine... but understanding Bumblebee's buzzes?! That's a tad forced. :/ Especially considering that Rafael is too young to have used a dial-up modem, he probably has only ever used broadband his whole life. Unless he's a serious geek who had a dial-up modem just because he liked listening to it, and he can somehow decipher Bumblebee's buzzing from that... that... umm... a wizard did it!!

At least he isn't a pretend cripple like Chip Chase.

Seriously why does every TF show need a 10 year-old tech-geek?

Erm, isn't Rafael the first tech geek kid we've seen since 1985? Unless you wanna count Una as a tech kid geek. (hey, she managed to sabotage the Predacons' Disruptor Cannon - not bad for a little nekkid ape )

1. Token human allies - why is it all kids? Isnt there like any adult for once in the mix..... jeez, dont they know they set a bad example again ( like in Cybertron) that these "children" are out gallivanting to who knows where, and what parents keep track of em with just celphone calls, that's it? Oh and you know no humans will ever get hurt - not even a single scratch. cmoooon - fighting hard metal here, human casualty, even off screen cmooooon.

I don't mind having humans in the show. One thing I like is seeing how humans react to the Transformers. Fowler's an interesting character though... reminds me of G1's Walter Barnett, only starting off with a MUCH friendlier relationship. And he's not a complete bumwipe like Galloway (as Optimus Prime pointed out, he's only acting with best interests at heart). It did strike me as strange that the kids could hang out at Autobot HQ up till 10PM without the kids thinking that their parents might worry!

2. How stupid are those cons in the first episode to go after the kids BY WALKING TO THEM TO CAPTURE THEM instead of just shoot em where they stand and be DONE with it? like laser fire can't be slower than kids legs running - cmooooonthey got short legs people, they cant run fast enough to dodge laser fire - evn if they dont use sensors to shoot at em a ten feet laser sweep is certain to hit em or at least take a couple of limbs off or jeez just transform in car mode and run over the little bastards!

They weren't walking... they were dawdling. Heh... that part did seem a bit silly to me. "I'm gonna _slowly_ amble up to you now and -- HEY -- they ran away!" d:

3. Dark energon - hmmm just like hasbro - recolor something in black and its either "dark", "Nega", "stealth" this and that, sigh.

For extra cheese, they could have Dark Energon infused Megatron upgraded as: SHADOW COMMAND MEGATRON! oooOooOoOOOooOoOooHHhhH! Anyway, it's a relatively new concept for anyone who hasn't played War For Cybertron... the idea of corrupted and "evil" Energon - well, unless you include the Personality Destabiliser Device But Dark Energon is a way cooler concept! It made a zombie! Linking it with Transformers spiritual beliefs and Unicron was a nice touch IMO.

3. No nosebots - this i can understand - THEY DONT BREATH!! so no need for it, finally they get it!! Get used to it guys.

Yet they have eyebrows. Heheh, nah I agree... but still weird to see those "Pai Mei" eyebrows (Tarantino'd!).

4. Non talking bumblebee - its a very large MINICON! and that Raf kid can understand him perfectly - wow talk about.... geeez. Which planet is that kid from? coz he's certainly not HUMAN! - I dont think even Stephen Hawking can understand - "dot di dot. poot, dot ting ting " yet somehow this Raf kid can, really now?

Lol! That Mini-Con analogy is great! I almost forgot that the Mini-Cons didn't talk in the Armada cartoon (I always preferred the comics where they did talk).

5. Autobots can't even save one of their own (Cliff) and yet these kids( and every other token human ally) never gets killed cmoooooonn -

Cos the kids were told to remain at base - which is the SENSIBLE thing to do! Unlike say, Daniel Witwicky, whose negligent parents let him gallivant all across the galaxy without adult supervision (Wheelie definitely does not equate to anything remotely akin to adult supervision ). Especially that episode of The Headmasters where there was some dangerous asteroid that the Autobots couldn't touch, so a human had to go in - Spike was injured so the choices where either another adult (Carly) or a child (Daniel). So naturally they elected for Daniel to carry out the mission.

I can't wait for the toy line. Very interested how they will translate the look into real live toys. I was really amazed how they did it in Animated so it's a wait and see for this if its going to be pass or fail

I'm still not a great believer in creating Transformers as cartoon models first then engineering the toys based on those models. It really limits what toy designers can do because they're wrestling between making at toy look like its animation model alongside other real life toy factors (e.g. real life laws of physics, budget limits etc.). (-_-) Then you occasionally have recurring characters that are made for the show which NEVER have toys made (e.g. Animated Omega Supreme, Constructicons etc.) I much prefer HasTak design the toys first, then let the animators make models based on those toys.

i.e.: I'm looking forward to the toys too!

That's unnecessary. Kids cut out the middle 'man' and pretend to be Transformers. They still have imaginations (unlike your average TV executives.)

(I know as a kid I wanted to be Blitzwing or Grimlock. I never wanted to be Spike or Daniel.)

True, but as a kid I always loved seeing how humans reacted to the Transformers. I often used my Lego men as stand-in humans and have them react (i.e. totally freak out) to the Transformers as they transform, fight etc.

-Overuse of dramatic cinematic music. I found this comical in Orci and Kurtzman's Star Trek remake but its just plain annoying here. I hope they tone this right down in future episodes.

I like the orchestral music. <shrug>

-The whole atmosphere seems very broody and emo. The lack of hope or optimism is kind of stifling.

Naw, compared to Beast Machines this series is really bright and uplifting! While this series is kinda dark in some places, I don't find it particularly brooding or emo... Beast Machines was very brooding and emo, but I don't really feel that with Prime. At least the Autobots fight back instead of hiding and running away from drones for an entire season!!! Although those drilling vehicles he Decepticon drones used was very reminiscent of the Vehicon drill-drones in Beast Machines.

-Welker's interpretation of the modern cold-and-calculating Megatron. It's almost painful hearing this voice subdued when you're used to the maniacal screams and laughter

I actually prefer it over G1. JMO

[Sky Shadow]

Let me rephrase: Prime Bulkhead has made a much better first impression on me than Animated Bulkhead.


The faces don't bug me that much. Maybe cos the comic book got me acclimatised. I do find Optimus Prime's face to be the least appealing though. None of them have noses, but I think Prime's helmet central-ridge thingamajig doesn't descend far enough to act as a pseudo-nose (hence why it stands out more).

What do you guys think about them all having eyebrows though? I suspect this was done to help them facially emote. Interestingly enough, Megatron's massive 'brows coupled with his buckethead makes him look like Beast Wars Second Galvatron. Not sure if this was done as an intentional homage or if it's just a happy accident.


I can suspend disbelief in Rafael being a computer whizz-kid... fine... but understanding Bumblebee's buzzes?! That's a tad forced. :/ Especially considering that Rafael is too young to have used a dial-up modem, he probably has only ever used broadband his whole life. Unless he's a serious geek who had a dial-up modem just because he liked listening to it, and he can somehow decipher Bumblebee's buzzing from that... that... umm... a wizard did it!!

At least he isn't a pretend cripple like Chip Chase.


Erm, isn't Rafael the first tech geek kid we've seen since 1985? Unless you wanna count Una as a tech kid geek. (hey, she managed to sabotage the Predacons' Disruptor Cannon - not bad for a little nekkid ape )


I don't mind having humans in the show. One thing I like is seeing how humans react to the Transformers. Fowler's an interesting character though... reminds me of G1's Walter Barnett, only starting off with a MUCH friendlier relationship. And he's not a complete bumwipe like Galloway (as Optimus Prime pointed out, he's only acting with best interests at heart). It did strike me as strange that the kids could hang out at Autobot HQ up till 10PM without the kids thinking that their parents might worry!


They weren't walking... they were dawdling. Heh... that part did seem a bit silly to me. "I'm gonna _slowly_ amble up to you now and -- HEY -- they ran away!" d:


For extra cheese, they could have Dark Energon infused Megatron upgraded as: SHADOW COMMAND MEGATRON! oooOooOoOOOooOoOooHHhhH! Anyway, it's a relatively new concept for anyone who hasn't played War For Cybertron... the idea of corrupted and "evil" Energon - well, unless you include the Personality Destabiliser Device But Dark Energon is a way cooler concept! It made a zombie! Linking it with Transformers spiritual beliefs and Unicron was a nice touch IMO.


Yet they have eyebrows. Heheh, nah I agree... but still weird to see those "Pai Mei" eyebrows (Tarantino'd!).


Lol! That Mini-Con analogy is great! I almost forgot that the Mini-Cons didn't talk in the Armada cartoon (I always preferred the comics where they did talk).


Cos the kids were told to remain at base - which is the SENSIBLE thing to do! Unlike say, Daniel Witwicky, whose negligent parents let him gallivant all across the galaxy without adult supervision (Wheelie definitely does not equate to anything remotely akin to adult supervision ). Especially that episode of The Headmasters where there was some dangerous asteroid that the Autobots couldn't touch, so a human had to go in - Spike was injured so the choices where either another adult (Carly) or a child (Daniel). So naturally they elected for Daniel to carry out the mission.





I'm still not a great believer in creating Transformers as cartoon models first then engineering the toys based on those models. It really limits what toy designers can do because they're wrestling between making at toy look like its animation model alongside other real life toy factors (e.g. real life laws of physics, budget limits etc.). (-_-) Then you occasionally have recurring characters that are made for the show which NEVER have toys made (e.g. Animated Omega Supreme, Constructicons etc.) I much prefer HasTak design the toys first, then let the animators make models based on those toys.

i.e.: I'm looking forward to the toys too!



True, but as a kid I always loved seeing how humans reacted to the Transformers. I often used my Lego men as stand-in humans and have them react (i.e. totally freak out) to the Transformers as they transform, fight etc.


I like the orchestral music. <shrug>


Naw, compared to Beast Machines this series is really bright and uplifting! While this series is kinda dark in some places, I don't find it particularly brooding or emo... Beast Machines was very brooding and emo, but I don't really feel that with Prime. At least the Autobots fight back instead of hiding and running away from drones for an entire season!!! Although those drilling vehicles he Decepticon drones used was very reminiscent of the Vehicon drill-drones in Beast Machines.


I actually prefer it over G1. JMO

So... how's spending less "time TALKING about Transformers" going for you, Goki?

[Sharky]

was it just me or did it seem like every time prime spoke it was a "big speech" this might be the last time i have anything to say speach or they may take our homes but they will never take our freedom speech......

[5FDP]

So... how's spending less "time TALKING about Transformers" going for you, Goki?

I was just going to ask the same thing

was it just me or did it seem like every time prime spoke it was a "big speech" this might be the last time i have anything to say speach or they may take our homes but they will never take our freedom speech......

You're not alone in this observation. I also found the music to be quite obtrusive. There would be this big heroic score playing when nothing much was really going on.

[i_amtrunks]

so..... that was different.

The ani9amtion was very good, fluid and the lip synch was better than I had hoped. The angular lines and general darkness of the overall style is very reminiscent of Beast Machines, and the backgrounds and towns while unpopulated (I can understand it from not only a design perspective, but also from a technical perspective) are more detailed than the teaser trailers indicated.

The character models are very unique, and I'll be very interested to see if the toys reflect their show counterparts as well as the Animated series. The designs are nice movie/animated amalgamations, although probably still a bit too movie for my personal tastes.
Starscream is a little "igor" for my likes, and the voice will take some getting used too. Welker's Megatron voice was superb, but Cullen's Prime was a little... too much. Everything he said seemed grave and important. Ratchet again looks to be the standout favourite character for me.

As for the content of the episodes themselves... the fight scenes were great, and I am as surprised as Griffin at the treatment Cliffjumper got, I don't think it was overly graphic or brutal, just surprising that we got a death (unless he survived the blast as well) so early from what looked to be a character that would have been pretty good to have around. I guess it showed the decepticon clones are tough in packs and in one on one situations they can be dangerous.

Certainly not a bad start for a new show, but I can see where it could be confusing for people to get Prime and the movie universe mixed up!

[liegeprime]

was it just me or did it seem like every time prime spoke it was a "big speech" this might be the last time i have anything to say speach or they may take our homes but they will never take our freedom speech......

heheheh Well First there's MINICON BUmBlebee, now there's.... Eulogy Prime!!!

[kup]

I watched Transformers: Prime on the weekend, as many of you know, I went in somewhat reserved given the recent streak of disappointments from the TF fictional world but I still held enough of an open mind to allow the show to 'convince' me that it's worth following.

Overall, I am impressed by the result. It is certainly much better than the Animated pilot and adds a new story continuity to the franchise rather than expanding on an existing one. There are a few annoyances here are there with one major one that is very frustrating but overall the show hit the right notes.

I am very happy to see that the story is attempting to provide a serious plot and that the humor is generally subtle but appropriate without breaking the flow of the story. The action was also well done and made sense for the most part although there was a bit too much 'theatrics' involved when it comes to poses and pre-battle stances but I can see passed that as it is afterall, a kids cartoon and unlike Bayformers, you can actually see what is happening with the action contributing to the story rather than the other way around.

Some have said that the way the plot moves is reminiscent of Beast Wars and I do agree with this view, at least as far as the first two episodes are concerned. The story has a clear direction and focuses on the Transformer characters, all with unique personalities and drives - Living TF characters which is a core factor of the franchise that the movies were often distracted from.

As mentioned earlier, the humor is subtle and in line with the plot which is a welcome change from recent times but despite the Beast Wars similarities in it's overall story handling, the humor in TF:Prime is so far much more low key. I would go as far as to say that the show is perhaps more similar to Beast Machines than Beast Wars in it's overall mood and characters as it is a much more serious and darker story. However unlike BM, this is clearly in line with the 'familiar' Transformer style story than the left field direction that BM took but despite that, what was positive about BM is certainly present in TF:Prime.

As mentioned before, the action was somewhat exaggerated in a cartoony form (understandable) but was overall well executed and did not break the story flow. Something that did catch my attention was the considerable violence that was present in the fight scenes. Some bits went as far as being 'gory' in a robotic way and I was also pleasantly surprised that the show displayed consequences to the violence as there was real death, something which is normally absent from cartoons. It was also good to see the violence wasn't done with the sole intention to shock or awe audiences but to complement the story to a level of 'realism' that immerses the viewer. In a way this show is more in line with 90s cartoon than contemporary ones which is very good.

The characters in this show are also well executed, as mentioned, all the TF characters have distinct personalities and views of their current situation (similar to BW/M) but unlike Bayformers, everyone here has a purpose...well...except for one but we'll get to that later. Optimus Prime has gone back to being the wise and experienced leader who is focused on his mission to defend the Earth from the Decepticons but unlike the unfortunate late interpretations of him (IDW/Bayformers) he commands his troops with confidence, dignity and direction.

Ratchet - He seems to be the familiar character we have always known but leaning more towards the Animated 'grumpy' personality but not as much. He reminds me a little more of the Marvel Comic Ratchet but older.

Bulkhead - We didn't get to see much of his character but enough to show us that he is certainly different from the Animated version. He seems more gruntish than 'gentle giant' and seems to be much more of a veteran warrior. I would say that he has a somewhat similar personality to Ironhide but we have not seen enough to say that for sure.

Arcee - Now this character was well done but I do have some reservations on how this came about. Arcee seems to have a female version of Bumblebee's G1 personality in the sense of how she befriends the human characters, her brash and somewhat impulsive personality due to inexperience as well as a bit of a 'try hard' nature. I am inclined to think that perhaps this role was intended for Bumblebee but some changes were later made and it was assigned to Arcee instead.

Bumblebee - He is by far the worse character in the whole show and utterly pointless. He is actually more useless than the movie version which is saying a lot. All he does is stand around and beep like R2D2 with the nerdy human kid apparently being the only one who can understand him. He is shown as a capable fighter but apart from that, he contributes nothing aside from a 'familiar' throwback to the movies but executed much worse, at least Movie Bumblebee had a point (as far as TF1 is concerned that is). Every time Bumblebee appeared and 'beeped', my enjoyment of the show halted and turned into annoyance, thankfully once his pointless bits were over, I was able to get back into the show.

The human kids - This was actually done rather good, the human kids are not shown to be messiahs like it was done in Bayformers or ridiculously 'suave' TF killers like it was done in IDW Ongoing. They are actually portrayed as normal human kids who happened to be thrown in the middle of the Decepticon/Autobot guerrilla war by random circumstance. The kids like all previous TF cartoons are there to show a human perspective and for once, they are actually serving that purpose. The kids do not take over the show as it was with the Unicron Trilogy or Bayformers and used in a balanced form as they are not there barking orders to the Transformers not dictating how things should be done. They are there because they are under the protection of the Autobots not to take the lead. Therefore the main human characters do not overwhelm the show and their prominence balances out nicely and not made useless. Their role is to offer a window for the autobots to understand humanity and this seems to have been properly set up. The only human who seems a bit pointless and somewhat annoying, is the hyperactive Japanese girl, she is actually more in line with the annoying and pointless human characters from the past but thankfully she was not a big part of these episodes.

When it comes to the Decepticons, only two Decepticons are seen portraying some character, the rest were 'template' grunts. Starscream despite his odd vampiric looks is somewhat identifiable as Starscream in character although he is portrayed as a more reserved servant to Megatron but it is too early in the series to Judge. Megatron has a typical Megatron personality but much less refined than the Animated one.

In regards to the animation, although some scenes were much smoother and better handled than others, the animation as a whole looks very dated, specially when you compare it to modern CGI cartoon series like Clone Wars. The cost saving desert sceneries and limited color palette as well as 'deserted' towns also highlight the budget nature of the animation. However having said that, the production seems to be doing the best they can with what they got so there is nothing 'half assed' about it and scenes are very well executed with a natural flow to the animation. Some people may have issues with the movie inspired designs with a somewhat 'animated' style thrown in but if the story is good, it's easy for me to see passed those things. The Prime 'kid' face looks better when animated but if you pause the scene, it looks bad so hopefully they will refine that a little in the future.

Overall it was a well constructed episode with a good story despite nothing too epic happening plot wise but that's understandable since this is just the first episode. This is a fine start to a promising series and I am looking forward to more. I hope that the episodes continue to improve but most of all I hope they get rid of JarJar-bee or at least get him to talk normally as his R2 beeps were really teething for me.

[GoktimusPrime]

I wouldn't go so far as to say that Bumblebee is utterly worthless -- unlike G1's Wheelie and Daniel (and Star Wars' Jar Jar Binks), Bumblebee is contributing to the plot, even if it's in a relatively minor way. For example, he did save Arcee and helped to save the human kids. Characters like Wheelie, Daniel and Jar Jar just get in everyone's way and don't really do anything useful.

And I do like the reduced role of Bumblebee - cos since the movie and Animated franchises, I'm kinda sick of seeing Bumblebee always being portrayed as the hero. So I would welcome seeing other Autobots being put in the main hero spotlight (like say Arcee). I also welcome seeing a non-pink/pastel female Autobot. It's not just more appealing to boys, but also more positive for girls as it doesn't hammer in the stereotype that girls should be 'pink' and therefore suggestively demure, reserved, non-assertive etc. The worst would have to be G1 Arcee during The Headmasters series who was relegated to being not much more than a "bridge bunny" (or "OL" for those who understand Japanese office culture (-_-)). This was something I also enjoyed with Beast Wars and Beast Machines -- giving us strong and fiercely independent female characters. Although I was just a tad disappointed to hear Tigerhawk exclusively speaking with Tigatron's voice... I was hoping Tigerhawk would speak in a dual Airazor-Tigatron voice (like how Gogeta speaks with both Gokuu's and Vegeta's voices in Dragonball).

The one thing I'm enjoying with Prime is that they are TRYING to make the show appeal to both kids and adults, which isn't easy. One of my main gripes with Animated was how it was too focused at kids. Yeah sure, it was loaded with references to previous TF series (e.g. G1), but that alone doesn't really give it adult appeal (more like Easter Eggs for fans, which I do appreciate - but it's not the same as attempting to make the story appeal to me as an adult). And unlike Beast Machines it's not so dark, brooding and highly philosophical with dull repetitive action (oh look, they're running and hiding from Vehicons this episode... AGAIN!)

[GoktimusPrime]

So... how's spending less "time TALKING about Transformers" going for you, Goki?

My average posts per day is dropping (I think I was on about 18/day last week, now I'm down to about 14). I actually spent most of my computer time on the weekend playing WFC Multiplayer for the first time (as gekisou can atest ).

Back on topic...

and the backgrounds and towns while unpopulated (I can understand it from not only a design perspective, but also from a technical perspective) are more detailed than the teaser trailers indicated.

I have a friend whose family originally immigrated to Sydney from Nebraska and the town pretty much looks like how they've described Nebraska to me - one big, flat boring state.

The character models are very unique, and I'll be very interested to see if the toys reflect their show counterparts as well as the Animated series. The designs are nice movie/animated amalgamations, although probably still a bit too movie for my personal tastes.

I'm assuming that Hasbro's definitely going ahead with a toyline for Prime then. swoop mentioned on another thread that there wasn't going to be a toyline, which sounds ridiculous to me. Why bother investing in making a TF cartoon if there isn't going to be a toyline for it? (cos Transformers is first and foremost a toy franchise and Hasbro's core business is selling toys)

I'm not saying it would be impossible... but it would be mighty silly and I'd be quite miffed if there no toys for TF Prime. The cinematography is also quite movielike too (e.g. lots of steep high and low angle shots to give a sense of scale and portraying the Transformers as Giant Effing Robots(TM)) - the cinematography for when Optimus explains the Autobots to the humans is almost identical to the equivalent scene in the first Transformers movie.