kup: You really ought to read the RotF prequels (e.g.: Defiance, Alliance) as it would answer a lot of your questions/comments about certain things in the movie.
Movie Optimus Prime = DAI ATLAS!Originally Posted by kup
Seriously! Both movie Prime and Dai Atlas harbour incredible compassion for innocents but are extremely merciless toward Decepticons. The way movie Prime hacks his opponents apart is the same as Dai Atlas' style of fighting - who could forget the way he cleaved Predaking in half? (Sideswipe did the same thing to Sideways in this movie)
But I like it. Unlike many other fans I never really disliked Dai Atlas because realistically speaking, in war you have to be ruthless against your enemies. As both Bob Budiansky and Simon Furman wrote in G1 Optimus Prime's TFU profiles, Optimus Prime's greatest weakness is his compassion - he would actually be a more efficient military commander if he were more cruel. But then he wouldn't be Optimus Prime; and I think it's that line which makes a lot of people dislike Dai Atlas, so I can absolutely understand why some people may be turned off by movie Optimus Prime being like this too.
But remember: different universe, different character.In a realistic situation I think it makes more sense.
The university scenes were also my least favourite, but I don't necessarily dislike Alice as a character and I don't think she's bad by Pretender standards. In fact, she's pretty good - she's succeeded in one area which has _never_ been achieved by any other Decepticon Pretender before... she passed off as human and infiltrated human society!!
Granted that in G1 most of the Decepticon Pretenders looked like monsters, we did have a few that looked human, like Starscream and Stranglehold. But unfortunately Pretenders in Anglophone G1 continuity are all giants, so they're unable to pass off as humans unless they're in a planet inhabited by giants like Femax or Pz-Zazz. They certainly would never pass off as humans on Earth. In Japanese G1 continuity Pretenders were able to shrink down and pass off as humans - but we only ever saw this being done with the Autobots and never with the Decepticons. So I like Alice because she's the first Decepticon Pretender who can actually pass off as being human on Earth, and thus successfully infiltrate human society. In terms of the scene's purpose for the story, it was a device for incorporating Leo into Sam's party.
I would assume so.
I disagree. Megatron's tank mode is entirely alien. Had he been revived with Brawl's parts then his tank mode should bear some resemblance to Brawl's Earthen tank form, but it doesn't, not a single part of it. It's completely Cybertronian in design. The movie shows them sacrificing a Constructicon so they could salvage parts to repair Megatron, the Doctor specifically states this. He also tells the Constructicons to kill the smallest of their party -- so it was a lot like the law of the jungle where the larger and stronger Constructicons cannabilised the weakest of their group.
The "first 13" origin was actually retconned by IDW and was never introduced by Marvel in the 1980s. Some members of Marvel continuity comprise the 13, such as Prima. The Dynasty of the Primes is also something entirely new that's been introduced by Revenge of the Fallen. Movie continuity portrays the Primes as an elite ruling class with power above that of normal Transformers, much like the Rangers of Middle Earth; this was never the case in G1. In comic continuity Optimus Prime was a regular soldier who rose through the ranks and was eventually appointed supreme commander of all Autobot forces with the dissolution of the Autobot Council of Elders by Councillor Traachon (at Councillor Xaaron's behest). In cartoon continuity Optimus Prime was a former dock worker called Orion Pax.
It was explained. Jetfire said, "In all my Decepticon life I've never done anything worthwhile." -- Jetfire wanted to leave a legacy.
I agree.I was also disappointed that many other Transformers never transformed, like Ravage and that robot that he regurgitated into the AllSpark shard chamber - I'm sorry but a bunch of balls is a really LAME alt mode. :/ It's sad that we saw Alice transform, but not Soundwave and Ravage. Boo.
Then again Soundwave was put into the story because fans voted for him, so I guess his role was always just going to be a fairly peripheral one. And I'm sure that Frank Welker is stoked that Soundwave was finally allowed to sound like the way that he'd always wanted him to sound! Welker was never happy that Sunbow digitally altered his voice in the G1 cartoon - he actually wanted it to sound like Dr. Claw. Now he's got his wish.
That's not true. The toys are based on the movie. Usually you would be right - the vast majority of Transformers are conceived as toys first and then as comic book/cartoon characters afterward, but this is not the case with the movie. Also, the movie is rated M.
But I agree with what someone else pointed out when Bay tried to justify the twins' odd personas by saying that he made them "for kids" yet the movie is loaded with in-your-face adult references! Beast Wars is full of adult references too, but they're really subtle and fly over kids' heads. I don't think subtlety is a word that exists in Bay's vocabulary. ;D
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