Transformers Prime cartoon reviews/comments (spoilers)

[GoktimusPrime]

***SPOILERS***







I quite liked this ep. I loved Starscream's line of "I, Megatron's true heir, Lord Starscream, Emperor of Destruction!" -- nice.

The new opening uses the sweeping orchestral Movie score, as opposed to a rehash of the G1 theme.

Well it's about bloody time since we saw an Anglophone Transformers cartoon whose theme song is something other than a rehash of the G1 theme! Haven't seen this since Beast Wars/Beast Machines (although I don't think Phat Planet was explicitly composed for BM). It's not the greatest theme song, but at least they're making an effort to be different.

I'm annoyed Skyquake died in his first appearance, that's my main gripe with the show, the second is trotting out the tired old "Damaged/Comatose Megatron plot" that we've seen a hundred (All right, like, five, but still) times before.

I'm sure Skyquake will be back (especially if Hasbro are gonna make a toy of him)... after all, Skyfire was presumed KIA in his first appearance in the G1 cartoon too.

I did enjoy the brief interaction between Ratchet and the human kids. That was amusing but Miko still has a ridiculous European accent, not a Japanese one, and that grates on me. .

Well we don't know where she may have learnt English. Perhaps she lived in Europe for a while. I once knew a Mongolian guy who spoke English with a Russian accent, because his father worked in a Mongolian consulate in Moscow and that's where he learnt English from. Pretty funky seeing an Asian dude speaking English with a strong Russian accent.

I'm not as entertained by Prime as I was by Animated. I'm holding out hope something will happen to make me love it. Fingers crossed.

Prime Prime (heh) is a more "conventional" Optimus Prime insofar as being the seasoned military leader who commands respect from all friends and foes alike. Animated Prime was more like Optimus Primal -- started off as a non-military leader (Animated Prime = space bridge crew leader, Primal = expeditionary crew leader) who was unwittingly thrust into being a military commander... although Animated Prime had the experience of at least having had some Academy training. So from that perspective that can make such characters more interesting -- one difficult thing about writing a conventional Optimus Prime character is finding weaknesses in the character and exploiting it. That's something that the G1 cartoon did not do very well and the G1 Marvel Comics handled a lot better -- the G1 cartoon all too often portrayed Optimus Prime as a near-flawless Saviour archetype. And a flawless character is a boring character -- the hero is only as interesting as his (or her) weaknesses. Even Superman has his Kryptonite.

Prime Prime is much like G1 cartoon Prime so far... the 'perfect' hero. They need to give him some character flaws to make him interesting.

And WHAT is up with agent Fowler constantly flying around in military aircraft with NO safety equipment on (other than a seatbelt?)?? Whether it's a helicopter or jet fighter, he just wears a business suit. No flight suit, no helmet... just the kind of clothes you'd wear to the office. Rriiiiiiggghht...

I did notice that this episode revealed Fowler's given name - William... perhaps a reference to G1's William Irving "Sparkplug" Witwicky?