I wanted to write down my thoughts on these film ever since I saw the trailer for transformers 5: The Last Knight, I just didn't know what to write.
I think we should start with some history, regarding these movies.
It all started back in 2007, when me and my parents went shopping at a mall in Arad, and I bought a transformers Animated comic book, that came packaged with stickers that showed clips from the first movie, as a way to tie-in the comic with the movie.
When I watched the first movie, I watched it with my father who was sitting right selanjutnya to me, while we were watching it on my mother's computer. I was keeping the comic book that I bought, on my lap, and I remember when Bumblebee showed up in his car mode, I pointed out to my father that the car was the same robot as the one on the cover of the comic.
I remember being obsessed with the first movie for a while, because it was so amazing to see my childhood heroes being awesome, in live-action.
When I first saw the trailer for Revenge of the Fallen, I was very excited to see that I movie I liked so much was getting a sequel.
One time in my 4th grade, Revenge of the Fallen was on TV, and I just couldn't resist not watching it. Sure, it was rather late when it ended, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless.
When I saw the trailer for Dark of the Moon, I was just as excited as before, and even went to my mother and told her about it.
However, my enjoyment for the film all changed when my 6th grade started, and became lebih knowledgeable about the internet and media as a whole. When I saw people's opinion on the Transformer movies, I was surprised!
anda see, back then, I didn't really have a taste in anything, and just watched whatever I found enjoyable. But when I became lebih obsessed with the internet, I realized just how much of a fool I was.
My opinion on the transformers film changed drastically, and started being indifferent about them, believing that they're just mediocre at best, and much later I realized how awful they really are.
With all of that out of the way, let's begin.
1.Transformers.
I admit, I actually really like this movie. Out of all of the transformers movie, this is the only one I consider good, atau at least, watchable.
Let's start with the good things about them:
The action is very impressive and so are the effects; the voice akting for the transformers is good; the jokes were funny (For the most part); the musik was epic and beautiful; I liked the personality of the soldiers; and I really like the theme of "Without sacrifice, there's no victory".
While I like this movie and I do rewatch it from time to time, I honestly would've loved it much lebih if they put the emphasis on the Transformers, or, better yet, have the soldiers be the main characters.
The soldiers in this movie are quite possibly the most interesting human charcaters in these movies, because they have actual personalities and quirks to them thatt actually made me get investedin them and what was happenning to them.
anda know what would've been awesome? Let the soldiers team up with the Autobots. Think about it: Two teams of soldiers that were separated from their homes and fight for them, team u against the invading forces of the Decepticons. That alone could've made the movie ten times lebih awesome!
Sadly, that's not what hapened.
What we got is acceptable, but I would've preffered it much lebih if it had been about the Soldiers teaming up with the Autobots.
I know a lot of people are quite angry at the fact that the movie focused lebih on the humans, rather than the transformers - but, I there's a simple explanation for that.
anda see, this is the first time the transformers have ever been shown on the big-screen, in live-action. Back then, it was something new, something that we've never really seen before. So, in order to make the Transformers' first live-action appearance as impressive as possible, they had to put in the budget to do so. And, while it did have a decent budget, it wasn't enough to tampil lebih of the Transformers, so they had no choice but to mostly focus on the humans.
Another thing have to point out about this movie is the soundtrack. If there's anything that everyone can agree on the Transformer movies, is the epicnness of the soundtrack.
The theme that stands out the most in these film is without a doubt "Arrival to Earth".
"Arrival to Earth" is beyond beautiful, every time I hear it, it wraps itself around my soul. Giving me hope and power. It's majestic and holy in its musical essence. Hearing it gives me strenght, and makes me feel special. Hinting at my hidden power, making me feel, that I'm lebih than meets the eye.
However, that doesn't mean everything about it is perfect.
The one things that I, and everyone else hate in these movies, is Sam Witwicky. Sam Witwicky is an embarassment of a human being, and yes, that's coming from me, the guy who's obsessed with Frozen and Pokemon, and writes artikel about them.
With the exception of the soldiers, the Michael teluk, da? film are filled with absolutely garbage human characters, and Sam really takes the cake. He's just....awful! How did he meet the Autobots? Oh! He owned some glasses that he put on eBay!
Okay, I may like this movie, but I can't deny how ridiculous it can be.
Throughout these movies, all he does is yell, trip over things, and scream some more.
How does Bumblebee even put up with him?
I'm not kidding when most of his lines is shouting the word "NO!" over and over.
Thankfully, he's been replaced, but for the worse. (I'll explain this when we get to Age of Extinction.)
With that said, I still think this is a decent movie, and a guilty pleasure of mine. It's probably the best out of the movies, and anda have to take the victories where anda can get them.
2.Revenge of the Fallen.
Revenge of the Fallen is considered oleh many to be the worst movie in the series, and I don't blame them.
Personally, I think Age of Extinction is worse, but I'll explain why when I get to it.
As I berkata when I explained my history regarding this franchise, when I first watched the trailer for Revenge of the Fallen, I was very excited. I even told my father about it.
One thing to note though: because the trailer was in Hungarian, the judul of the movie indicated that the movie is going to be about the fallen Decepticons coming back and getting their revenge. It didn't say anything about the character of "The Fallen".
With that out of the way, I'm going to talk about the few good things I like about this movie.
-The forest fight.
This is quite possibly the best fight scene in the entire movie series.
Optimus is on his last legs, trying to defend Sam, while fighting 3 Decepticons at once.
It's intense, the lines and the deliveries are bad-ass, the musik turns from ominous and threatening to heroic and epic, the "choreography" is pretty great, and I actually think Optimus' death was pretty well handled. Although, I didn't like how Megatron berkata "You're so weak.", after Optimus just kicked his, Strarscream's and Grindor's ass.
But still, this is probably the best fight scene in the movie, and I did enjoy it.
-The Linkin Park song "New Divide".
I know some of anda might have been confused that I didn't talk about "What I've Done" oleh Linkin Park' since that song belonged to the first movie - but I was just saving it for Revenge of the Fallen.
This also requires some history:
Back in my fourth grade, I used to watch an AMV video that had this song. I really enjoyed the AMV, especially because of the song.
When I looked at the keterangan and saw what the name of the song was, I instantly typed it in, listened to it a couple of lebih times, and it became one of my favorit songs of all time.
However, while listening to it, I sounded very similar to the song from Revenge of the Fallen's trailer, as well as the song that played at the end credits of the first movie. Little did I know that both songs were made oleh the same band.
If I can thank that transformers film one thing, is that it introduced me to Linkin Park in the first place.
-Steve Jablonsky's musical score.
If there's one thing that everyone can agree on with these film (Outside of they're piss-poor quality.) is that Steve Jabonsky score is amazing.
I've talked about "Arrial to Earth" before, but let's talk about something else, instead.
While the score in this movie is pretty amazing - the two that stand out to me the most are "The Forest Battle" and "The Fallen".
"The Forest Battle", as the judul implies, is the song that plays during the forest fight between Optimus and the three Deceticons.
This song really ads to the epicness of that scene, and it fits the mood and situation perfectly. The song goes from ominous and threatening, (Representing the danger that Optimus is facing, while also trying to stay alive.) to heroic and epic (Representing that Optimus is on his last legs, but fights to the very end with everything he's got, almost managing to defeat them.) I also really like how the detik part of the song resembles "Arrival to Earth" giving it a sense of greatness.
"The Fallen" is the theme song of the main villain of the movie.
It's dark and sinister, with an alien feeling. It gives the sensation that something evil is coming at you, atau out of you. I get chills every time I listen to it. It's very creepy, but also very awesome.
However, even with these things I listed off, this movie is nearly unsalvageable!
Let's start with the most obvious problems with the movie: Skids and Mudflap. These two are supposed to be comic reliefs for the movie...I think? I don't really know, to be honest. What I do know is that two are immensely annoying, and many seem to claim, are racist. The two spew out racial stereotypes throughout the film, and instead of being humorous, like it's being intended, it just comes off as embarrassing. Plus, they can't even read!
Thank God, Revenge of the Fallen was their only appearance.
Not only that, but the humor is gringe-worthy at best,the stuff with Sam and the others is even lebih insufferable than in the first movie, and the plot makes no freaking sense! It's a nightmare.
Another big problem with the movie is that they killed off Optimus Prime! For many of us, Optimus Prime IS Transformers. Without him, it just wouldn't be the same. Even the 2015 Robots in Disguise series struggled with this, so they brought back Optimus as soon as possible.
Many people consider this to be the worst in the series, and I see where they're coming from. Though, I still think Age of Extinction is worse, for reasons that I'll explain when I get to it - but Revenge of the Fallen is a very close second.
3.Dark of the Moon.
I admit, Dark of the Moon is better than Revenge of the Fallen, but not oleh much.
I remember first seeing the trailer for this movie and telling my mother about it. I remember that I really wanted to watch this movie, but I could only watch small scenes from it, in very low quality.
As usual, I'll talk about the good things first:
-Leonard Nimoy as Sentinel Prime;
I really do have to wonder as to why an intellectual man like Leonard Nimoy would take part in the production of this movie. I think the only reason why is because his widowed wife is Michael Bay's cousin. But, I do have to say, he fits the role. He gave a convincing performance that made Sentinel lebih believable.
A scene that I actually really like is the scene where the Primes go to Africa. There, Sentinel admires the beauty and magnificence of our world, being nothing like the last days of Cybertron. Optimus wants to give back the Matrix of Leadership to Sentinel, as he believes that Sentinel is far lebih worthy to be the leader of the Autobots, than he is. However, Sentinel refuses, saying that Optimus is his new teacher, as he's in a world he doesn't know, but Optimus does.
This scene only makes me think that Sentinel let Optimus keep the Matrix simply because he felt bad that he was going to betray him. Either that atau the Matrix decides who's worthy like in the Prime cartoon.
Plus, the musik and cinematography are very well done.
I would call this my favorit scene in the movie, if it wasn't for another scene I'll be talking about.
I still think that Sentinel Prime is a bland and uninteresting villain, but his desain and Nemoy's performance, do at least make him tolerable.
-The Linkin Park song "Iridescent";
Once again, it's Linkin Park to the rescue!
I remember that a friend of mine made a comment, where in he listed off songs that he considers to be saddest, and this was among them.
One thing I really cinta about this song is that it basically has the exact same meaning of "Let It Go". There's a Frozen AMV with this song, and having it "recontextualized" with the movie, it's perfectly fitting. If anything, I think this should've been the end credits song for Frozen.
But it really is weird seeing a song that has the same meaning as "Let It Go" be the main theme to an alien invasion movie.
-The higher stakes;
To be honest, I thought this was going to be last Bayformers movie, since it had the highest stakes so far. It had an alien invasion, it had betrayal, it had Megatron teaming up with the good guys (Though very briefly.) and Sam finally got a happy ending.
Another scene that I actually like is the scene where the Autobots leave Earth.
The part that makes this scene for me are the dialogue of the Transformers, and the music.
Optimus, as usual, has some very wise words that really pull my jantung strings every time, and the musik "There's is no plan" is yet another brilliant piece of musik oleh Steve Jablonsky. I honestly cinta it how it's basically a slower and lebih somber version of "Arrival to Earth" because it creates a very interesting contrast between the two.
"Arrival to Earth" was played when the Autobots arrived to Earth, and "There is no plan" plays when the Autobots are leaving Earth. It's even composed in a way to give off the feeling of a team of soldiers leaving the battlefield after losing the war. It's good stuff.
I honestly would've liked it much lebih if this had been the ending to Bayformers, doing something similar like what the Prime cartoon did, when the Decepticons were defeated and the Autobots are returning home.
But again, these aren't enough to save it - it's still a mess of a movie through and through. These things do make it lebih tolerable than Revenge of the Fallen, but the story still doesn't make any sense, the characters are still as insufferable as ever, the action is boring and stale with all of the unnecessary explosions, and the little bits of awesome we do get are overshadowed oleh Michael Bay's tropes and every action movie cliche, ever.
4.Age of Extinction.
In my opinion, Age of Extinction is THE WORST transformers MOVIE, EVER!!!
Not only do I consider it to be the worst, but it's also one of the worst film I've ever seen!
A good reason as to why I think it's the worst is because it's wasted potential. It has a unique concept for a transformers movie, they replaced the characters, and they FINALLY introduced the Dinobots!
When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I was honestly excited! I thought that this was going to be the best one. Little did I know how wrong I really was.
One of the reasons why I consider it the worst is because it has the best concept, but it did nothing with it.
After the events of the first three movies, the transformers have become hated and feared oleh the public. They're being hunted down oleh the government and their race is on the brink of extinction. In the meantime, the government is creating man-made Transformers, who are obedient to them. In order to create lebih of them, they make a deal with Lockdown, a Cybertronian bounty-hunter, to help them hunt down the remaining transformers on the planet, and in return he will offer a device that will allow them to create lebih Transformers.
This is honestly the most unique concept I've heard for a story that focuses around the Transformers. They even built it up throughout the course of three movies. But, instead, it feels like wasted potential.
They got rid of Sam, and instead we get Mark Whalberg, who's actually a pretty damn good actor, but the character he's playing is ever lebih useless than Sam! He doesn't have any special artifacts, atau knowledge, atau skill at killing Decepticons. He could've stayed in the US and kept his family safe, but nope - he has to make the trip to China for some reason
All of the human drama in this movie is dull, because there's nothing original about it.
Have anda ever heard this?
A single father, who lost his hot wife, is raising his teenage daughter, but is in depth and they're about to lose their home. The father tries everything in his power, but nothing works, while his daughter is becoming lebih distant towards him and falls in cinta with an arrogant douche.
We've seen these kind of stories before, but Age of Extinction does nothing new atau interesting with it.
There's no real character to connect to because these "characters" have been done to death so much that it doesn't register with anda anymore.
And this is a big problem, because like the sebelumnya movies, they insist on putting the focus the humans, instead of the characters the movie is named after.
They even got some good voices for the Transformers!
Peter Cullen and Frank Welker are reprising their roles as Optimus and Galvatron, but they sound wretched and bored.
These two have been doing voice work for both characters for over 30 years, and it shows; plus, with that effect that makes them sound lebih wretched just hurts my ears and soul.
There's also: John DiMaggio, Ken Watanabe, and John Goodman.
However all of them sound so bored and uninterested.
Though, I guess it's very fitting, considering that Micheal Bay, turned Optimus Prime, one of the most selfless, compassionate, and wisest fictional leaders ever, into a violent hypocrite! Not just in this movie, but the sebelumnya film too!
At least here is understandable, because he's fighting for his survival, but there's no turmoil atau even investment diberikan about it.
Another problem I have with the movie is the way the man-made transformers transform. Instead of transforming naturally, they instead turn into small blocks that become the vehicle mode. It just looks lazy in my opinion. Yes, I know these are man-made and they have to make them distinct from regular Transformers, but it honestly looks desperate and stupid, in my opinion.
Not to mention, the name the material the man-made transformers are made out of is one of the stupidest fictional material names I ever heard: Transformium. I swear, every time I hear that name, a piece of my intelligence and creativity is lost.
I won't even bother covering the story, because it's probably the worst part of the movie, part from everything else.
Something that really pisses me off about it is that they replaced Linkin Park for the end-credit song, and instead we get Imagine Dragons. Look, I like Imagine Dragons, but Linkin Park was one of the things that made the film tolerable. Without them, there's nothing left.
Well, I wouldn't say nothing...Steve Jabolnsy's score is as great as ever, especially Lockdown's theme. Don't get me wrong, Lockdown is as boring and stupid as everyone else in this movie, but his theme song is up there with The Fallen's in terms of sounding menacing and threatening.
Plus, Lockdown actually gets some great lines, my favorit one being this:
"The trouble with loyalty to the cause...is that the cause will always betray you"
That line really needs to be in a better movie.
If this movie was about the Autobots trying to survive in the world they once protected, where they're now being hunted down, then it could've easily been the best transformers movie, ever. But instead, it's the worst.
This has got to be the most desperate movie poster I've ever seen.
While there are a lot of things I like about Bayformers, it's quite possibly the worst thing ever associated with the franchise (Besides transformers Energon, of course.).
The reason why I think the film failed so much is because, as usual, Michael teluk, da? has no respect for his audience. Michael Bay's entire personality is summed up beautifully in this commercial:
link
Instead of giving us an emotional and interesting story, he instead flashes explosions, American flags and product placements in front of our faces, to tampil how 'MURICAN he is! He panders to the teenage boy demographic with macho lines and scenes, when that's not what makes a bad-ass action movie.
Now look, mindless is fine...there's nothing wrong with mindless entertainment, but it has to be something creative and new.
film like: Mad Max: Fury Road; the MCU; and 80's action film like Predator and Rambo, while mindless, still managed to get us invested because they knew have to put real effort into their product, and not trying to pander to whatever demographic they think will pay.
Micheal teluk, da? is like Eddy from Ed, Edd and Eddy; trying to scam people out of their money with a lazy product.
This hurts me a lot, because transformers is one of my favorit franchises ever.
The reason why I cinta it so much is not just because of the toys atau nostalgia, but because it's a story about war.
transformers is a story about how war can have an effect on both the soldiers and people; about how power-hungry rulers will do anything to get what they want; about sacrificing for the greater good; etc.
My favorit interpretation of the transformers lore is the transformers Prime one, where it shows the days before the war broke out and how there were no Autobots and Decepticons, and how Megatron and Optimus became mortal enemies.
The reason why the song "New Divide" is one of my favorit song of all time is because it's about two close friends atau communities, whose relationships have fallen apart, to the point where they don't even recognize each other as friends anymore.
That perfectly describes the conflict of the Transformers.
To quote one of my favorit games of all time, Valiant Heart: "War makes men mad."
And that's what transformers is to me: a story about how war is an unstoppable force that can ruin lives and relationships, even to the point of madness and cruelty.
I know some of anda might disagree, but that's how I see it. That's why I hold this franchise in such a regard, and why the Bayformers film (From 2-4, at least.) disgust me, even if they have redeeming qualities.
I recently watched the most baru saja trailer for The Last Knight, and while I admit, it is an awesome trailer, but appearances can be deceiving.
The trailer may look awesome, but I highly doubt this movie is going to be good.
As always, Smell ya' Later!
