Transformers Prime

 

I am not going to deny it, I have Transformers fever once again. The last time I felt this way was when Transformers Revenge of the Fallen was due to be released in 2009. I remember purchasing tickets in advance to watch it at the Birch, Caroll and Coyle at Chermside's Westfield Shoppingtown in Brisbane. Right now I am feeling the same electricity after watching the incredible Transformers Rise of the Beast! Therefore I feel that it's the right time to share my thoughts about the next best series to be released after the iconic generation one cartoon of the 80. Introducing Orci and Kurtzman's Transformers Prime.

This series works on so many levels. Marrying the best of the Bayverse designs, to the memorable movie worthy soundtrack by Brian Tyler, the vocal performance by GOAT's Peter Cullen and Frank Welker and the Gen 1 lore, there's something for everyone! Granted that the cast of characters main characters was much smaller in comparison to G1 massive crew sheets, we got more fleshed out players. We have , on Team Prime, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Smokescreen, Arcee, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus and Bulkhead. In the Decepticon corner we have the usual suspects, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Shockwave, Dreadwing, Airachnid, Skyquake as well as the generic foot soldiers and a reimagined Insecticon army. We also get a very compelling cast of human characters, Jack, Miko, Raphael, nurse Darby, Jack's mom and Agent Fowler. They all have great story arcs, with the kids having their Autobot partners. Jack bonds with Arcee, Miko with Bulkhead, and Raphael with Bee. There is even a fantastic episode that spotlights Jack's growth from irresponsible teenager to leader when Prime chooses Jack to safeguard a key, which later plays a pivotal role in restoring Prime from Orion Pax!

I really enjoyed the design aesthetics of the main characters. Even though I am all for the blocky robots of the 80's, surprisingly I didn't hate the sleeker silhouettes of the Autobots. The Decepticons were on the whole great, with two exceptions. Optimus bears a striking similarity to his Bayverse counterpart, as did Bumblebee, and I really liked their updated looks from the 2007  movie. Bulkhead was basically a much improved version of movie Hound, with more character. Arcee is closer to her G1 design, as is Ratchet, Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus and Cliffjumper. The Decepticons were a little too sleek and streamlined for my liking, with the exception of  G1'esque Megatron and Shockwave. Starscream and Soundwave were way too spindly and lacking in the bulk department. 

And then there is the brilliant story lines by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Their choice of drawing from G1 lore from comics, and the cult classic 1986 movie is the way to go. Unicron is featured in the plot and is an underlying threat throughout the entirety of the three seasons, as well as the Beast Hunters hour long movie after the series concludes. Unicron is depicted as a slumbering giant at the heart of Earth, something Bay tried to implement in his fifth and final flick. Unicron's blood serves as a plot device, with Megatron and the Decepticons using this dark energon to give themselves unnatural power. This comes to a head in the final episodes for season 1 when Optimus almost kills a delusional Megatron, who thinks it's his destiny to rule the universe. He later joins forces with Optimus when he realizes Unicron's true intentions and has to face an onslaught of Unicron manifestations. To stop Unicron from reawakening fully and destroying the Earth, Megatron leads Optimus and the others to the heart of Earth, where Unicron's essence slumbers. Optimus uses the creation matrix to once again imprison the chaos bringer. 

Season two explores the hunt for ancient Cybertronian relics hidden on Earth by Alpha Trion. We get to see Optimus as Orion Pax, and the relationship he had with Megatronus before the war. Optimus reverts back to his original form after unleashing the power of the matrix and losing the wisdom of the Primes. He plays a crucial role in decoding the coordinates of some of the relics. He is only restored to Optimus after Jack goes on a perilous mission to fill the key Optimus entrusted to him in case of a an event such as this. Some of the more important relics being pursued by both factions include a hammer called the Forge of Solus Prime, the legendary weapon, the Starsaber, and the keys to the Omega Lock. The former two can only be wielded by a Prime. Megatron actually slices off his right arm and grafts the arm of a deceased Prime so he can fashion a weapon from dark energon, the Darksabre. In the epic conclusion, Optimus destroys the Omega Lock on Cybertron to prevent the Decepticons from terraforming Earth, but not before Megatron's Darkmount is created. The final episode sees the Autobots ground bridging to random locations around Earth as Megatron brings the mountain down on Optimus.

Season three introduces us to Shockwave and his hunt for CNA and fossilized remains of a extinct species known as the Predacons. He has successfully cloned and bred a Predacon, later shown to be a sentient being known as Predaking in his lab on Cybertron. Megatron thinks that an army of Predacons could help his cause. Meanwhile on the Autobot front, we see Team Prime scattered to the wind, with Optimus himself barely alive. Smokescreen bravely stayed behind and pulled Optimus to safety. Reasoning that Optimus could rebuild himself, he sneaks aboard the Decepticon warship and steals the Forge. To his dismay Optimus passes over and says that there will be a new leader. Desperate, he places the Forge in Optimus's hand.

Megatron sends threats to world leaders , now that he has the Darkmount, and a super weapon, the fusion cannon. The newly reassembled team, now under Ultra Magnus, who managed to track down the remaining Autobots launches a desperate assault on the Darkmount. Magnus successfully manages to get rid of the Predacon threat by tricking the Beast and groundbridging him to the north pole. He confronts Megatron but is eventually overpowered and captured by the Decepticons. Just as Magnus is about to get executed, in flies a newly resurrected and reformatted Optimus Prime. He takes out Megatron, Starscream and destroys the fusion cannon and Darkmount, with Agent Fowler and the US Air Force help. Megatron and the Decepticons retreat to fight another day.

In the aftermath of his failures, Megatron focuses his energy on uncovering Predacon fossils and rebuilding the Omega Lock. He, however requires energon to power his Omega Lock. Discovering that Autobot Ratchet has developed an unstable formulation of synthetic energon, he sends his goons to kidnap our resident scientist. Reluctantly, Ratchet works with Shockwave and together they figure out the formula. Ratchet then manages to slip away and deactivate the ships cloaking and manages to inform  team Prime. He is also able to reason with the Predaking after Megatron sends the Beast after him. Predaking realizes that it was Megatron himself who ordered the extermination of his kind on Cybertron. Although he best Megatron in combat, Starscream's diversion gives Megatron enough time to launch Predaking into space. 

Megatron is now poised to terraform Earth into new Cybertron.. Only team Prime stand in his way. With the coordinates of Megatron's ship now known, Prime flies in himself to confront Megatron, while Magnus flies the rest of the team in and storms the Decepticon ship. Prime beats Megatron, but in a moment of hesitation gives Megatron the upper hand. Bumblebee bravely enters the fray but gets blasted repeated in the chest and falls into the activated Omega Lock. When all seems lost, Bumblebee reappears, fully restored and plunges the sabre into Megatron's chest, finally ending his reign of terror. With the Omega Lock ready, the Autobots pilot the Decepticon warship to Cybertron and restore their home. And so ends team Prime's time on Earth. We get an hour long Beast Wars movie set on Cybertron, which I will cover in a future post.

Transformers Rise of the Beast REVIEW -Spoilers-

 

What a fun and wild ride. Yes I have finally seen Transformers Rise of the Beast! It's everything I wanted in a movie and more. Coming from a G1 fan perspective, this cinematic experience ticked all the right boxes. Just like Travis Knight's Bumblebee, still the best live action Transformers movie in my book, this story inherits the best parts of the Bumblebee movie. You get the impression that just like Travis Knight before, Steven Caple Jr is a true fan of the franchise. We get G1 designs for our main Autobots, maybe not as much as some OG fans might like, but he does do a great job of marrying the best of the Bayverse designs and G1. As mentioned in my previous preamble blog to this review, he borrows a lot from the G1 cartoons, from the brilliant 1986 animated movie, and even sneaks in musical inferences from Vince De Cola's Unicron's theme, as well as the brilliant 'Arrival to Earth' theme from Steve Jablonsky. This production has a good amalgamation of old and new, and it's sure to please the 80's kids with the live adaptation of Unicron and the Autobots and Maximals, as well as newer fans who grew up with the Bayverse. Steven does away with excessive anal and sexiest humor and imagery and instead focuses on the two human leads, played by Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, leading to more fleshed out characters, as well as allowing much more time for our Transformers to shine. I really enjoyed the pacing of the scenes and didn't once feel like there were redundant exposition to drag out the runtime. Sure there is a MacGuffin that everyone is chasing after, but that is pretty much present in the OG  cartoons. To say that the movie played out like a big budget Saturday morning cartoon would be an understatement.

This movie picks up where Bumblebee left off, with only a handful of Autobots forming team Prime, Bumblebee, Arcee, Mirage, Wheeljack and Stratosphere. The Autobots have been stranded on Earth for seven years with no way to get back to Cybertron. Enter the MacGuffin, the Trans Warp key. The keepers of this piece of technology are the Maximals. The opening sequence, much like Bumblebee's fall of Cybertron scene sets up the story. We see Unicron enter the frame, sending his herald Scourge to the surface of the Maximals planet, with some Scorponok's to strike a bargain with the leader of the Maximals, Apelinq for the Trans Warp key. We are introduced to the main Maximals, Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rhinox and Airazor. Apelinq stays behind to confront Scourge and buys time for his brethren,but is killed by his nemesis. The Maximals escape to Earth while their home planet is consumed by Unicron.

Cut to present day Earth and we are introduced to Noah Diaz, a ex military electronics expert and his counterpart Elena Wallace a intern archeologists working in the museum. Noah is struggling to make ends meet to look after his sick little brother Chris, who has sickle cell anemia. Out of options, he takes up a grand theft auto job with his buddy Reek. This is where fate intervenes. He steals a car that turns out to be an alien robot, Mirage. As this is happening, Elena's innate curiosity entangles her as she unexpectedly uncovers part of the Trans Warp key that sends a signal into the sky, alerting the Autobots, as well as Unicron. Noah is accidentally embroiled in the Autobots plan to obtain the key.

Both factions make a beeline for the museum and a battle ensures. The Autobots try to protect Noah and Elena, but are totally outclassed by the dark energon enhanced henchmen of Unicron. Even Optimus Prime is over powered by Scourge and almost loses his life. Bumblebee bravely stops Scourge but loses his life. Airazor swoops in and stops the slaughter, but not before Nightbird secures the key. Optimus takes his rage out on some pieces of scrapes, and even blames Noah for their failure. Airazor tells them of the other Maximals and how they split the key into pieces for safe keeping. This is where Elena's research comes into play. All signs point towards Peru. Unfortunately Unicron realizes this as well.

The human Autobots alliance continues, to the consternation of Prime, who still seeks the key for selfish reasons, to return his crew to Cybertron. Little does he know that Noah is in it for his own reasons, to destroy the key and prevent Earth from destruction. Two sides of a coin but barreling down the same road. The Autobots realize that in order to locate the second half of the key, Noah and Elena are their best bet. Scourge and his minions track the Autobots and tail them, leading to another confrontation at the mountain side. An enraged Prime manages to to gain the upper hand in his fight with Scourge. Airazor has to break up the fight by bringing down the bridge, separating both combatants. Elena and Noah are still underground seeking out the key. Scourge sneaks in a corruption bug as he shoots Airazor.

Noah and Elena exits the caves after finding an empty crypt and are confronted by Optimus Primal and the Maximals. Airazor is reunited with her comrades and informs them of how the heralds of Unicron now have one half of the key. The Autobots are introduced to the Maximals and learn the location of the second half of the key. Primal educates Prime about the history between the humans and how he has grown to trust them and why all life is sacred. He doesn't agree with giving up the keys to put Earth in harms way as he presents his human tribe to Prime. The villagers show Prime a sacred resting place, which so happens to be rich in inert energon for Bee. Unfortunately Airazor is corrupted and gives their position away to Scourge. Noah has a chance to destroy the key but Prime begs him not to. In a moment of hesitation, Airazor flies off with Elena and the key. Primal gives chase but it's too late, Scourge gets the second half of the key. Primal is forced to put a possessed Airazor down to save Elena.

With the completed Trans Warp key, Scourge, Battletrap and Nightbird set up a transdimentional portal to welcome their master Unicron. When they open the portal, a wave of energy envelopes Earth, and activates the energon and restoring Bee. Prime and Primal lead the offensive as Unicron sends in his Terrorcons to overwhelm our heroes. A newly restored Bee is flown in by Stratosphere. He arrives in the nick of time and takes out Nightbird in midair while Prime and Primal take down Battletrap. Using the frontal assault as a diversion, Noah, Elena and Mirage attempt to get to the control panel with the hope that they can shut down the portal with a code Elena had deciphered from the markings on the totem and the crypt holding the keys. Primal believes that they can avoid destroying the keys, while stopping Unicron. 

Mirage bravely confronts Scourge in a kamikaze move reminiscent of Jazz in the  2007 movie with the hope that Noah and Elena can make their way to the controls via the underground tubes. Scourge realizes this and grabs Noah after incapacitating Mirage, and sends a Freezer after Elena. As Scourge is about to kill Noah, Mirage sacrifices himself to save his best bud, and to keep his promise to Noah's little brother. Mirage doesn't die. Due to extensive damage, he gives Noah full control by becoming Noah's exosuit. Prime joins the fight and takes Scourge out, but not before he destroys the control panel. Despite Elena succeeding in evading the Freezer and getting the code in, there is now no way to close the portal. Prime decides that life on Earth is too precious and volunteers to destroy the device and sacrifice himself. He smashes the panel and is sucked towards the portal opening. Primal and Noah saves Prime to the strain of Steve Jablonsky's Arrival to Earth!