He’s not above letting people die to make a point, and unbelievably, even killed a human in Age of Extinction (it wasn’t exactly a good human, but that’s a line no one could have imagined Optimus crossing). His methods seem overly sadistic, his sense of mercy and compassion nowhere to be found. It has been utterly bizarre to see the movie version of Optimus slowly devolve into a cold, ruthless killer. Created in the mold of such morally pure characters as Superman and Captain America, he’s summed up nicely by his longtime motto: “ Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” He traditionally serves not only as a military leader to his Autobots, but as a wise, compassionate father figure, always ensuring his troops never embrace the hatred that defines the Decepticons, fighting only to defend those who cannot defend themselves. The movie awkwardly leans into the joke, and it’s hard to take Devastator seriously as a threat much past that point. The Constructicon combiner is generally one of the most fearsome forces in Transformers lore, and while he does dish out plenty of destruction in Revenge Of The Fallen, all anyone really remembers is the fact that he had two wrecking balls dangling between his legs, simulating a certain portion of male anatomy. But the one that fans are still shaking their heads over is Devastator. Reimagining Jetfire as a crusty old Decepticon who’s inexplicably been hanging around Earth for centuries only to kill himself to revive Optimus Prime was… certainly a choice. Revenge Of The Fallen pulled this off a few times. It was also the moment when Bay mastered the ability to simultaneously thrill and revolt longtime fans of the franchise by introducing long beloved characters with, well, let’s call them “unique” characteristics. Revenge Of The Fallen set up all sorts of unfortunate precedents for the Transformers films: incoherent plotting, grueling run times, and deeply unlikable characters, just to name a few. It didn’t work, and the resulting film ended up calcifying the series’ reputation as movies that rely on visceral thrills and nostalgia. Michael Bay padded that treatment with more action and humor in an attempt to hide the fact the story didn’t really make much sense. Due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America Strike, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman had to turn in a plot treatment in lieu of a finished script. That’s because, for the most part, it didn’t. A formless, joyless slog of a movie, it feels like it has no idea what kind of story it’s trying to tell. It was a fun, silly movie where the plot wasn’t exactly bulletproof, but it featured strong performances (particularly from Shia LaBeouf and John Turturro) and felt like a solid first chapter.Īll that tentative goodwill was flushed down the toilet by Revenge Of The Fallen. Critics were never particularly wowed by it, but they didn’t savage it either. It’s difficult to remember now, but the original Michael Bay Transformers movie was, for the most part, warmly received. This might ultimately feel like a minor offense (certainly some level of redesign was required to bring the robots into the real world), but it set the tone for the franchise. A treatise could be written on the controversy of Optimus Prime’s flame heavy redesign. Bumblebee went from a cute, lovable VW Beetle to a mouthless, alien-looking muscle car. Morphing the sleek, regal Starscream into some sort of hulking ape-like creature was galling. Bay implemented a busy, overly complicated look for the Autobots and Decepticons, somehow simultaneously washing them in gaudy detail and robbing them of any character.Ī few individual examples stung deeper than others. Gone were the smooth, sleek, brightly-colored designs that had defined the franchise since Generation 1. That elation evolved into something approaching dread when the initial designs for the cinematic robots in disguise began to surface. When news broke in 2006 that Michael Bay would be directing a live action Transformers movie, fans were understandably elated.
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