Well, E talked me into seeing the Transformers movie, by Michael Bay. *I shudder at even typing that* when I heard about this movie, I flipped out and actually said I wouldn’t see it for my own selfish reasons. Slowly I was clubbed into accepting this movie by the sheer volume of advertising and exposure. It’s nice to see Transformers on store shelves, but I’d prefer the original Prime and Megatron, not these updated cheap shells of my childhood memories.

As to the actual movie… it was not as horrid as I thought it would be. It wasn’t great cinema either, not story wise. The movie does show that there’s such a thing as too much CGI in one film. While the transformers looked amazing, there were points where I wish they’d either stay robots or stay vehicles for more than a few minutes at a time, because yes we know that Hollywood can do AMAZING things with computer graphics and animation but we didn’t need to see the Autobots and Decepticons transform every few minutes to prove this.

I did appreciate the homage to certain aspects of the original animated film from the 80’s… including the lines from the Prime & Megatron showdown, as well as the lackey/boss relationship between Megatron and Starscream. Jazz dying at Megatron’s hands during the big battle, and with that being said here’s my gripes with the film:

  • It’s not Sam Witwicky, its Spike Witwicky
  • Megatron is not some humongous X Wing type fighter jet, even when he became Galvatron he was still a gun.
  • Devastator is 5 seperate Decepticons, not one ginourmous one. If Megatron was huge, then Devastator should have been a few stories tall.
  • Most of the transformers were named correctly, except the police car Decepticon… that came later
  • Where does all that mass go when they become cars, planes, etc? Uber quantum mechanics
  • Wasting John Turturro’s talents on this film
  • Having Michael Bay make it in the first place

Other than the cutesy parts of the film, i.e: Prime and the others trying to hide from Sam’s parents, the bullying by the dumb jock and the routine parts of high school life for Sam.. its an OK film. Bay did not meet my expectations, and having John Turturro as a bumbling, strictly by the book shill for the government was a waste of his talent.

Overall, I’d say see it but don’t pay full price.

Published by cypheroftyr

Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers, attendance at the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make the industry better and more inclusive for everyone. She’s part of the Rivals of Waterdeep actual play stream on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep, a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics online, at conventions and as a public speaker.. She’s also contributed to publications at Green Ronin, Paizo and Monte Cook Games and is the co-developer for the Fifth Season RPG based on N.K. Jemisin’s three time Hugo award winning Broken Earth trilogy. She’s the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a Twitch supported RPG and Actual Play stream, airing weekly on her channel, twitch.tv/cypheroftyr. Additionally, she is a Senior Annenberg labs Civic Media Fellow at USC. She’s also the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a new sci fi afro-futurist RPG developed with a team of all POC and Black creators; live streamed on her twitch channel, /cypheroftyr. She’s named as one of The Game Awards Future Class 2020, a diverse group of builders, thinkers and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify our artform. It recognizes individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future for video games. She was also named as one of Gamers of the Year 2020 by Kotaku along with three of her contemporaries. She was also invited to the Xbox MVP program in February 2021. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021. Tanya is the programming & diversity coordinator for OrcaCon and GaymerX. She also serves on the Board of Directors for OrcaCon and was named the Chair for Take This in January 2023. She often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications. She’s the editor of Game Devs and Others: Tales from the Margins (2018, CRC Press) and contributed to The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox. (2019, CRC Press) Writer Bio for pubs: Tanya is the Founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago. She’s part of Rivals of Waterdeep, an actual play D&D show on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep; the programming coordinator for OrcaCon & GaymerX; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. She’s on the Board of Take This as well as a Stream Ambassador, and was part of the inaugural cohort of The Game Awards Future Class. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021.

2 thoughts on “Transformers…. spoilers after the jump”

  1. I JUST became a transformers fan like 7 or so months ago- so I like either version- I see your point though. 🙂

  2. How could wasting John Turturro’s talents NOT count as one of your major gripes about the film? Clearly, they should have gotten someone whose talents would be more appropriate for the role, like Clint Howard.

Comments are closed.