Over the fourth of July, judging by box office receipts, many Americans went to see the “Transformers” movie. I went too, but I need to complain a little bit about the movie. I know anyone else who, like me, grew up in the ’80s probably noticed the same problems that I did in the new movie. These are some things that stuck out like a sore thumb, and I’m going to list them, not in order of how much they changed the original characters or plot, but how much the change bothered me. I know that might make this list very subjective, but it is my name on the article, so I’m going to stand on this soapbox for a minute.
On we go to:
5) Transformers came to Earth for energon!
In the new film, the various Transformers are led to Earth in search of something called “The Allspark,” which supposedly gave life to their planet of Cybertron. But, the movie only gives a vague reason why the two factions, Autobots and Decepticons, would each want to control the Allspark. It seems like it gives life, but the movie Autobots want it destroyed — why? Anyway, the plot in the old TV series was clear. Earth had energon, the substance that made the Transformers live. So, when they heard that our planet had this substance, the giant robots came to Earth. The Decepticons want to possess all the energon they can hoard in order to become stronger, while the Autobots want energon use to be controlled as to allow the life-giving fuel to be able to give life to all of the robots back on Cybertron. It was sort of an Al Gore (in the form of Optimus Prime) versus big oil companies (i.e. the Decepticons) battle that we are seeing today. It was much better, and as a child, even though I watched the show to see big robots fight each other, I remember the lesson of conservation. It’s too bad that was removed from the recent film.
4) Bumblebee is a Camaro?
In the new movie, Bumblebee is a Camaro who makes the first contact with humans. I actually kind of liked the fact that Bumblebee is the Autobot who befriends Sam (played by Shia LaBeouf), as he was also the robot who befriends a human (Spike) in the cartoon. But, why change the type of vehicle that Bumblebee is?
Sure, a Camaro is a cooler, faster car, but he’s named Bumblebee in reference to the fact that he was a Volkswagon Beetle. He was named after a bug because he was a yellow bug. Oh well, I guess a Camaro will just sell more toys.
3) What happened to Starscream?
Starscream is the Decepticon’s conniving second-in-command. He was always willing to backstab the leader, Megatron, at every opportunity, and it showed a struggle in the ranks because the Decepticons would get frustrated since they always lost to the Autobots. But, the fact that he mindlessly follows Megatron in the movie doesn’t bother me, it is how he looks. Starscream was always a jet plane, but in the ’80s he had a sleek look.
As you can see in the picture above, Starscream was a good looking character, and his body was proportionate after he transformed from a jet into a robot. In the new movie, Starscream’s jet form looks fine, but when he transforms into a robot, he looks like a piece of pizza with twigs sprouting from his sides for arms and legs. Why couldn’t they just leave him the way he was?
2) Megatron is a jet?
In the original cartoon, Megatron could transform into a gun. It showed how the Decepticons cherished power so much that they made a gun their leader. But, in the new movie, Megatron transforms into some sort of goofy-looking space jet. He should have at least been a tank. I could understand the change. But why erase the history of the character by making him into something completely different than he was originally? A “Transformer” indeed.
1) Why does Optimus Prime have lips?
This one jumped out at me the second I saw it. In the cartoon, old toys, comic books and even on the poster for the new movie, Optimus Prime has no mouth. He has a ninja-like mouth covering that just looks cool. And, honestly, I never questioned the mouth cover because, even as a kid, I knew one simple fact: robots don’t need mouths to communicate. That should be simple to understand, but I guess the movie studio didn’t like it because the first time you see him, Optimus is speaking using a gigantic, fully articulated mouth. In the film, he only uses the mouth cover during fights. Great. Way to go movie studio. Way to unnecessarily change the character, especially on a character whose face is so iconic. I hope in the inevitable sequel some of these things are addressed. If not, who am I kidding? I’ll still be in line to see it.
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