Transformers: Prime - ''Out of His Head''

Spoiler Level: High

Things progress in logical fashion from last week's episode; Megatron's consciousness takes over Bumblebee's body, he uses it to restore his own body, and then kicks Starscream's butt.

But predictable doesn't necessarily mean boring, as Megatron's return has been a long time coming, and this was a great throw-down between Megatron and Starscream.  Plus this episode gave Ratchet a nice chance to be in the spotlight.

As always, this episode is currently available to watch for free at http://www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime/videos.

Transformers: Prime - ''Sick Mind''

Spoiler Level: High

Megatron is finally on his way back. And ironically, it looks like the Autobots are going to help him get there.

When Optimus gets infected with a plague created centuries ago by Megatron, the Autobots have no choice but to send a team to hack into Megatron's mind and find the cure... which has the nasty side-effect of stirring his mind back to consciousness.  It's a delightful irony that in order to save their leader they inadvertently save their enemy's leader as well.

It's also a nice way to give Bumblebee the spotlight, despite his not really being able to talk.  Pingu is a great example of how a character doesn't need to really speak a real language for you to understand what they're saying, and Bumblebee not only shows that well here, he has the same innocent charm as Pingu.

One question-- I get that Transformers can create plagues that affect machines, but can you really call it biological warfare then?

As usual, this episode is currently available to watch for free at  http://www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime/videos.

Transformers: Prime - ''Predatory''

 Spoiler Level: High

This episode is pretty creepy, and not because of my fear of spiders. Airachnid is big, metal, has a humanoid face and doesn't move like a real spider, so she doesn't creep me out in that sense.  She does creep me out in the sense that she's a total sadist, thoroughly enjoying the pain she causes.

What starts out as a simple recon of an Energon reading turns into a nightmare when Arcee and Jack discover a crashed spaceship belonging to Airachnid, a Decepticon (voiced wonderfully by Gina Torres) who has caused no small amount of pain for Arcee.  Airachnid has been collecting trophies of species she's driven extinct, and once she learns that Jack is special to Arcee only he will do as her trophy for humanity.

It's a very dark story, with lots of painful flashbacks to scenes of Airachnid torturing Arcee and killing her previous partner.  Arcee fears losing someone close to her again, and since Jack is human he's no match for Airachnid.

Or so everyone believes. Jack actually proves to be pretty resourceful and do some serious damage all on his own.  As someone who's not a fan of humans in Transformers, I was very impressed.  This show might just change my mind on that stance.

The problem this episode does have is what to do with Airachnid once she's defeated.  At one point Arcee has her at gunpoint, and if this had been Beast Wars and she had been Dinobot I would have had no doubt that she would have pulled the trigger-- but this being Prime I had no doubt that she wouldn't.  And so Airachnid escapes, with Jack and Arcee musing worriedly what she'll do. And they should be worried.  This is a character who just said she wiped out species for fun, and had a ship full of stuffed corpses to prove it.  She was built up a bit too high to let her just take off.

But that aside, this episode continues to establish Transformers Prime as one of the better Transformers series.

As usual, this episode is currently available to watch for free at http://www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime/videos.

Transformers: Prime - ''Speed Metal''

Spoiler Level: High

One of the drawbacks to getting your television online (legally, at any rate) is that you're at the mercy of when the networks decide to post the latest episodes.  I originally wanted to watch this episode when I watched the second episode of Tiger & Bunny, but The Hub hadn't posted it yet.  So today (which as I'm writing this is actually last Monday) I wanted to watch last Friday's Smallville, but the WB hasn't posted that yet.  So instead I watched this episode and the newest Tiger & Bunny.  As a result there will be two Tiger & Bunny reviews this week, and no Smallville review until next week.

So Knockout and Break Down are still around!  That's good to see, the Decepticon army needed to be filled out a little more.  And wow, Knockout's vanity makes him a real coward.  Was he this much of a baby in the previous episode and I just forgot, or did getting scratched just really bring this out in him?  And I loved the way he yelled when Optimus pulled his door off!  Nice touch.

Did anyone else hope that in the opening scene when the car flipped over the cliff, we were going to get a Speed Racer homage with a big fireball coming up?  I knew it wouldn't happen-- that's just not this show's style-- but I couldn't help anticipating it.


You know you're in trouble when "Don't tell Optimus" becomes a running theme, but this episode did a very good job of letting the point speak for itself without getting too preachy.  It's also nice to see that Arcee could be goaded into a race.  Sometimes it's just good to see a creep get what's coming to him. And speaking of the creep, I think ten years of Smallville has forever turned the "knock 'em unconscious so they don't learn the hero's secret" ploy into a cliche for me, but that's more Smallville's fault than Transformers'.

You know, it just occurred to me, Ratchet wasn't in this episode at all.  That's odd.

...And on a completely unrelated note, this is my 400th post!  I've now been doing these reviews for just two weeks shy of two and a half years.  This blog has gotten 43,253 hits, with my biggest month being last month, March 2011, with 9,170 hits.  My most popular posts have been my Top 100 SF TV Shows list, with a combined total of 10,207 hits.  And out of all that, the single most hits of all time are for the Top 100 Part 4, apparently for a picture I posted of the old Incredible Hulk TV show from the 70's.  Go figure.

Oh, and I've used the phrase "So all in all" 19 times.  I'm surprised it's that low.

As usual, as of this writing this episode is available to view for free (with no commercials!) at http://www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime/videos.

Transformers: Prime - ''Deus Ex Machina''

Spoiler Level: High

Another good entry, albeit with a few complaints that probably aren't worth getting into.

Miko and Bulkhead are in the spotlight again; When Ratchet detects that some Energon has been detected in Greece, Miko and Bulkhead investigate, only to discover an ancient painting of a Cybertronian artifact: and Energon Harvester, capable of extracting Energon directly from the ground.  Or worse yet, from the body of a Transformer.  From there it's a race between the Autobots and two new Decepticon characters, Knock Out and Breakdown, to find and retrieve the artifact first.

Knock Out and Breakdown are cool characters; they're both vehicles, which is cool from the start.  Starscream's open disdain for any Decepticon on wheels suits him well.  I kept recognizing Knock Out's voice, but couldn't place it; turns out he's voiced by Daran Norris, who played Gordy on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.  He also voices Cosmo on Fairly Odd-Parents, but he uses a completely different voice for that one.  The things I learn from my daughter's TV habits. Breakdown, on the other hand, is one of those big, silent types who doesn't say much, but prefers to speak by blowing stuff up.  He's not totally silent like Bumblebee or Soundwave; more like he only says a few words when the time is right, like Silent Bob.  Or Ferb.  And they don't leave at the end of the episode, so perhaps we'll actually get to see them again.

I'll go ahead and get into my complaints anyway.  Bulkhead figures out where Starscream's going to go, but doesn't work it out until after all the other Autobots have rolled out.  He does seem to have at least clued them in so they could show up when the action's ended.  And if Starscream keeps killing his own troops (and taunting them that he could kill them), I can't imagine why Knock Out and Breakdown would stick around.  Perhaps they won't.

Oh, and it was good to see Megatron again, even if he is still offline.

So all in all, an enjoyable outing.  Here's hoping we'll be seeing more of the expanded Decepticon army.

Transformers: Prime - ''Convoy''

Spoiler Level: Medium

First and foremost, you've got to admire any "Convoy" reference in US Transformers, since Convoy is Optimus Prime's name in Japan.

Now as to the main plot:  Someone's out to hijack a fancy new super-generator, and for once it's not the Decepticons-- it's an organization called MECH, a group of humans who pride themselves on having all the best technology possible.  The Autobots agree to escort the generator to its destination, not realizing they'll be fighting against humans.

It's a great concept, but it's a bit of a double-edged sword as far as storytelling goes.  Optimus understandably orders the Autobots to use minimum force, as he doesn't want to take any human lives, which really works, because that's the kind of honorable 'bot Optimus is.  But on the flip side the battle scenes drive home the fact that this is a kids cartoon, and y'know, nobody can get hurt, as is seen by the multiple shots of MECH Agents escaping from cars before they blow up and using non-lethal force themselves.  Clone Wars this ain't.  So while the idea of Transformers being dragged into a human war as opposed to humans being dragged into the Transformers' war is really good, I'm not sure that this is the proper format to tell it.

As usual, as of this writing this episode is currently available to watch for free on The Hub's website, http://www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime/videos.

Transformers: Prime - ''Con Job''

Spoiler Level: Medium -High

Another well done episode, with some great battle scenes.

Autobot Wheeljack is passing by Earth, much to Bulkhead's delight; the two served together as part of the Wreckers centuries ago.  But Starscream has intercepted their transmission and plans to use their reunion to his advantage.

Wheeljack is a fun character, and watching him play off of Bulkhead is great.  It's a total bromance with robots.  (A "robromance," perhaps?)  We never get to see Wheeljack's vehicle form, and while his robot form does have very Earth-looking wheels the rest of it his design is generalized enough that he doesn't blatantly look like he's already a sportscar.

Again, no complaints with the humans; when Makeshift grabs Miko and threatens to squish her, I felt it actually made for good drama.  And I rather liked that Bulkhead was able to sniff out Makeshift on his own.

I'm a bit disappointed that Wheeljack didn't stay; as with Skyquake before him, it would have been nice to see both armies growing.  So far the episodes have all been returning to status quo by the end.  And although I liked that Ratchet acknowledged he was still repairing the base from the Scraplets in the previous episode, continuity doesn't necessarily equate to actual growth.  But it's still early into the first season; maybe things will get tighter as the show progresses.

It looks like The Hub is keeping the last two episodes posted, so this episode should still be available to watch for free at http://www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime/videos until mid-March.

Transformers: Prime - ''Scrapheap''

Spoiler Level: High

Wow, now this was a fun episode!  And I have to give credit where it's due-- the human kids, Jack, Miko & Raf, work really well in this episode.

The Autobots have found something Cybertronian buried in the arctic, so they bring it back to base.  And something starts to make its way out...

Wandering the base, Raf meets a cute little  robot critter, and instantly befriends it.  He still has it with him when he sees the rest of the Autobots, who immediately freak out like elephants confronted with a mouse.  The scene is humorous enough on its own to begin with... of course we know the little robopet is not going to be all that it seems, but I was expecting a Tribble homage or something.

But then the cute little bugger sprouts rows and rows of sharp pointy teeth and starts tearing into the Autobots like a buzzsaw!  "Oh, it's just a cute little bunny!" my daughter called out, imitating John Cleese in Holy Grail.

It totally shocked the heck out of me, and yet I should have seen it coming from the moment they called it a Scraplet!  I've read the original G1 comics, and I definitely read the Scraplet issues, but (shame on me) I had absolutely no memory of it.  So instead of being a Tribble knock-off, this episode was bringing a comic book element to the screen, something that I always love.  So this show gets mega bonus points for that touch.

And wow, was it done well.  Hearing Bulkhead describe how they devour Transformers from the inside out was down right horrific.  Counter that with Bulkhead screaming like a little girl when the lights go out, and you have a balance between terror and humor worthy of Peter David or Robert Shearman.

Miko's assertion that "because we're not metal, the Scraplets can't hurt us" seems pretty flawed to me.  I mean, look at those metal teeth!  If those critters wanted to hurt humans, they obviously could; but luckily for them, they only want to eat metal. I would imagine that human flesh would be pretty nasty to them.  So it's not that the Scraplets can't hurt them so much as they won't hurt them.  Therefore the humans actually serve a very useful purpose in this episode-- rather than being the hindrance I usually accuse them of being, they were the only ones who could save the Autobots.  That's a good, balanced portrayal.

All in all, this may have been the best episode yet.

As of this writing, this episode is still available to watch for free at http://www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime/videos.

Transformers: Prime - ''Masters & Students''

Spoiler Level: High

I am very happy to report that The Hub is streaming full episodes of Transformers: Prime on line!  I was able to watch this episode for free at www.hubworld.com/transformers/shows/prime, but since I discovered it late in the week I don't know how much longer it will still be there.

So how is the first regular episode?  Not bad. Not impressive, but enjoyable.  Starscream hatches a plan to recover Skyquake, a massive Decepticon buried on Earth.  Optimus Prime and Bumblebee take him on by themselves, because the other Autobots are... umm... helping the kids with their science projects.  Okay, that part was a little much.  But on the plus side, watching Ratchet get maniacal in taking the projects over was a good laugh, and seeing the kids have to show the results to their class was amusing.

Skyquake himself is very cool.  He's got a great look.  Although it's very odd that Optimus says Skyquake hasn't chosen a vehicle form yet, because he's got a giant cockpit on his chest and wings sticking out of his back.  When he does scan a jet, it's a good one-- it reminds me of a cross between a VF-17 from Macross 7 with the coloring and nose of an Alpha Fighter from Robotech.

And Soundwave looks really cool.

Transformers: Prime - "Darkness Rising" (Parts 1-5)

Spoiler Level: High

This is the best Trans- formers TV show I've seen since the Beast era.

Now to be fair, I haven't seen all the shows since the Beast era.  I am by no means a hardcore Transfan.  I generally couldn't stand the G1 cartoon (sorry, Mike) although I tried to get into it many times because I loved The Transformers: The Movie and the G1 comics.  I loved Beast Wars, enjoyed Beast Machines and some fansubs of Beast Wars II and Beast Wars Neo.  I suffered through all of Robots in Disguise.  I gave up on Armada fairly early so I didn't even bother with Energon, and tried out a fansub of Galaxy Force but found it boring so I didn't bother with Cybertron.  And Animated looked like a watered-down version of the movies with character designs that really put me off, so I never gave it a chance.

But when I saw the previews of Prime my interest got piqued.  Since my favorite has been Beast Wars, the return to CGI definitely made me willing to give it a chance.  Hey, CGI is perfect for robots, because they're supposed to be blocky and move mechanically!

The "watered-down version of the movies" description might still apply here, as this is obviously a TV version of the movie universe;  It's even produced by the movies' writers, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.  The designs for Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are similar to the movie designs, and Bumblebee still doesn't talk.  However it's only watered down in the sense that the Transformers aren't smashing through cities, although there's still lots of combat.  In a lot of ways it feels stronger than the movies; the humans are a lot less annoying, the robots aren't all silver and/or black so I can actually tell them apart, and with it being a series they each get more screen time to be fleshed out as actual characters.

The voice acting is great; Peter Cullen is back as Optimus Prime. Frank Welker's Megatron never sounded better than here; his voice is lower, darker and more threatening.  Jeffrey Combs, who's played about a gazillion different aliens on Star Trek, plays Ratchet and does a great job infusing Ratchet with a sense of weary frustration with Earth yet fierce loyalty to Optimus.

The kids are more tolerable than in most TF stories.  I am not a big fan of humans being in Transformers. That's part of why I like the Beast era the most.  In my opinion, humans just get in the way and force the Autobots to stay on the defensive.  (The obvious exception being the army troops in the first Transformers film-- now those guys could hold their own.)  This series totally drives that point home in Parts 3 & 4, when the kids decide to follow Bulkhead (who is an awesome character, by the way) into battle.  Thankfully in the other parts they're mostly just helpers; the character Jack is even smart enough to try to stay out of the way.  They're much more tolerable than Sam Witwicky,who I generally found to be selfish and unlikeable.  Jack, Raf, and Miko may be intrusive at times, but they don't try to steal the show away from the robots.  And Special Agent Fowler is much less slapstick than Agent Simmons while still being humorous.  And he's got a big ol' gut hanging over his belt!  I loved that.

And of course one of the key, crucial questions to any Transformers cartoon is: Do they have live ammo?  These are robots, after all, so they should be able to blow the snot out of each other and repair minor damages, with major damage still being enough to kill them.  And yes, they do that in this show! It shocked the hell out of me when one of the lead Autobots was brutally killed in the first episode.  Then he's brought back to life in the next episode and I thought, "Oh, okay, they only killed him because it wouldn't be permanent."  But wow was I wrong; he's brought back as a mindless berzerker, only to be killed again even more brutally, and this time for good.  Yikes.

Now granted I'm not a big fan of zombies, and cyberzombies aren't much different, but even I have to be impressed with the hordes unleashed here.  Hopefully the show will find other angles in the future, though; it works well for this story arc, but I imagine it would get old quick.  Especially since I'm starting to get sick of seeing zombies in everything.

The musical score is bold and theatric, and sounded so familiar that I thought series composer Brian Tyler was using Steve Jablonsky's theme from the movies.  Which he might be, but I realized the reason it sounded familiar to me was it sounds like Michael Giacchino's theme from Star Trek ('09, the script for which was also written by Kurtzman and Orci).

So it's good story telling, good animation, good voice acting.  I'll be looking forward to the rest of the series in 2011.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

With having got to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on DVD today, I accomplished two things. Firstly, I've now seen all the films that were on my must-see summer movie list. And lastly, I finally rented something from a Redbox!

As to the movie itself: Eh. Not bad.

I think Transformers movies have to be seen in the theater. Or at least in a home theater. First off, the robots look so much alike that the only ones I could easily tell apart was Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. Oh, and the two chatty littler ones. I know they're going for more realistic, but the bright colors help me tell who's who. I'm sure if I had seen this in the theater, it would have been easier to notice the details on all the silver robots and keep track of them.

The cons:
* What was the point of bringing back Megatron? He didn't really do anything except bring the Fallen to Earth, and since Starscream was already there, he could have served that purpose just as easily.
* I think I actually hated Sam Witwicky more in this one than I did in the first one. And this time his family annoyed me too, which they didn't so much in the first one.

The pros:
* Devastator!
* The Matrix of Leadership!
* Multiple Primes!
* Jetfire!
* Arcee!
* Wheelie worked out pretty well, too.
* The military working side by side with the Autobots. Really, maybe it's because I got into transforming robots with Robotech, but I wish this movie had focused just on NEST. The human soldiers obviously considered the Autobots comrades-in-arms and I think there's a lot they could have explored there.

I realize the allure of a Transformers movie is the robot fights, but I think I would have got more out of it if I could have seen more detail... so again, it's probably best seen the big screen. I'll have to try harder to make it Transformers 3.