skanker, while it's pretty amazing work, I HATED the robots in the first movie, precisely because they were overcomplicated. They were hard to read, and I found myself looking away sometimes because I couldn't tell wtf I was looking at. Admittedly, it was cool, but the old school transformers were great because of how simple they were. Even in robot form, you could easily identify one from another, and easily tell what each one transformed into. "that one's a tank, that's a plane, that's a semi truck." They lost that in the movie. They made it so intricate and complex that you couldn't tell what anything was supposed to be anymore.
Seconded. It wasn't bad that they changed the type of semi that Optimus Prime transforms into, it's that his robot form was not memorable or distinct. The complaint we'd have about a game in which all the characters had similar, unrecognizable silhouettes is the problem I have with these bots - they're all oddly skeletal with lots of pokey bits and random doodads. Megatron looks like a metallic Swamp Thing.
That said, even if they did get the robots right, things like Bumblebee pissing on people would continue to irritate me. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I remember my Autobots as being a little more noble and a little less into dick-and-fart jokes.
Having seen the GI Joe trailer, I think I have the same issue there as with TF - all the characters look the same. Was there a discount on second-hand Dark Knight costumes that the wardrobe guy just couldn't turn down?
I saw one of their early test shots with a more G1 style robot and it just didn't look good to me. It just looked like a big toy to me.
I personally like the direction they went with, but I wish that at least their inner structure had color to separate the parts of their bodies better.
Same here, I like the hardcore approach they took with no morphing metal. The modeling and rigging is amazing. But there where times I was starring at two bots rolling around on the screen and had no clue what a leg was or who it belonged to. I think that mantra got in the way a bit.
I understand the need to have a bunch of tiny parts so they are more free to move, but it came off as really organic and cluttered. They could provide some more solid forms with more uniformed small pieces, without sacrificing functionality or plausibility.
A great cartoon animator from the 1940's once said: "we don't copy what they can do in movies, we do what they can't!"
The same applies to CG, people are open to a little suspension of disbelief and we don't have to play by the same rules all the time, do what can't be done in the real world, especially if its going to help things along.
If they clean up the forms a bit, and use less I-have-one-look-Lebouf I'll be happy. Even if they don't I'll probably still go see it and like it.
I'm tossed up about Joe... I need to see more. Right now it looks like a fun rental but not much more.
I had issues telling the difference between starscream and megatron. The material colors were similar and the spikey shit was overused. I know if you see close ups of them, you can tell, but in action, during the city battle, I could barely tell who was who.
Personally, I'd like to see something in the middle. I can see how easily they would look cartoony if you had the robots too solid, but they also went too far with all the little bits and pieces.
Notman, I almost wrote the same thing about Megatron and Starscream. I guess I can accept Megatron, but robot Starscream barely look anything like he was made out of aircraft parts. The identical palette also was an issue. It's not right to see Starscream without wings and a lot of red highlights.
to be clear, I don't want them to be exact copies of the old cartoons. Obviously they need some complexity to them, but I think it would have been much cooler to keep some of the major pieces of whatever they turn into, visible when in robot form, with some obvious color variations as well. It was hard to tell who was who when they just stood around, and nigh impossible during fights.
Oh, and Bumble Bee really should have been a new VW Bug.
Bumblebee couldn't be a Beetle. VW didn't want to be associated with violence (that was the rumor at least). It would have been nice to see him as something closer to a beetle, but I don't know what you'd use. To me, the beetle added to him being a small/weak bot with a lot of heart.
Maybe it's nostalgia, but I remember my Autobots as being a little more noble and a little less into dick-and-fart jokes.
Don't go back and watch the cartoon again. Keep it nice and nostalgic. While they weren't dick-and-fart jokes, there was almost never an episode where they weren't doing something silly.
Replies
Just say no to TF2!
Seconded. It wasn't bad that they changed the type of semi that Optimus Prime transforms into, it's that his robot form was not memorable or distinct. The complaint we'd have about a game in which all the characters had similar, unrecognizable silhouettes is the problem I have with these bots - they're all oddly skeletal with lots of pokey bits and random doodads. Megatron looks like a metallic Swamp Thing.
That said, even if they did get the robots right, things like Bumblebee pissing on people would continue to irritate me. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I remember my Autobots as being a little more noble and a little less into dick-and-fart jokes.
Having seen the GI Joe trailer, I think I have the same issue there as with TF - all the characters look the same. Was there a discount on second-hand Dark Knight costumes that the wardrobe guy just couldn't turn down?
I understand the need to have a bunch of tiny parts so they are more free to move, but it came off as really organic and cluttered. They could provide some more solid forms with more uniformed small pieces, without sacrificing functionality or plausibility.
A great cartoon animator from the 1940's once said: "we don't copy what they can do in movies, we do what they can't!"
The same applies to CG, people are open to a little suspension of disbelief and we don't have to play by the same rules all the time, do what can't be done in the real world, especially if its going to help things along.
If they clean up the forms a bit, and use less I-have-one-look-Lebouf I'll be happy. Even if they don't I'll probably still go see it and like it.
I'm tossed up about Joe... I need to see more. Right now it looks like a fun rental but not much more.
Personally, I'd like to see something in the middle. I can see how easily they would look cartoony if you had the robots too solid, but they also went too far with all the little bits and pieces.
Oh, and Bumble Bee really should have been a new VW Bug.
Edit: SPOILER! Optimus in the next movie:
Can't wait to see all three in theaters. EXPLODERIFIC!!!!
Don't go back and watch the cartoon again. Keep it nice and nostalgic. While they weren't dick-and-fart jokes, there was almost never an episode where they weren't doing something silly.