Leonardo wrote:In what way, though? What did any of the previous TF series have that this film lacks? If Transformers was unique before, why isn't this movie unique? What has changed?
Sorry I didn't reply earlier.
In answer; several things, but I'll stick with three of the biggest.
Visually, the designs are very different.
I'm not one who says they look nothing like Transformers, because most designs do have enough in them that they do.
But they have lost a lot of their uniqueness and do resemble other mech.
From a non mech fanboy pov, I see overall shapes, roundness and similar that I associate with Gundam, design aspects I associate with Guyver, and so on.
That's seldom something I do with Transformers because they usually have a more unique look, one that's only similar to the two lines that created it.
Similarly, the overly Hollywood approach of good guys with more human faces and bad guys looking more like "aliens" or monsters is common, but not for Transformers.
Mythos wise, the movie gives us two races of advanced warrior fighting machines.
G1 gave us more of a Galactica approach, with the warrior race attacking a race ill equipped for battle.
Granted, the show did stick with the more generic evenly matched warrior thing, but it sank after 3 years.
The comic on the other hand cost money yet last three times that, mostly because the Galactica style gave it much more depth.
Outside of G1, we had Beast Wars. Again, this show was far more complex than your average toyline show and it was this depth that gave a sense of realism and bolstered the believability of the characterisations.
These are the franchises two most successful continuities and both delivered more than just good warrior robot fights bad warrior robot.
Finally, I think there's humour.
One thing Transformers has done expertly since day one is take itself seriously whilst aknowledging it's own absurdity. It was very knowing, very self aware.
Simon Furman did this brilliantly, as did the writers of Beast Wars.
From everything Bay and co have said; they're desperate for this not to be a stupid toy movie, and from all we have seen, it's taking itself far too seriously.
Most films that take themselves too seriously look more ridiculous for it.
To me, what we're getting is the equivalent of an X-Men film where they ignored all the complexities of the comics, glossed over the world they live in, ignored the prejudice that all mutants face, the way that shaped them and the conflict it provided and visually changed all the Mutants the way they did Deathstryke.
Oh, and considered itself to be not a comic book movie, but something more serious.
Superficially it still would have been X-Men, the names and powers are all still there, many would have been happy; but the things that made it iconic, the things that made it popular enough to get a movie in the first place when groups like the Justice League didn't, have been ignored.
