Stormtroopers, Ewoks, and why what happened isn't stupid (SPOILERS OF DOOM)
Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 3:47 pmMovie nerd. 
The vast majority of people I have come across disliked how Megatron met his end: by the hand of Sam Witwicky. I, however, thought it quite good. It was well done and everything.
First of all, Sam demonstrated great inventiveness and quick thinking in the face of immediate danger. I mean, he's got a VERY pissed off Megatron staring him in the face, Optimus Prime is down for the proverbial count and telling him to put the Allspark in his spark chamber (is that what it's called?) to destroy them both, and Death is mere moments away. Despite all this, he has the presence of mind to wonder "If Optimus Prime is correct and sticking this thingy in his spark chamber will cause the destruction of both it and him, what effect will it have on Megatron?" In a situation that would have most anybody ducking for cover and screaming incoherently, he's calm enough to think outside the box and come up with a solution that hadn't so much as crossed anybody else's mind. That's courage right there. Not only did he come up with the idea, he used it! He stood his ground and stuck it to Megatron. Courage? That's darn heroic!
Secondly, it shows us that sometimes low-tech is the way to go. I mean, if your enemy's preoccupied with defending himself against lasers and crud, bashing him with a rock just might work. It's like in Star Wars. In Return of the Jedi, Ewoks (remember them?) were beating the absolute slag out of Stormtroopers with sticks and rocks and ropes and things. This is the equivalent of that. Megatron was so busy defending himself from high-tech attacks from warplanes and other robots that he completely forgot about the simpler, low-tech approach to things and left himself wide open to Sam Witwicky just plain shoving the Allspark into his chest. Nothing fancy, no machines or firepower or anything, just plain old-fashioned 'take this and put it here'. I think I can make, like, a proverb out of this. "If you spend all your time watching out for the big things, it'll be the little things that kill you."
Third, the warning against arrogance and overconfidence is just SOOO obvious here. The 'David and Goliath' thing can be a valuable lesson to the lot of us. I'll bet Megatron never woulda underestimated the squishies after THAT one. Just because your enemy LOOKS weak doesn't necessarily mean that he IS weak. Making that assumption often comes back to bite you in the aft, like it did with Megatron. Pride goeth before a fall, and arrogance goeth before a kick in the ball bearings.
But all in all, seeing Megatron felled by an underdog's act of fearless heroism because of his arrogance just seems to fit.
The vast majority of people I have come across disliked how Megatron met his end: by the hand of Sam Witwicky. I, however, thought it quite good. It was well done and everything.
First of all, Sam demonstrated great inventiveness and quick thinking in the face of immediate danger. I mean, he's got a VERY pissed off Megatron staring him in the face, Optimus Prime is down for the proverbial count and telling him to put the Allspark in his spark chamber (is that what it's called?) to destroy them both, and Death is mere moments away. Despite all this, he has the presence of mind to wonder "If Optimus Prime is correct and sticking this thingy in his spark chamber will cause the destruction of both it and him, what effect will it have on Megatron?" In a situation that would have most anybody ducking for cover and screaming incoherently, he's calm enough to think outside the box and come up with a solution that hadn't so much as crossed anybody else's mind. That's courage right there. Not only did he come up with the idea, he used it! He stood his ground and stuck it to Megatron. Courage? That's darn heroic!
Secondly, it shows us that sometimes low-tech is the way to go. I mean, if your enemy's preoccupied with defending himself against lasers and crud, bashing him with a rock just might work. It's like in Star Wars. In Return of the Jedi, Ewoks (remember them?) were beating the absolute slag out of Stormtroopers with sticks and rocks and ropes and things. This is the equivalent of that. Megatron was so busy defending himself from high-tech attacks from warplanes and other robots that he completely forgot about the simpler, low-tech approach to things and left himself wide open to Sam Witwicky just plain shoving the Allspark into his chest. Nothing fancy, no machines or firepower or anything, just plain old-fashioned 'take this and put it here'. I think I can make, like, a proverb out of this. "If you spend all your time watching out for the big things, it'll be the little things that kill you."
Third, the warning against arrogance and overconfidence is just SOOO obvious here. The 'David and Goliath' thing can be a valuable lesson to the lot of us. I'll bet Megatron never woulda underestimated the squishies after THAT one. Just because your enemy LOOKS weak doesn't necessarily mean that he IS weak. Making that assumption often comes back to bite you in the aft, like it did with Megatron. Pride goeth before a fall, and arrogance goeth before a kick in the ball bearings.
But all in all, seeing Megatron felled by an underdog's act of fearless heroism because of his arrogance just seems to fit.
