The Energon Pub

It's my Birthday this weekend and so as is customary at my place orf work I've brought in sweets and biscuits and my colleagues have given me cards. One such colleague got me a Transformers movie card featuring Ratchet, nice gesture even If I have told her over and over that I didn’t like the movie much (Although it sorta proves my point about my irritation in being mistaken for a movie fan because I'm a known Transformers fan).

However to my point, as I was atempting to show my gratitude for the thought that had clearly gone into buying the card I went on to explain this character was the 'doctor' to which another colleague of mine who came to see the movie with me (and enjoyed it) said "was he?" and I said "yes although you may not of noticed as he only had about two lines in the entire movie, his name is Ratchet" to which she replied "Oh I thought it was Ratcatcher?"

I must stress this person is not stupid or not at all interested in sci-fi, it fact she's a big sci-fi fan keen on Star Trek, 4400, Battlestar Gallactica, Smallville, Heroes and so on. For someone that clued up to fail to grasp the character or even name of Ratchet for me really highlights the lack of TF characterisation in this movie, in fact the only TF characters she remembers with any clarity are Optimus and Bumblebee, pretty appauling for a movie called Transformers dont you think?

Yours AK

I agree the Transformers were a pushed to the side a little for this movie. Especially being a Transformers movie there wasn't enough Transformers. More like E.T meats Godzilla with giant robots in a game of capture the flag.

I'm the Transformers guy at school so when people were talking about the movie they'd talk about 'the tank' or the 'F-22' and ask me what their names were.

Aye, I dragged my mates to it twice, even after I explained who was who the first time we went, after the second they still couldnt get anyone but Prime, BB and Megs. Only two knew who Barricade was, because they remembered I said he was the police car.

My mates aint slow either, and we are all fairly keen movie-goers and big Sci-fi geeks, so it really makes you wonder what they were thinking. They also didnt get that Ratchet was a medic, or his name. When we talk about it they just say, the chopper, the green one, jet, tank, the silver car etc. Sigh. They best make it more roboty next time.

It was a lot of characters to remember the names to, if you aren't an automatic fan or one that particularly cares to learn. And no, they don't repeat their names over and over, except for Prime and BB. That is why their names were remembered- that, and they had bigger parts. But Ratchet's name is said two or three times, as well as Ironhide's, but if you only watch it one time it's easy to see how you'd forget or not notice.

Ratchet definitely should've been portrayed more as a medic, but it's shown when they meet that he is, and when BB is injured, Sam yells for him. So it's not completely a mystery if you really paid attention.

Correct me if I'm wrong but there were only 12 TF characters in the entire movie right? and only five Autobots? In my opinion that's not too many character to remeber in a 2+ hour film. What I am saying is you'd expect at the very least for the five good guys to be on screen and have enough lines for the audience to walk away knowing their names or at least what their function was. I can imagine poeple will go se the second film see Ratchet or Ironhide and say "so was he is the first one?", "dunno I can't remember I think one of them's called Iron-head or something"., "aww who cares I just can to see them blow sh*t up".

Yours AK

Alex Kingdom wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong but there were only 12 TF characters in the entire movie right?

Thirteen =D

Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironhide, Ratchet
Megatron, Starscream, Blackout, Barricade, Frenzy, Scorponok, Brawl and Bonecrusher

*sigh*

You people still going on about this? I pity your kind since you obviously cant grasp the concept of moving on, and have to live your life beating dead horses.

Could probably remember their names if they had more dialog

syphonn wrote:Could probably remember their names if they had more dialog

that's the big thing right there. One nice thing about season 3 of the TV show was more transformer screen time and less human screen time, thanks in large part to the Quintessons.

I saw the movie while I was on vacation, finally, and I have very mixed feelings about it. Sadly, the majority of those feelings are negative, and while I enjoyed a lot of the movie nothing stood out enough to provide an adequate balance with the things I didn't enjoy. Unfortunately this is reflected thus in my comments below.

I will get to the characterization which I also had a lot of problems with though I'll just type up my general thoughts too.

I felt it started out with a lot of promise but as the film progressed everything fell apart. Up until the point they arrived at the Sector 7 facility things were going well, leaving aside the quite awful lubrication joke and the "more than meets the eye" references, I could forgive the whole yard scene. Comedy aside however, it made them look like a band of incompetent morons who are incapable of listening. Characterization problem one.

Once they arrived at the facility things really took a dive. The human characters seemed to completely lose what little believable traits they had and, for lack of a better word, transformed themselves into two-dimensional, fearless-heroes.

The way in which they were suddenly able to fight toe-to-toe with giant rampaging robot monsters without even showing a shred of fear, and displaying absolute confidence was simply sickening.

Aside from Barricade, Frenzy, and Blackout, the other Decepticons seemed to be little more than background noise. Especially in the case of Starscream, whom one would expect to be a somewhat major character, may as well have not featured in the movie at all.

The ending itself was perhaps the most disappointing part of the experience for me. Megatron was put down far too easily, and the way in which he was ultimately destroyed by having a cube held up to his chest was one of the most disappointing ways to destroy a villain that has ever been devised.

And this point is where the cheese really kicks in. Not only does Optimus Prime dismiss the death of one of his comrades as little more than an "Oh well.", but he also seems to be perfectly comfortable with the fact that his home planet is completely doomed, it doesn't even seem to faze him.

In short, the plot was rushed and ill conceived, the characters flat, bland and boring. No amount of comedy can breathe life into it's carcass.

Sonray wrote:*sigh*

You people still going on about this? I pity your kind since you obviously cant grasp the concept of moving on, and have to live your life beating dead horses.

This thread was prompted by something that happened to me today ! I thought it highlighted one of the problems I believe this movie has from a non-fan perspective why shouldn't I start a thread to discuss it? If you don't like it you don't have to post or you could post something constructive rather than come here and insult everyone who has chosen to contribute to the discussion.

Yours AK

IjuinTekka wrote:In short, the plot was rushed and ill conceived, the characters flat, bland and boring. No amount of comedy can breathe life into it's carcass.

Bravo, what you have there is pretty much a carbon copy of how I felt about the whole movie. It started well enough I was quite enjoying the character of Sam and the car chase/fight between Bumblebee and Barricade was surprisingly entertaining but things took a very quite nose dive when the remaining Autobots turned up. There were too many peripheral human characters, all 1 dimensional taking up screen time, As a result the TFs in the movie suffered in characterization many being reduced to a couple of lines and in some cases minutes each. By the time we got to the final battle I felt completely apathetic about the outcome of the movie, I remember thinking 'who cares who wins lets just get this movie over with so I can go home'. Little did I know it would get worse!

Yours AK

When Megatron got put down I wanted to leave right there. But my fiancee wouldn't let me. =(

Maybe they were just confusing the movie with a Beast Wars line. Anyway, happy birthday. Enjoy that Ratcatcher card-he's a doctor, you know.

I am pretty much a geek and bothered to remember ALL their names and since I love detail I payed very much attention to what they looked like.

I pretty much agree with the comments on little characterization though. If they couldn't do it this year they could've waited a few more years to boost up their graphics engines. If it meant more screentime for the Transformers I would not have minded.

However part of me wishes they would improve when the sequel comes out and in the long run we can just sweep the first movie under the rug. Retcon's been done before.

No, this is not damning of anything.

Briggs wrote:No, this is not damning of anything.

Because it was already obvious?

They could have done more to make you feel for the characters and the outcome of the story. They should have developed each character, especially the one they are about to kill off and not count on the fact that he is a G1 character to stir up emotion

Alex Kingdom wrote:This thread was prompted by something that happened to me today ! I thought it highlighted one of the problems I believe this movie has from a non-fan perspective

Except there are movies that i've watched that I haven't been a fan of with plenty of characterisation and i've had trouble remembering whose who.

Though that may simply because i'm an "unevolved ape".

Alex Kingdom wrote:I must stress this person is not stupid or not at all interested in sci-fi, it fact she's a big sci-fi fan keen on Star Trek, 4400, Battlestar Gallactica, Smallville, Heroes and so on. Yours AK

Ratchet's name is mentioned multiple times - if she's too stupid to pay attention in a film SHE HAS PAID TO SEE thats hardly Michael Bay's fault

fukk tigger

Saberwing wrote:

Alex Kingdom wrote:I must stress this person is not stupid or not at all interested in sci-fi, it fact she's a big sci-fi fan keen on Star Trek, 4400, Battlestar Gallactica, Smallville, Heroes and so on. Yours AK

Ratchet's name is mentioned multiple times - if she's too stupid to pay attention in a film SHE HAS PAID TO SEE thats hardly Michael Bay's fault

I assure you she is not stupid and besides this movie is aimed at the stupid is it not? There is no denying Ratchet is a peripheral character as are Jazz, Ironhide, Bonecrusher, Brawl, and even Starscream for christsake. It's not surprising she didn't remember his name no matter how many times it was mentioned he didn't actually serve any purpose other that that of a generic good guy robot, they weren't characters they were little more than extras. If you done think theres something wrong there fine, but I do.

Yours AK

Alex Kingdom wrote:I assure you she is not stupid and besides this movie is aimed at the stupid is it not?

Might want to rephrase that considering you pretty much just labelled every Transformers fan as stupid.

Burn wrote:

Alex Kingdom wrote:I assure you she is not stupid and besides this movie is aimed at the stupid is it not?

Might want to rephrase that considering you pretty much just labelled every Transformers fan as stupid.

Not really, but I'll rephrase it anyway. The target audience of this and all Bay's movie appears to be those who go to the movies to sit back and be entertained by flashy special effects, big explosions. pretty girls and fast cars and not character development, thought provoking narrative, story or riveting plot progression. Many have described it as a leave you brains at the door movie. That is not to say that intelligent people cannot enjoy his movies just that it's not a prerequisite to enjoy them. Do you think that will prevent all those offended FT fans getting up in arms about me calling then stupid for liking the movie?

Yours AK

Alex Kingdom wrote:

Burn wrote:

Alex Kingdom wrote:I assure you she is not stupid and besides this movie is aimed at the stupid is it not?

Might want to rephrase that considering you pretty much just labelled every Transformers fan as stupid.

Not really, but I'll rephrase it anyway. The target audience of this and all Bay's movie appears to be those who go to the movies to sit back and be entertained by flashy special effects, big explosions. pretty girls and fast cars and not character development, thought provoking narrative, story or riveting plot progression. Many have described it as a leave you brains at the door movie. That is not to say that intelligent people cannot enjoy his movies just that it's not a prerequisite to enjoy them. Do you think that will prevent all those offended FT fans getting up in arms about me calling then stupid for liking the movie?

Yours AK

*shakes my fist in England's direction*

I happen to like movies where I can sit back and be entertained by flashy special effects, big explosions. pretty girls and fast cars and not character development, thought provoking narrative, story or riveting plot progression that you could best describe as a leave your brains at the door movie thank you very much!