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PotP Gear: Machinima's Transformers Power of the Primes Episode 4 REVIEW

Date: Tuesday, May 22nd 2018 9:01pm CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Reviews
Posted by: Bronzewolf | Credit(s): Go90

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Views: 6,233

Burn wrote:TONIGHT

Megatron wrestles with a monkey


Volcanicus falls into a hole


And Perceptor punches Predaking

Hello, WE'RE BACK! Yes, that's right, it's Tuesday again, meaning we're now on episode four of the Machinima Power of the Primes series. If you'd like to know more, read on, as we take a look at



(This review does contain spoilers for the Power of the Primes cartoon, as well as the previous two shows to some degree.)

The main cast is still on the primal swamp planet and still being chased by Combiners. Predaking is continuing his search for the Enigma of Combination, and Perceptor swears that Victorion doesn't have it. The beast combiner refuses to believe him and, although his logic here is a bit hard to follow, he too has noticed the events Cybertron and the surrounding systems have been going through.


"Everything on Cybertron is trying to destroy everything else!" Top notch dialogue, guys. Just...just *kisses fingertips*

Volcanicus has finally had enough of Predaking, and pushes him over. Predaking promptly gets up and the two finally begin to tussle. Victorion gets upset with Megatron for leaving them behind, and starts to bluntly chip away at the ancient sacred temple of the Primes behind them, something you wouldn't think she'd do, being in favor of honor and fairly traditional.

Inside the temple, Megatron finds his way into a room with the Requiem Blaster sitting on a shrine, in a scene that was totally not spoiled in promotional material last week. (Spoiler: it totally was.)


*Que Legend of Zelda music*

Just as a side note, the music score in this scene when Megatron finds the Requiem Blaster is so ridiculous and over the top, it almost seems intentionally comedic. From a series with very subtle background music, (and certainly very little classical-styled background music) it just feels so bizarre. Don't get me wrong, it's not a badly composed piece of music, it just doesn't fit with the score of the rest of the series.

Anyway, when Megatron is about to take the Requiem Blaster, Optimus Primal appears from the opposite side of the room. He tells Megatron that he should leave, and Megatron goes on a tirade about his condescending tone, telling Primal he reminds him of Starscream. Which is fine, except he didn't really have one. He was speaking very clear, basic instructions. *sigh* I dunno.


It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!

The pair begin to fight for the blaster, and we catch up again with the group outside. Volcanicus and Predaking are still fighting, and it's...unbelievably boring. All but one of the camera angles are the most mundane, basic shots you could put in something like this, and there's absolutely zero tension. Seriously, the first fight we've ever seen in animation between these two awesome, giant, powerful combiners, looks like two elderly people gently tapping each other with their walkers.

But it gets worse


"Ooh, I'll get you, Gertrude! This'll teach you to miss bridge night!"

Predaking pushes Volcanicus into a super shallow, small puddle that he somehow isn't able to get out of. You know. Like a giant robot combiner totally would. He's seriously stuck here for most of the rest of the episode.


See, this is what happens when you forget to flip the toilet seat back down!

I'm not sure why, but Perceptor jumps in and tries to distract Predaking. He's successful, and turns the wrath of the combiner team toward the team who's been struggling to fight him since the second episode. Nice going Percy. Megatron arrives back from the temple, now wielding the Requiem Blaster, to bail the team out just in time. He threatens Predaking, and tells him they really don't have the Enigma, and if they find it, they'll keep in touch.


Minibot, 10 Year old, the other TF fan in my household:"Did it freeze up just then?" Me:"No, that's just the animation." Minibot: *Looks at me like he's looking at a camera on The Office*

The dinobots finally make it out of the puddle by decombining, as the temple behind them starts to glow, projecting a beam into the sky above them. Apparently this beam contains coordinates that Perceptor starts to read. They're hard to make out, but he recieves assistance from Optimus Primal, who I guess is okay from the fight he and Megatron just had, even though we get a total of zero explanation for that. The adventure continues with new allies, new weapons, and, finally, a new destination.


Minibot: "How is he reading it? He's not even looking at it!" *imitates reading a piece of paper thats two feet above his head by looking straight forward*

That's the end of episode 4. Despite it's fair, fair share of just plain goofy moments, I'd argue it's the best so far of the series. No bizarre plot errors, just straight to the point. And, more importantly, progress is made. It only took four episodes, (Read: that's 45 minutes of real life time), to get here, but we are finally here. This episode seemed a lot more coordinated and logical, and far less pf a jumbled mess compared to the preceding three. It actually leaves me excited, or at least interested, in the coming story, as there isn't exactly a predicable plot from here on. Yes, obviously they'll try to use the blaster to defeat Megatronus, but there are other twists and turns that the story could (and hopefully will) take. A small bit of hope has been instilled in me again. We shall see.


DINOBOT POOL PARTY!!

And, on that bombshell, it's time to end. See you next week!

Machinima Transformers: Power of the Primes Episode 4 'Primal' Now Online

Date: Tuesday, May 22nd 2018 2:29am CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Digital Media News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Transformers Prime Wars

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Views: 8,089

As it's Tuesday in several parts of the world, that also means a new episode of the Machinima Transformers: Power of the Primes animated series is now available on a number of online platforms! Episode 4, 'Primal' - featuring you'll never guess who - can be viewed directly at its go90 streaming page for viewers in the US here. All other viewers can access the episode over at the official Tumblr page for the series, along with all previous episodes, here.

And make sure to stay tuned to Seibertron.com for our review of the fourth episode, courtesy of brave staff member Bronzeewolf later today or tomorrow!

Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy S3:E4 Primal

With our heroes cornered, Predaking demands Victorion hand over the Enigma of Combination. Inside the mysterious dome, Megatron finds the Requiem Blaster, but is confronted by a mysterious figure guarding it.

New Still from Transformers: Cyberverse & A Lot of Bumblebee in the Future

Date: Saturday, May 19th 2018 10:45am CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Comic Book News, Movie Related News
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): License Global

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Views: 18,002

A new article over on License Global, in light of the upcoming Licensing Expo 2018, at which Hasbro will be presenting its new line-ups of merchadise for the Bumblebee movie and potentially their other media endeavours such as Cyberverse and Rescue Bots Academy, as well as the IDW Publishing comics, sheds some light on where the future of the Transformers franchise is headed - at least, according to Hasbro's head honchos, and their 'blueprint'.

Bumblebee, of course, is at the center of it all. Even with the reboot of the live action film franchise (and the IDW narrative), the yellow bug scout is being banked on to promote the brand and franchise across multiple media, with mentions of Cyberverse, some confusion around the currently airing Power of the Primes (as the final part of the Prime Wars Trilogy), and the general intention of putting Bumblebee first as a wide appeal character, and what that means for the media approach of Hasbro's licensees. Read the full piece here, some extracts below, and take a look at a new image of the Bumblebee vehicle mode from the Cyberverse animated series!

“We decided on Bumblebee because we wanted to go in a bit of a different direction. We wanted a character-focused film versus an ensemble. He is loved by kids, multiple generations, girls and women. Everyone loves Bumblebee,” continues Warner.

Hasbro is capitalizing on the film’s surroundings with a slate of ‘80s-themed launches including a TV series, a vinyl album and a graphic novel, which the company hopes will “lead a wave of Millennial nostalgia.”

[...]

Hasbro is off to a running start with two new television programs, “Transformers Cyberverse (Chapter 1)” and “Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy.” The first is an animated series from Hasbro Studios and Boulder Media that follows Bumblebee as he attempts to recover his memories on Earth. “Transformers: Prime Wars Trilogy” picks up on the “Transformers: Combiner Wars” story line and offers a more detailed look at the franchise’s characters and history.

Though the shows are not set in the 1980s, “Cyberverse” emphasizes the idea of keeping memories alive, while “Prime Wars,” which debuted on Verizon’s streaming service VerizonGo90, was conceived as a way to reach older, devoted fans who have grown up with the franchise.

[...]

The new film comes to life with the help of actress Hailee Steinfeld and action star John Cena. At a time when audiences are looking for more female representation on screen, Waters remarks that “the choice to cast Hailee in the leading role may open the traditionally male brand up to female fans.”

“We felt [Hailee] was right for the picture and we are looking to expand our audience and be as inclusive as possible with the franchise,” adds Warner. “This is a step worth noting for a brand that has traditionally been displayed in the boys’ aisle of toy stores.”

New Clip From Power of the Primes Featuring Requiem Blaster

Date: Thursday, May 17th 2018 10:25pm CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Digital Media News
Posted by: william-james88 | Credit(s): Official Transformers Facebook account

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Views: 8,266

Maybe a few of you were underwhelmed with how little Megatron had done so far in Machinima's Transformers Power of the Primes series, but things are about to change. The official Transformers Facebook page posted a featurette video about the Requiem Blaster. This is the gun forged by Solus Prime. We see some clips of events yet to happen as well, which includes Megatron weilding this fabelled weapon. You can watch it below. Let us know if you are looking forward to this and what you think of the show so far.

Up the Swamp Without a Paddle: Machinima Transformers Power of the Primes Episode 3 Review!

Date: Thursday, May 17th 2018 1:58am CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Reviews
Posted by: Bronzewolf | Credit(s): Go90

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It's been a few weeks since Power of the Primes, the third and final installment of the Machinima series of Transformers cartoons, and this Tuesday brought with it episode 3, "Without Warning". The previous two episodes haven't lived up to many expectations, will the third be any different? Tune in as we take a look at the episode to find out. Read on!

(Note: The following review contains spoilers for the Machinima Power of the Primes cartoon.)

So, we start out again in the swamp, a place that the cast somehow hasn't been able to move on from for the entire show so far, with Victorion still being tossed around by Predaking, a new character in the show who just arrived last episode. Windblade tries to help by...shooting Victorion several times.


*rubs temples*

Perceptor tries to find a way to help that consists of actual helping, as Volcanicus, the combiner made up of the dinobots, starts to gain consciousness again after being shot to the ground by Predaking in the last episode. He promptly starts chasing after the Predacons for revenge.
We catch up with Megatron, who approaches the shiny thing he was distracted by in the last episode, and it turns out to be a giant energon waterfall that looks like a Matrix, with the insignia of the various original Primes stamped on it.

Perceptor tries to distract Predaking from attacking the others, and soon all three of the main cast are being chased by two giant combiners.


*Record Scratch* *Freeze Frame* "Yep, that's me. I bet you're wondering how I got here..."\

Something to touch base on here briefly is the random inclusion of assorted slow motion shots peppered in here or there through the episode. They are painfully out of place, and haven't been a part of the show so far, (or either of the other shows, if memory serves) so they're a bit of a jarring change. They remind me of the infamous split screen edits that randomly popped up in the second half of the previous series.

We also catch up with the main baddie of this series, Megatronus, who has released the Enigma of Combination to place it in a shrine of sorts, at the head of the well of sparks, deep in the heart of Cybertron.


Oh God*** it it's just the ******* Infinity Gauntlet, isn't it?!?

As he sets the the Enigma within the altar, we're treated to another flashback from the days of the original Primes. Solus begs Megatronus to return the Requiem Blaster so she can destroy it, promising she'll craft him more weapons in exchange. She mentions she doesn't want to fuel his, *ahem*, appetite for destruction, if you will.

Megatronus promises he'll take care of the blaster, but Solus grabs it from his back. They fight over it, accidentally triggering it to fire. A beam is launched off the surface of Cybertron, killing Solus in the process. Megatronus mourns her as the spark drains from her optics.


something something topical gun control joke

He watches a spark fall into the well, and comments that his henchmen are doing their job, further confirming no one else lives on this **** planet. He opens a briefcase to reveal the Matrix of Leadership to add it to the shrine.



Fun is not something one considers when watching a terrible cartoon, but this...doesn't put a smile on my face.

Back in the swamp, our heroes are still being chased by the two combiners, when they reach the obvious conclusion of trying to make them fight each other. The pacing of the scene is literally slowed down because of another slo-mo shot. To make matters worse, Windblade talks, in the middle of the shot, at normal speed. I just... I just don't know anymore.

After running a long distance from where they first landed and met the Dinobots, they all get launched off a cliff by one of Predaking's blasts, but neither of the Combiners see it coming, so they fall as well, farther into the canyon. The heroes have a moment to regroup and find...Megatron and his giant Matrix waterfall?!? ******* what?!?

The Miraculous Teleporting Megatron; Wherever The Plot Needs Him To Be.

But the newly reacquainted group doesn't have long to chat, as Predaking and Volcanicus show up again, having magically climbed a giant cliff face in justa handful of seconds with no other signs or clues that they were approaching.
Megatron enters the Matrix building and tells the others to wait there. The episode ends.

Oh my God.

I said last week that the show felt like it was just sitting here spinning it's wheels, and this episode illustrates that perfectly. The main cast have been in the swamp for all three episodes now, and for the majority of that time simply being chased around in circles. They're accomplishing nothing, and it's getting extremely frustrating. This episode could basically have been the first, practically beat for beat. "Find enemy. Fight enemy. Figure out how to beat enemy. Run away. Repeat." The glaring plot holes and continuity errors are ridiculous, and the end of this episode is the first time I've actually shouted at my screen because of these shows. If I have to search for a positive, I like the idea of the various relics combining their power to create...something. It's fairly cool, if a little overdone by other shows. Entertainingly bad, but little more. See you next week.

Thanks for reading my review of Episode 3, you can find it on go90 and the Transformers Tumblr if you wanna watch it for yourself. Come back and tell me what you thought of the episode, and what you thought of my review! I'll see you next week when we take a look at episode 4!

Transformers Cyberverse Featured in Upcoming McDonald's Happy Meal Toys

Date: Saturday, May 12th 2018 1:00pm CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Toy News
Posted by: william-james88 | Credit(s): mlpmerch.com

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Views: 15,215

Transformers Cyberverse is rapidly approaching and the promotion has now reached McDonald's.
From the unlikely source of a My Little Pony fan site, we have an image of a Russian ad for upcoming Happy Meal toys. It shows that next month, certain countries will give kids the choice of having an MLP or a Transformers character for their Happy Meal toy. Of course, the Transformers toys do not transform, but with it being now a decade since the last transforming McDonald's toys (Animated in 2008), we are well passed expecting that. Instead, what they will offer is a chibbie/cutesy version of the following Transformers Cyberverse characters:

Optimus Prime
Bumblebee (in vehicle and robot mode)
Starscream
Windblade
Megatron
Grimlock
Shockwave

For those curious, here are the Cutie Mark Crew themed ponies that will be offered as well:

Starlight Glimmer
Applejack
Spike
Twilight Sparkle
Pinkie Pie
Fluttershy
Rarity
Rainbow Dash

These will be available next month in South Korea, Italy and, of course, Russia and may come to other countries later this year.

Aggressive Back Rubs: Machinima's Transformers Power of the Primes Episode 2 REVIEW

Date: Tuesday, May 8th 2018 4:03pm CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: Bronzewolf | Credit(s): Go90

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Another Tuesday brings another episode of Machinima's Power of the Primes cartoon. Last week we discussed episode one, and it was not great, to say the least. Will episode two do any better? Will it fare any worse? Let's find out, as we dive into Volcanicus!

(I also suppose I should warn you that the following review does contain spoilers for the POTP Cartoon, just in case. You can read my review of episode one here.)

We jump in where the first episode left off, in the "Primal Forest", with Victorion, Windblade, and Perceptor fighting the newly formed dinobot combiner, Volcanicus.


Uh, roll credits, I guess?

Similar to the last episode, this scene is riddled with bizarre continuity errors that just make no sense, and could have been resolved with simple editing. We're introduced to our first one here: Our heroes are trying to come up with a plan to take down Volcanicus, as they recognize they should be searching for the Requiem Blaster before it falls into Megatronus' hands. Windblade blames Victorion for making the Dinobots so angry they had to combine, saying they had them "Under control" (Suuuure), when Volcanicus tries to step on them. They appear surprised, as if they couldn't see him coming from a mile away. They decide to try to find Megatron, but Victorion says she doesn't need his help.


How does one get snuck up on BY A GIANT ROBOT DINOSAUR COMBINER?!

Speaking of old Megs, we catch back up with him, as well. After being thrown miles away (a distance described in the official episode summary) into the swamp by Grimlock in the last episode, he wakes up...ten feet from where Volcanicus and the main cast are?


?!?!?

Nearby, he sees a convenient odd glint of light in the forest. He decides to go investigate, leaving the rest of the crew to fend for themselves.

The scene changes and we finally see Devastator, Computron, and Menasor again, currently being questioned by Overlord and..."Rodimus Cron" Menasor swears he doesn't know anything about where Megatron and the others have gone, and Rodimus responds by shooting Computron through the chest, apparently dead now.

Devastator also gets shot through the chest, but survives. Overlord compliments Rodimus on his firepower, and has a flashback to him pulling the "Matrix of Chaos" out of Unicron's decapitated head. Megatronus (through hologram) congratulates Overlord for finding it. Something to notice here is the the Matrix of Chaos uses the Botcon 2000 design for the Matrix of Conquest. An interesting trivia bit pointed out by Seibertronian Sabrblade. Anyway, Devastator and Menasor decide to take them on, but they aren't strong enough, and Devastator gets shot through the chest again, launched through the air, and still survives.


What is physics?

Menasor gets his fist crushed by Overlord, and then gets kicked around for his trouble. Again to the show's credit, between DashieXP's vocal performance and an actually expressive face animation for once, this scene is quite painful and desperate. Even though Menasor only gets his hand crushed, it feels violent and dramatic. I just wish some of that drama and weight would carry over to other parts of the series. Character's deaths in particular.

Back in the swamps, Windblade and crew are still dealing with Volcanicus. The grand plan that Victorion came up with is to have Perceptor distract Volcanicus while the other two attack. Perceptor decides to do this by pretending to be a researcher who wants to ask Volcanicus a few questions, even though not only did Vocanicus just see him two seconds ago, but Grimlock identified him by name last episode.
However bad of a plan it is, it works for long enough to let Victorion take a swing at the Dinos, showing that she's nearly the same size, compared to earlier in the episode where she was dwarfed by Volcanicus.



What is scale?

Just when it looks like all hope is lost and Vocanicus has them beat, Predaking emerges from the swamp, taking out the Dinobots. He demands to know where the Enigma of Combination is. We cut away just as he decides to blast Victorion. We'll have to wait till episode three to see how that turns out.
Samoa Joe, a new actor to the Trilogy, actually puts on a great performance as Predaking from what we've seen so far of him. He's not really the traditional voice for the character, but it works well in my opinion.

Back at Metroplex City, the two remaining combiners are getting torn to shreds. Overlord Demands answers out of Menasor, and orders Rodimus to continue shooting Devastator until he gets them. Devastator gets an arm and a leg blown off before Menasor talks. He tells Overlord that Megatron headed to the Primal Swamp. Overlord orders Devastator killed anyway, and then kills Menasor by...(checks notecards) gently pushing on the back of his neck.


Devastator dies by a dozen shots straight through the spark from an agent of Unicron, and Menasor dies from an aggressive backrub. Got it.

Overlord and Rodimus then start their journey to the swamp, and the episode ends.

Episode two was arguably an improvement over the season opener, though I'm not sure if that's a complement, nor if it's good enough. It certainly doesn't instill faith into the rest of the series. It feels like it's just spinning it's wheels, getting nowhere, even though it's already introduced the majority of the main cast now, and they are all on separate missions. Episode two felt too much like filler with no point or purpose, and there's no tone to speak of. While bits and pieces work, the majority doesn't, especially with an angering amount of random continuity problems plaguing both episode one and two which, and correct me if I'm wrong, weren't as prevalent in either of the two previous shows. We'll see where it goes from here.

Thanks for reading my review of Machinima's Power of the Primes episode 2! If you want to watch it for yourself, you can find it on the Go90 platform and the Transformers Tumblr account. Make sure to share your thoughts on the episode and my review in the comments below, and then tune in next Tuesday when we'll take a look at episode three!

Another Look at Transformers: Cyberverse Bumblebee & Rescue Bots Academy Hot Shot

Date: Tuesday, May 8th 2018 7:16am CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Interviews
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): Toon Boom

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Courtesy of Toon Boom and an interview they published with Robert Cullen, animator and founder of Boulder Media Studios - the Hasbro partner working on the upcoming animated series Rescue Bots Academy and Transformers: Cyberverse - we have a quick look at the two designs for Hot Shot and Bumblebee from the two shows respectively (you can discussion Rescue Bots Academy in its thread here).

Cullen talks about the studio in general and the recent acquisition by Hasbro and nothing specific about the shows, but if you're curious, you can look at the relevant passages below!

Boulder went from producing three projects at most to six IPs including season two of Danger Mouse and Hasbro’s Micronauts, The Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls and Rescue Bots Academy, all in Toon Boom Harmony. The studio is also storyboarding the latest Transformers series and its first CG animated feature film in Storyboard Pro.

With so many new productions, Boulder suddenly needed storyboard artists, concept designers and animators. The challenge became to scale up and find top talent without losing its quality and personality.

“We’ve always been quite selective about who we hire and it’s not just the talent I’m looking at; I want to know if they’re nice people and if they will fit in,” says Cullen.

Its team now includes people from around Ireland and the world, though growing from 160 to 360 seats in just over a year comes with certain concerns as well. Namely, keeping the boutique studio corporate culture it had established.

“Each project has a team with their own director and production manager — every piece feels like it’s a boutique production that people can take pride in,” says Cullen. “It doesn’t feel like we’re this vast company making random shows and we have to make sure it stays that way.”

Samoa Joe on Voicing Predaking in Machinima Transformers Power of the Primes

Date: Sunday, May 6th 2018 3:00am CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, People News, Interviews
Posted by: Va'al | Credit(s): ESPN

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Views: 12,863

A new interview over on ESPN gives us a little insight into one of the characters showing up in the third chapter of the Transformers Prime Wars trilogy series on Machinima - the Predacon combiner Predaking - and its voice actor Samoa Joe, a professional wrestler from TNA, Ring of Honor, NXT and WWE. He talks about his approach to the role and interest in the Transformers franchise, and his excitement for the gig. Take a read below, see the whole piece here, and join the discussion in the comments!

Even though Joe was out of commission for a few months at the start of 2018, he remained busy with another major step forward in his life and career with his biggest voice-acting role to date.

After lending his voice to the Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series and Dota 2, Samoa Joe took on the role of Predaking in Transformers: Power of the Primes. Joining a cast of heavy hitters that includes Mark Hamill, Ron Perlman, Jaime King, Wil Wheaton and Judd Nelson, among many others, Samoa Joe slipped naturally into a role that he was seemingly destined to play.

"I grew up watching Transformers," he said. "I think it was one of the first cartoons that I started watching as a kid. It was awesome. I would set my clock every morning before I went to school. It was a big part of my childhood.

"It was easy to throw myself in the character, it was fun," Joe continued. "As a child, I think everybody imitates their favorite cartoon character in some form or another when they're playing. To find themselves as a grown adult -- getting that chance and having it actually become part of that cartoon is a real cool thing."

Transformers: Power of the Primes, which debuted on Tuesday on go90 and tumblr, allowed Joe to channel the most villainous elements of his character while embracing passions from his past. He'll have a similar opportunity after Sunday once he settles into his new home on SmackDown Live, with familiar faces and new opponents alike.

[...]

"I play Predaking -- what happens when all the Predacons, which are these vicious animal robots that combine together," said Joe. "Predaking's basically this character who -- without giving away any spoilers -- he's on a hunt and he's looking to find his prey by any means necessary. He's a very violent individual, he's a very vicious individual, and when the producers were kind of looking around and wondering who to cast that role, I think my name was on of the forefront."

Teleporting Slugs: Machinima's Transformers Power of the Primes Episode 1 REVIEW

Date: Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 3:43pm CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Reviews, Site Articles
Posted by: Bronzewolf | Credit(s): Go90

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Views: 13,239

This is it. The beginning of the end. The final chapter in Machinima's Prime Wars trilogy, bringing with it my last reviews for the series. I've reviewed Combiner Wars, Titans Return, and now it's time to review the finale season. We still have lots of episodes to get through, though, before we get to the true ending, so let's buckle up for one last ride, courtesy of Power of the Primes.

The episode gives us a brand new title sequence, featuring a logo cut by a laser from the floating head of Unicron, (Spoilers, maybe?) who looks like he was rendered using the animation software from the G2 commercials. It leads us to the title of the episode...


-Insert obligatory, completely original Shrek joke here-


Megatronus, voiced by Mark Hamill, starts us off by explaining to some mysterious force, whoistotallynotUnicronwhydoyouask, that he has to find a relic called the Requiem Blaster to complete the ancient...triumphurent? Right off the bat the usual problems pop up, blocky animation, expressionless faces, terrible lip sync, the usual, but they all seem to be worse this time around. It definitely seems like the series was rushed to try to premiere at the same time the coinciding toys were on store shelves, something neither of the two previous shows were able to do. Most of the movements characters make are sudden, with just a few frames dedicated to each. We'll dive into that more a bit later in the episode.

Anyway, Megatronus has a brief flashback to the era of the original 13 Primes, back when he had used the requiem blaster for good to defeat evil, not the other way around. It also introduces a frankly strange love interest in the form of Solus Prime. Solus wants the blaster destroyed, and Megatronus is offended that she doesn't trust him to keep it safe. Solus' performance is stale and rigid, especially given that she's trying to be portrayed as a warm, charming character. But, similarly, voice direction has not been one of the past show's highlights.


Because even Megatronus has to have a villain backstory. For some reason.



This whole scene gets a bit exposition heavy, and doesn't flow very well as a normal conversation. It's quite painfully obvious that this scene is purely to inform the viewer of Megatronus' plan and backstory, even though there are more organic ways of achieving that. Megatronus doesn't find the blaster, and dissapears, off to search another area.

We then catch up with the main cast, consisting of Perceptor, Windblade, Victorion, and Megatron, who find themselves being watched in the middle of a cybernetic swamp. The same story with Megatronus and Solus is detailed again, making the previous scene unneeded. While it's hard to get across in text form, there's a scene here that shows all of these characters together, talking one at a time. The only character that ever moves, blinks, or changes their facial expressions is the one that's talking. The rest are just still character models until it's their turn to talk. This looks AWFUL, and has to be one of the worst looking shots I've noticed in any of these shows. The way the characters are animated makes them look lifeless enough, let alone just making them stand frozen when they aren't talking.

The group is then ambushed by the Dinobots, who appear from the plant growth in the swamp.


*Live Studio Audience Applauds*

Something extremely important to note here is that, despite the Dinobots combining later in the episode, they all have their own personalities and voices, something other combiner members in this show notably do not have. It's been all but established that the limbs of combiners are little more than drones, and it's just one consciousness shared between the members. This totally retcons that entire thing, showing that (at least with Volcanicus) each member has a consciousness, identity, name, voice, and (in the case of Grimlock and Slug at minimum) a robot mode and the ability to transform.


So wait, does that mean Dust Up just got straight up sliced in half? Is she dead? How can Victorion still control her right arm? This presents so many questions.

To the episode's credit, it is really nice to hear Gregg Berger as Grimlock again. He delivers a great performance, and it's a great callback to the original show.

The Dinobots start attacking the gang, because they don't trust Megatron. Grimlock takes out Megatron with the slowest, easiest-to-see-coming tail swipe ever. He then grabs Perceptor, trying to drown him, even though he shouldn't need air to breathe. There are several instances here where a few more frames would have made things look considerably smoother, such as when Perceptor gets knocked over. On the first couple of watches I genuinely though he just clipped through Grimlock's leg.


Grimlock moves more like a sock puppet here then I would like to admit.

Meanwhile, the other members of the expedition are having their own problems with the dinos. For instance, Victorion is having to deal with both Sludge and Snarl, who both seem to be nearly the same size as her even though we've seen Volcanicus and Victorion being the same size in trailers.


I swear to Primus they're saying "TOM" "HANKS!" "TOM" "HANKS!"

And then we're treated to the best/worst part of the entire episode. Windblade is in the middle of a battle with Slug, and tosses him across the clearing. In the next shot, however, he stands up, transformed, about ten feet away on her left. You can see Windblade on the ground after tossing Slug in the lower left hand corner of the first image, and then where Slug pops back up in literally the NEXT SHOT in image 2. Who in the production office decided that was okay?




...10 outta 10

The Dinobots regroup, and reveal to the cast that they can form Volcanicus, the bombshell on which the episode ends.

That was quite the episode. I wish I could say that they've fixed everything, or that it's even an improvement over the last series, but I honestly can't. The mouth movements are worse, the animation feels rushed, the writing is still terrible, the voice direction and some of the acting isn't good, and there's glaring continuity errors that are just glossed over. There isn't enough story to fully critique yet, so I'll reserve my judgement for the full series until more episodes are released, but I don't harbor a lot of hope.
Thanks for tuning in with me to take a look at Power of the Primes. If you want to watch the episode for yourself and tell me if I was right or wrong, you can find it on Go90 or the Transformers Tumblr page. Join me next week as we take a look at episode 2!