Review: Machinima Transformers Titans Return Episode 1

Burn wrote:One thing I find really odd.

"We need to find fighters". So ... that city Trypticon is stomping on is inhabited by a bunch of civilians? The war just ended, do they expect me to believe it's either empty (with the lights on) or populated with Cybertronians that don't know how to fight?

My memory of Combiner Wars is hazy but my impression is that it's been at least a few decades since the war ended... and this episode made note of how Metroplex was decommissioned a long time ago during the war.

Could be as much as 100 million years since the second Golden Age started, I suppose, given Starscream claiming to be 108 million years old.

Most timelines place the creation of the Transformers at 8-12 million years before present day.

You should be aware by now that the second animated series from Hasbro and Machinima featuring the Transformers, Titans Return, is being released in the US on the go90 app platform - and surely soon to follow for non-US viewers by other means, like its predecessor Combiner Wars. Our review of the first episode can be read here, and a review of the second will be making its way to the front page later today, too.

With that covered, you may want some more behind the scenes material, and Collider is here to provide the content - namely, an interview conducted and coordinated via Twitter with the voice of Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen, returning to the franchise once more after the live-action movies and the animated shows Robots in Disguise and Rescue Bots. Check out some selected parts below, and read the whole piece here - which touches on a lot more than Titans Return, but always in a Peter Cullen and Optimus Prime shape!

It’s impossible to separate you from Optimus Prime, having voiced the character for over 30 years, but looking into the far-off future, what would make you step away from voicing Optimus?

Cullen: Yeah, well that’s been done before. I’ve already rehearsed that scene. [laughs] I’ve only done five movies since then, so it’s not like we’re talking, in terms of expansive years, since 1986, I’ve done a few games, Machinima, the second series now with them. Other than that, it’s been a very frugal way of making a living as Optimus Prime. What’s in store for him, I don’t know. But I’m not willing to give it up as long as it’s popular and people care for it. I would respect that part and continue on without much debate. But whether or he’s going to? I don’t know. I can’t speak for the multitude of people who are behind the steering wheel of this huge machine. If it all goes well, I’ll be doing it for years to come!

What was his reaction to being approached to play Optimus prime



Cullen: Elation, because I had waited a couple of weeks, which is not uncommon when you’re auditioning for a series and when they inform you that you have that role or that part. But more to the point, I had no idea who Optimus Prime was outside of the small audition that I did. In those days, back in the 80s, we were constantly doing cartoons, Frank Welker and I. We would meet at auditions sometimes or end up on a show and say, “Hey! You got a gig? So did I! That’s great!” That’s how we met by the way. Over the years, you try to add up all those feelings and say, “What actually happened?”

I remember the audition, I remember doing an impersonation of my brother who was a Marine, and heeding his advice, not to be an a-hole. Be real, don’t be Hollywood, that kind of thing. An audition that lasted perhaps a few minutes ended up changing my world, my life. That character has affected many different people’s lives in many different ways; I’m always overwhelmed by that, humbled by it, to tell you the truth.

[...]

What’s his favorite moment or scene as Optimus

Cullen: I would probably have least-favorite scenes. [laughs] I would include, the most important one, when I did the death scene. The other ones are doing all the screaming, yelling, blood-throat scenes; those are my least favorite. My most favorite scenes, which they don’t do enough, are when he’s written to express compassion and understanding. They never really want to express that level of Prime, which I thought was his most important, valuable trait.

Double post ^

I think it’s pretty cool that he really loves voicing Prime.

Burn wrote:One thing I find really odd.

"We need to find fighters".

The entirety of the Original Transformers character Library, other than the few you see on screen are apparently off world on missions. (IRL-Budget)

But Hey, Seeing Tundecracker, Skywarp, Sunstorm, and um..miscellaneous seeker (I know it probably has a name, but if it wasn't named in the original series I would not know it) crash & burn to their deaths was cool I guess...

Qwan wrote:And the episodes still aren't up in any official capacity for the rest of us non-USians to watch, as far as I'm aware. Machinima, mates, if you're gonna make an exclusivity deal with a service that only works in the US, maybe you should also find a way for the entire rest of the world to watch it too without resorting to piracy. Come on now.

It's not piracy if it's on YouTube.

Besides, you're Australian, we're the biggest digital pirates in the world.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:

Kroenen wrote:Really says a lot when even the voice of Optimus is telling you that the aggression needs to be toned down.

Not really what he said.

Maybe not directly, but you can tell he doesn't like playing hyper-aggressive with Optimus. I think he's even mentioned this in other interviews. Saying stuff like "I'll kill you" is clearly betraying who Peter believes Optimus should be.

That's not to say Bayverse Prime is bad or anything (or that Peter's view is the only valid one), just that he clearly isn't comfortable with the direction it's taken.

The first two episodes of the Machinima Titans Return series premiered yesterday, picking up where the previous Combiner Wars series left off. We've already broken down Episode 1, and it, surprisingly, was not bad. So now it is time to turn the spotlight to Episode 2, "Our Heroes Respond". Let's just jump right in to it, shall we?

After being welcomed again by the overly-fancy title sequence, we find Windblade where we left her last episode, meditating with the newly reawakened Metroplex.

Meditating with Metroplex, coincidentally, is my favorite holistic workout tape

During the mind-meld session, we get the lore of this version of Cybertron built out for us in the form of Metroplex telling Windblade his story and the purpose of the Titans overall. We actually learn quite a bit of useful backstory here, and I think it was executed very well. Not overly exposition-filled, and it succeeded in fleshing out the world quite a bit.

Narrationformers! Exposition in Disguise!

They both finally realize Trypticon has also risen, and Metroplex volunteers himself to go and defend Cybertron again after all those years. Windblade is opposed to this, as Metroplex is in no state to go and do battle with another Titan (even though we haven't seen, and won't see, these supposed injuries she mentions).

Scrud? Is...is that what she said? Does...does she mean Scrap? I've got nothing.

In trying to find another solution, she again goes to see Perceptor in his lab, who's currently studying some of the samples he's collected from Starscream's corpse. She discusses with him Trypticon returning, and the best course of action to stop him from continuing to tear the city apart. My biggest issue with this scene is just some of the animation feels really clunky. Like Windblade looking around Perceptor's lab looks like a video game cut scene. It just kind of pulls you out of the narrative.

They decide to take their case to the Mistress of Flame who, in turn, sends the "Eilte Air Resistance Squadron" to hold Trypticon off. These, we find out, are the seekers. The pretty much instantly die, which is unfortunate, as it would have been interesting to see them cope with Starscream going AWOL. There was also a chance to have an interesting subplot about how Starscream doesn't really want to kill his former comrades, but whatever piece of Trypticon is still within the shell of the giant titan takes him over and makes him do it. I consider that a missed opportunity.

While this is all happening, the Mistress of Flame discovers that Hot Rod has given up the Matrix when they needed it most, and for the first time so far in the series, we can hear Judd Nelson.

Heyyy, that's better!

It's nice to hear the original voice of Roddy return, and I think, while Judd Nelson is obviously older than he was when he originally did the voice for Hot Rod, it still feels the same. He does a great job.

Hot Rod says he'll come and help fight off Trypticon, just as Metroplex starts to move toward the oncoming Kaiju. We do get some nice action scenes here (None with Metroplex and Trypticon yet), and it's pretty much the best part of the episode. Perceptor makes a hint that he will go find Fortress Maximus to help in the battle, which again feels like they're dumping all their material in the first episodes, but we'll see. With a threat like they've never seen before just on the Horizon, Episode 2 ends.

Overall, I think the biggest issue was timing/pacing. There were lines here and there that waited a couple beats too long to be delivered, didn't have the right emotion or movement tied to them, and so on. It's a good episode, certainly better than a lot in Combiner Wars, but it feels underwhelming. It's not good enough to walk away with a sense of "Oh, that was amazing!" and it's not bad enough to be entertainingly so. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather it be the good than bad, but it felt like it just needed to move along a bit quicker. Anyway, that's my take on the (so far) enjoyable first two episodes of the Machinima Titans Return series. I'll be here with another review next Tuesday, when Episode three premiers over on Go90. Thanks for joining me, and thanks for reading Seibertron.com! See you next week!

Deadput wrote:it's better to stub your toe then to lose your whole foot.

I try not to point out grammar mistakes online, but this is just hilarious when taken literally and out of context.

Also, what do you think about the characterization of combiners across the whole franchise? Except for the toy bios, I feel that characters like the Stunticons and Aerialbots have kind of just been collective entities.

Did everybody here just forget that Scrapper, Scavenger, and Long Haul all appeared individually before back in Megatron's debut episode in Combiner Wars? Their reappearance here in episode 1 of Titans Return isn't some revolutionary thing. It's just Machinima recycling the same three Constructicon character models that they had already used before.