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The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots

Posted by william-james88 May 11, 2023 at 12:46pm CDT 43,966 views

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We have our most comprehensive interview yet with Transformers Rise of the Beasts' director Steven Caple Jr. While it reinforces many elements which fans have expressed disliking, like the push for diversity, rap culture, Michael Bay helping with the film and ensuring the preservation of the Bayverse, it does give us something very refreshing compared to all other Transformers films: a focus on the robots as characters the audience can truly care about. While we did have that with Bumblebee, that film was centered around the nostalgic concept of a human befriending an alien creature (who could not talk), learning about our world. This film instead is about teams of robots, each made up of distinct characters, with their own personalities and reasons for acting as they do.

Here is the blurb concerning what the director hopes to accomplish with this film and you can read the entire interview from the Hollywood Reporter here.

I hope it’s not a cheesy answer, but I want people to be able to connect with the new Transformers that we’re creating. Yes, I definitely want people to connect with the humans, too, because they now look like us more than ever in this film. But, if anything, I just really want people to be able to emotionally connect with the Transformers that you know and the new [Transformers] that we’re bringing to the table. I’m not here to just create robots for you to say, “Yeah, that was cool. That was fun.” I want you to be like, “I really truly care about [Optimus] Primal. I really truly care about Airazor and these other characters,” because this is the foundation for what I would love the franchise to be going forward. And a lot of the stuff in this film is a huge setup for where the franchise can go, so I’m excited for people to check that out.

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Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by ZeroWolf May 11, 2023

william-james88 wrote:By the way, while I really want this film to succeed, and I think it's doing everything right with the marketing, I truly think the Flash will wipe the floor with TF ROTB.

I think the Flash will be a juggernaut, an event type movie, and suck up all the hype or good word of mouth ROTB may have.

We'll see what happens but this is my prediction. ROTB will have a strong opening week and then a massive drop (like over 60%) for the following week and then just keep dropping and having little stay factor in cinemas, being pushed to digital quickly to recoup costs there.

Sadly, you're probably right. Though at least this (and GotG3) would be the only movies I'd probably see currently.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by william-james88 May 11, 2023

ZeroWolf wrote:
william-james88 wrote:By the way, while I really want this film to succeed, and I think it's doing everything right with the marketing, I truly think the Flash will wipe the floor with TF ROTB.

I think the Flash will be a juggernaut, an event type movie, and suck up all the hype or good word of mouth ROTB may have.

We'll see what happens but this is my prediction. ROTB will have a strong opening week and then a massive drop (like over 60%) for the following week and then just keep dropping and having little stay factor in cinemas, being pushed to digital quickly to recoup costs there.

Sadly, you're probably right. Though at least this (and GotG3) would be the only movies I'd probably see currently.

With a 7 year old girl and a 5 year old boy, I'll probably be at the movies all through the coming weeks. We've got Little Mermaid, ROTB, The Flash, Elemental and Indiana Jones. All films I'm planning on watching. It's really packed, the films sudios should have left room for these movies to breathe.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by DeathReviews May 11, 2023

They won't get us to 'care' about the Transformers if they give them the usual Bayverse grossly exaggerated stereotype treatments. We shall see.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by First-Aid May 11, 2023

DeathReviews wrote:They won't get me to 'care' about the Transformers if they give me the usual Bayverse grossly exaggerated stereotype treatments. We shall see.

Fixed your post for you.

I doubt we'll see those stereotypes with the new director. We didn't with the last movie.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by ZeroWolf May 11, 2023

william-james88 wrote:
ZeroWolf wrote:
william-james88 wrote:By the way, while I really want this film to succeed, and I think it's doing everything right with the marketing, I truly think the Flash will wipe the floor with TF ROTB.

I think the Flash will be a juggernaut, an event type movie, and suck up all the hype or good word of mouth ROTB may have.

We'll see what happens but this is my prediction. ROTB will have a strong opening week and then a massive drop (like over 60%) for the following week and then just keep dropping and having little stay factor in cinemas, being pushed to digital quickly to recoup costs there.

Sadly, you're probably right. Though at least this (and GotG3) would be the only movies I'd probably see currently.

With a 7 year old girl and a 5 year old boy, I'll probably be at the movies all through the coming weeks. We've got Little Mermaid, ROTB, The Flash, Elemental and Indiana Jones. All films I'm planning on watching. It's really packed, the films sudios should have left room for these movies to breathe.

Forgot about half those movies to be fair, but yeah I've got no desire to see them (despite Keaton being my favourite movie batman, if the film had been only him or him in a batman beyond esque flick, I'd seen it in a heart beat). Only film my kids wanted to see recently was super mario. Oh and the oldest wants to see RotB

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade May 11, 2023

First-Aid wrote:
DeathReviews wrote:They won't get me to 'care' about the Transformers if they give me the usual Bayverse grossly exaggerated stereotype treatments. We shall see.

Fixed your post for you.

I doubt we'll see those stereotypes with the new director. We didn't with the last movie.

Many has expressed disdain for Wheeljack's design being an Urkel-derived stereotype.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by Spider5800 May 11, 2023

I think RotB may have a chance just because the DC movies have been...lets say polarizing, for a while. Michael Keaton's Batman is a big draw, absolutely, but this is still really a Snyder universe movie, and those have been a mixed bag, at best, at the box office. Doesn't help that Ezra Miller has single handedly done everything he can to generate bad press for Flash, despite playing the title character.

It may still be successful, but I doubt it's going to be event movie successful.

That said, I'm more worried that this is going to end up like Bumblebee, where everyone who actually watches it agrees it was a pretty good film, but it also ends up kind of bombing because most people associate "Transformers movie" with "garbage" and avoid it.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by First-Aid May 11, 2023

Sabrblade wrote:
First-Aid wrote:
DeathReviews wrote:They won't get me to 'care' about the Transformers if they give me the usual Bayverse grossly exaggerated stereotype treatments. We shall see.

Fixed your post for you.

I doubt we'll see those stereotypes with the new director. We didn't with the last movie.
Many has expressed disdain for Wheeljack's design being an Urkel-derived stereotype.

True. My thought is this: these bots can change their form at will. Why not the ability to change their appearances too? People get plastic surgery, tattoos/piercings, change hair colors, get new glasses, new clothing, etc. WHy not artificial life forms too? DO they have to have a reason? Maybe Wheeljack arrived to Earth, saw Urkel and enjoyed the show and decided to change his look up. We're so used to these guys looking the same over and over (which is part of my current complaints with the Generations line as they continue to recycle the same characters over and over but don't vary the designs) that when something gets changed up, it's startling. It's kind of like cosplaying but with the ability to physically alter the structure of your body.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade May 11, 2023

First-Aid wrote:
Sabrblade wrote:
First-Aid wrote:
DeathReviews wrote:They won't get me to 'care' about the Transformers if they give me the usual Bayverse grossly exaggerated stereotype treatments. We shall see.

Fixed your post for you.

I doubt we'll see those stereotypes with the new director. We didn't with the last movie.
Many has expressed disdain for Wheeljack's design being an Urkel-derived stereotype.

True. My thought is this: these bots can change their form at will. Why not the ability to change their appearances too? People get plastic surgery, tattoos/piercings, change hair colors, get new glasses, new clothing, etc. WHy not artificial life forms too? DO they have to have a reason? Maybe Wheeljack arrived to Earth, saw Urkel and enjoyed the show and decided to change his look up. We're so used to these guys looking the same over and over (which is part of my current complaints with the Generations line as they continue to recycle the same characters over and over but don't vary the designs) that when something gets changed up, it's startling. It's kind of like cosplaying but with the ability to physically alter the structure of your body.

Can he also change his age? 'Cause he's gone from being a grownup in Bumblebee to a youngster in this movie.

Unless we're supposed to take that as a sign that this is a different Wheeljack and there are actually two 'bots with that name in the movies.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by alphatron10 May 11, 2023

This sucks. I want to be excited for this movie. Who in charge is saying that they can't say reboot? This is a reboot whether you like it or not. And for how so many people trash on the "Scourge is Bay Prime" theory, wouldn't you rather that than them try to shoehorn this into being the same universe? It seems like an incredibly stupid route to go if they wanna say this is a prequel.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by bluecatcinema May 11, 2023

Didn't Starscream and Megatron change their bodies during the first IDW comics run? Starscream had a whole room full of possible bodies, as I recall.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by griftimus prime May 11, 2023

i thought the most important thing was making it clear to people that this movie is a black and latino story?

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by 84everfan May 11, 2023

Well if there's no continuity it's not the same universe is it?
Not that hard to manage.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by TulioDude May 11, 2023

I'm suprised to see many people arguing about continuity.
The aproach could be seens to be reference what people liked(the 2007 movie for example) and ignoring some of the parts that are more specific to a individual film(like The Last Knight retcons).

It's like how the original Marvel comics, the cartoon and the toy bios didn't always match, but are still considered the same franchise.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by Rodimus Prime May 11, 2023

griftimus prime wrote:i thought the most important thing was making it clear to people that this movie is a black and latino story?

To the director and writers it is. Transformers are secondary. Hence my disappointment but not surprise.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by 84everfan May 11, 2023

Yes, I definitely want people to connect with the humans, too, because they now look like us more than ever in this film.

[/quote]

The fuck is that supposed to mean? Dumbass.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by -Kanrabat- May 11, 2023

84everfan wrote:
Yes, I definitely want people to connect with the humans, too, because they now look like us more than ever in this film.

The **** is that supposed to mean? Dumbass.

This is just corporate word-salad from someone who clearly either don't pay attention nor care about what they're making.

Any Transformers fans, either hardcore or casual, can see that the Transformers were very "human" if not, completely "human" since Day One.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade May 11, 2023

-Kanrabat- wrote:
84everfan wrote:
Yes, I definitely want people to connect with the humans, too, because they now look like us more than ever in this film.

The **** is that supposed to mean? Dumbass.

This is just corporate word-salad from someone who clearly either don't pay attention nor care about what they're making.

Any Transformers fans, either hardcore or casual, can see that the Transformers were very "human" if not, completely "human" since Day One.

Read the quote again. It's not talking about the movie's robot characters.

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by -Kanrabat- May 11, 2023

Sabrblade wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:
84everfan wrote:
Yes, I definitely want people to connect with the humans, too, because they now look like us more than ever in this film.

The **** is that supposed to mean? Dumbass.

This is just corporate word-salad from someone who clearly either don't pay attention nor care about what they're making.

Any Transformers fans, either hardcore or casual, can see that the Transformers were very "human" if not, completely "human" since Day One.
Read the quote again. It's not talking about the movie's robot characters.

Oh dear...
I should stop assuming people are generally logical and intelligent. My brain tuned out the WTF part.

So he wants the humains to be more... humain? What?
Is he admitting that he's written mindless NPCs this whole time?
:HEADHURTS:

:HEADHURTS:

Re: The Director of Transformers ROTB says his Biggest Goal is to make you Care about the Robots (view post)

Comment by william-james88 May 12, 2023

-Kanrabat- wrote:
Sabrblade wrote:
-Kanrabat- wrote:
84everfan wrote:
Yes, I definitely want people to connect with the humans, too, because they now look like us more than ever in this film.

The **** is that supposed to mean? Dumbass.

This is just corporate word-salad from someone who clearly either don't pay attention nor care about what they're making.

Any Transformers fans, either hardcore or casual, can see that the Transformers were very "human" if not, completely "human" since Day One.
Read the quote again. It's not talking about the movie's robot characters.

Oh dear...
I should stop assuming people are generally logical and intelligent. My brain tuned out the WTF part.

So he wants the humains to be more... humain? What?
Is he admitting that he's written mindless NPCs this whole time?

No, he's saying the main human characters are black and latino, unlike before when they were always white. He's a black guy and says that the human characters look like him more than ever.

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