I just want to briefly preface this by saying that I only know Transformers from the movies and what I can recollect from the cartoon and toys I owned when I was a kid. Lest any fanboys think I am attempting to pass myself off as one, I am not. This is merely my opinion as a moviegoer.
As we all know, a few days ago we got the official title for the newest Transformers adventure. Transformers: Age of Extinction. Once again directed by Michael Bay and once again promising to incorporate new robots (Dinobots) and bring back fan favorites (Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and – and this is only a rumor – Megatron/Galvatron). Surprise, surprise…
I think I am like most people in that I loved the first Transformers, detested the second one, and was satisfied with the third. That being said, I think that they should have taken the franchise in a different direction. Something which they could have done by making a prequel fully set in Cybertron (i.e. no humans). I happen to think (and I may be the only one) that the short sequence in Dark of The Moon detailing the attempted escape of The Arc during the waning days of the war in Cybertron was one that left the idea of a Transformers only prequel as a real possibility. A film (or films) showing what led to the war in Cybertron, how battle lines were drawn, and the rise to power of both Megatron and Optimus would be a million times more interesting than once again going through the motions of humans reacting in amazement to these giant metal spacemen while pursuing their own vapid storylines involving their love interest du jour and their moral conundrums about participating in a conflict that is not theirs. Am I right?
It should go without saying that the Transformers are the stars of these films and the humans are merely interchangeable role players in their battles for whatever macguffin they are vying for (The Allspark, The Matrix of Leadership, or The Space Bridge). Hence, the complete absence of Sam Witwicky in this new film and the ease in which the roles of Mikaela and Carly were swapped in Dark of The Moon.
Seeing as how movies are there to ultimately entertain us, I must say I enjoy watching Transformers movies. I go into the theater fully expecting to shut off my brain for a couple of hours and marvel at (as my ex-girlfriend so eloquently described) “two giant robots beating each other up” and at the end of the day isn’t that what we all want from our Transformers?
