Agreed on all counts. Besides, it's war and even the most noble of soldiers have their breaking points. Look at Picard in First Contact - he finally broke and got the rage.
You're correct, but I don't even think OP had to have even reached a breaking point. From a justice point of view, the Decepticons were guilty of numerous crimes and punishment applicable to the crimes they committed needed to be meted out.
Hadn't changed? Did you watch the movie or just ignore the parts with Megatron. Compare him to movie one or movie 2. That was a significantly changed Megatron. He was tired, worn from endless battle, and desperate to see it all end. I've said in other threads, he might later try to betray Optimus, but he still offered a truce, something Optimus Prime is known for desiring in countless continuities, including this one. And Optimus lost the cause somewhere along the way. At first for both of them it was 'save Cybertron', for Megatron, at any cost, for Optimus, with as little destruction and chaos as possible. In DotM Megatron looked relieved, content, happy even when Cybertron was emerging through the space bridge. Came off more like 'Cybertron will finally be saved'. What did Optimus do? Forsake, Cybertron for Earth. A planet that as a whole didn't want them, and has betrayed them more times than the cons ever did. "Sub-Zero thing"? I acknowledged that was Sub-Zero's fatality from MK1 in theaters. Head with spine attached... yup, that's a Sub-Zero thing. Good comparison if you ask me and not necessary as a whole for Optimus to kill him in that manner. As for the face thing... aside from con fodder, how many kills didn't involve a head or face? Yup, my count is 0 too. Well, justified statement if you ask me. About to kill him? From the ground? After Megatrons attack? Guess I missed the part where Sentinel had recieved enough repairs, and regained enough energy to fight back, so Optimus killed him before he could draw his gun. When did revenge become Optimus' noble ideal. Yeah, and he's contradicting his nature from the scenes when he's not battling. Kill only when necessary and half that list seems unnecessary. Optimus Prime has always been known as a peaceful and just leader, but was nothing like that in the movieverse. Movie 1 characterized him best in both dialogue and action. I never once complained about him 'being a bitch' either. Seems like Bay got a hard-on for badass Optimus in RotF and carried it through in this movie. Half his kills in all 3 movies were cold sparked and overall pretty brutal. Not the Optimus I remember.
This is the only movie where I feel Prime's rage is warranted. I didn't like it in ROTF because he didn't need to go to that extreme. But after losing his best friend to an asshole and driving up to the city and watching the cons shoot people like ants, and then witnessing a poor old man/robot getting executed as he begged for his life. Yeah... I was feeling like ripping some heads. It's the only Transformers live action movie that made me feel that way. I didn't really hate the Fallen.. I hated Soundwave for killing that poor Q/Wheeljack character and those random cons for treating people like sport.
A truce with Megs in charge meaning doing things Megatron's way. Uhm....no! Cybertron finally saved??? You seem to be forgetting the part where humans are to be used as SLAVES!!! smdh Its not revenge, its called justice!!
Uhm, so you didn't feel that Prime's rage was warranted?? Uhm did you forget the part about him actually getting his spark blown to bits by Megatron from behind? Lets not forget that Prime didn't even kill Megatron in ROTF, he hacked off his arm and blew off his face, but didn't go after him after he took care of the Fallen. He could've but he didn't. Sorry, but the Fallen needed to die as well.
Has anyone ever considered that the best way to kill a Transformer seems to be to go for the head or the spark? It's been made obvious that they can take insane amounts of damage and just self repair - Starscream just reattached his arm in ROTF like nothing after Prime ripped it off. If you want to put a Transformer down then that's how you do it. Yeah it's nasty but if Prime dicks around trying to fight nice then he's going to end up getting wasted, it's simple straight forward efficieny. He doesn't act like he enjoys it, he just does the job. I don't get why people think he's somehow less of a heroic figure because he's ditched the Saturday morning cartoon routine of trying to reach out to the villains. The war has been going on for millions of years, it looks like the Decepticons have comitted near genocide against the Autobots and Cybertron is a complete ruin as a result. None of them are going to have a change of heart thanks to a bit of mercy and a speech from Optimus at this stage in the game, they're all complete nutters. It's not like he can take them prisoner either, where is he going to put them? There aren't enough Autobots to properly guard any sort of prison and defend Earth at the same time, not with the Decepticons able to mobilize over two hundred soldiers and ships and who knows what other crazy Devestator type shit they've got. Humans can't do it, they couldn't defend a tiny Allspark shard let alone keep someone like Sentinel Prime locked up. The fact is Optimus and the other Autobots have been pushed against a wall. There is no way they could operate in the style laid out in the cartoons and actually survive.
No one said with Megatron in charge. He offered a truce adding where Optimus would be without him, not serve under him. Did you forget the part where I said he would save Cybertron at any cost? Arrest, stasis, possible execution later would be justice. He lost Ironhide, a dear friend, days earlier. Sentinel couldn't fight back. It was revenge by that point.
His mentor is the biggest traitor in the galaxy, BFF Ironhide killed by same mentor, 'Cons bring an invasion force to enslave/wipe out humanity and strip mine the planet--think I would be pissed too. Then throw in the lies told to him.
Uh, yeah he did. That was his one condition, that he was in charge. He added the "where would be without me" bit at the end because he thought Prime wasn't going to kill him, his mistake.
Were people this upset when Wolverine mowed through dozens of soldiers in the X-Men movies, slicing and dicing them up and stabbing them and whatnot? (Granted, yes, Wolverine as a character is sort of expected to do that stuff, unlike the somewhat established nice-'Bot that Prime is.) Or how about when Yoda beheads a Clone Trooper in Revenge of the Sith(?) and then also proceeds to stab other through the heart with his lightsaber? Or when Bat-Keaton attaches dynamite to the strong-man circus performer, and then gleefully smiles as he b**ch-slaps him into a hole whilst the dynamite explodes? Or when Bat-Bale beats all of those criminals to a pulp? Sure, he doesn't kill 'em, but he puts them in a body-brace for months and gives them psychological problems. Or when Kirk and Spock offer Nero a chance to surrender and board the Enterprise, but he declines, and they decide "Well f**k it, let's let him die!" and allow him to be swallowed by a black hole in a disintegrating ship? Or when Alice (in Burton's Alice in Wonderland) lops off the Jabberwoky's head with the whole "Off with your head!"-quip? Or all the good guys that kill the bad guys (in waves of blood) in Kick-Ass? Heck, an 11 year old girl does most of this! Or how about when Gimli and Legolas make a freakin' sport out of killing Orcs and such in Lord of the Rings? LOL, whatever, they're bad guys! Lulz! Were the kills violent? Yes. But were they necessary? Yes. It's one of those "you can only let the bad guy break out of jail so many times before you just have to plain STOP him"-times. Optimus was just betrayed by his former leader, his mentor, father-figure. Attacked, wounded and almost killed by his role-model who was attempting to wipe out an entire race. His best friend brutally murdered by said mentor. Lied to by a race that he trusted. An entire city held siege and levelled in his absence. Entire populations vaporized. And Megatron? Well, okay, he did just save Optimus' butt moments earlier, but in a very twisted kind of way. Megatron has spent the last three movies plotting to either become supreme ruler of the universe, or revive Cybertron for the sole purpose of recreating his army to help him take over the universe. I think Optimus has just had enough. And he tries his best to make them quick. A lot of other people have raised this issue. A shot to the head (or an axe) is better than prying off one's arm. A mercy kill is better than letting the enemy die slowly of energon-loss or other damages. Stabbing one through the spark is worlds better than sadistically peeling the armor off of their protoform slowly. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that a bloodthirsty Optimus is cool and all, but things just don't jive in this day-and-age when a slap on the wrist is all that the "bad guys" get. I think that a little sadness/remorse would do wonders for this. If Optimus could only hang his head in sorry after killing Sentinel, or declare under his breath "It is finished." after disposing of Megatron. I really think that little details like that just add a bit of "Oh, well, now it's okay" to the situation. In my opinion.
He should be better than all of then. Optimus Prime is your standard, every other badass gets to be evaluated against him. If he's supposed to be a flawed character, that should be his flaw.
You need to watch the movie again, Megs clearly said he wanted to be in charge......also after Prime got his arm hacked off by SP he begged for his life, had it not been for Megs Prime would have been dead....so uhm yea....SP needed to die right then and there as well. There was need for a trial
Lies by humans, the very race he was fighting for. They lied and betrayed him more than cons and he still valued them more. Mixed priorities if you ask me. Then, I probably missed that bit, so I'll listen again my next viewing. I still think a truce was more in his best interests than total destruction, and leadership would be something to handle after they decided how to deal with Sentinel. More in line with how I feel. He's supposed to be an example. He comes off as perfect in his hopes of freedom for all and universal peace but uses destructive means of disposing of his enemies. These might be the methods of an anti-hero, but not a great leader. As I said before I'll have to listen again but I still think there could have been other options then Megatrons destruction, especially how he once called Megatron his "brother". As for Sentinel, you might remember he spared Optimus in D.C. He gave Optimus once chance for his life earlier. When Optimus persisted with his defiance, that is when it was necessary for his destruction. My arguement is this, badass Optimus, even with Ironhide's death, contradicts TF1 Optimus and the many versions of him before we all grew up with.
Sentinel sparing Optimus was his own stupidity just like the Fallen showing up only after Optimus was resurrected vs. destroying all the soldiers while OP was still dead. Seemed like SP figured Optimus would go along with his plan. Remember after Ironhide died and Optimus returned to the NEST base and surveyed the damage. He just stood there without saying anything. It seemed at that point that he did some serious thinking and even tried to reason with SP in DC. After that, SP sealed his own fate. Honestly I would've loved to see him die like that Con pilot who was ripped apart by the wreckers. Also had no problem with Megtron's death. With all the faults and issue this movie had, the ONLY beef I had is with how they used Shockwave.
