Hear me out and let me know your opinions, please. I love these movies. I love this website. I check for updates daily. When the first TF movie came out, I was 14 and began exploring buying a car, much like Sam. In this way, I connected with Sam in TF2 and 3 during his journey through life in college and getting a job and I was able to emotionally attach my decisions with Sam's in the movies. I know this is true for many TF fans. Of course, much like many people on this thread and myself, I F'ing love the transformers aspect most of all. It's the best and most important part of course. My favorite seen in the franchise is when Sam sees bumblebee stand up and send the Autobot signal into the sky. That was pure awe that everyone in the audience could feel. However, when Bay decided to team up with Wahlberg, I was hesitant but I trusted the process. Now, I don't love the movies like I once did solely because of Wahlberg. He's always angry. He's one dimensional. Confrontational. His bond with Bee is fake. The way Sam risked his life for Bee and Optimus and vise verse created a bond beyond anything Wahlberg has shown and I imagine, will show. I don't care how much you hate humans in these movies, that bond needs to be present. Kruger failed to create a bond and instead inserted this unreal relationship between Optimus, bee and Cade that was simply...unbelievable. That being said, I've seen the trailers for TLK 5000 times over and over. Of course, I'm going to see TF5 and drool over the history, the score, the action and the transformers, but it won't be the same. I know this is how the boat floats in Hollywood, but I think the poor transition into TF4 was a crucial mistake for the franchise. Let me know what you guys think.
Personally I like mark better than Shia because one he doesn't scream and doesn't get somebody killed like optimus
I can respect your opinion, but I feel the complete opposite. First off, I think a change in direction and cast, both human and robot, was needed regardless of whether one likes the first trilogy or not. I liked the first trilogy, but it was time for something a little different. Second, I think Bumblebee's and Sam's relationship is cute, but I prefer the Optimus and Cade relationship because Optimus Prime regains his belief that humanity should be protected from his interactions with Cade. Sam was a guy whose car happened to be a Transformer. He was lucky (or unlucky) depending on how you look at it. He was trying to get a car and get the girl. I totally understand how teenage boys relate to that. However, I am no longer an undergraduate college student like I was when the first movie came out. I feel like I personally can relate to Cade more because he's down on his luck and he arguably could gain nothing and lose everything by helping Optimus and the Autobots. He admits his mistakes, and he arguably tries to control his daughter's life to much, but he genuinely cares for his daughter, and when he's helping Optimus he is trying to do the right thing, and I think he did do the right thing. That's why I love Cade. In TLK he is now a man on the run since he is helping the Autobots. He's not interested in what's best for himself but what is best for others, whether they be his daughter or the Autobots around him. I'm not saying Sam doesn't take risks, nor does he not care about the Autobots. He certainly does, but I think after DOTM a new batch of human characters were needed. Cade knew about Chicago and Transformers, but to them they were something far off. It was like hearing news about some foreign war or something to many humans. Having the truck he tows secretly be Optimus is a way to reinvigorate the robots in disguise thing after three films IMHO. Truth is, there is no single character that we all relate to. I saw in another thread once someone say that Cade was not relatable to anyone, which is not true. There are people that can relate to Sam, or Carly, or Cade, or Joshua, or Simmons. Likewise, there are people that can relate to Optimus or Bumblebee or Hound or other robot characters. Also, I like how Cade actually repairs Optimus, and how he appears to be repairing other Autobots in TLK.
Cade's character is a good concept but sadly suffers from poor writing thanks to AOE. With that being said he's still likeable and his relationship with Optimus is pretty good so far. From the little bit I've seen of him in TLK his character is definitely better and reflects Optimus' character in AOE a bit as a guy who's hopeless, an example of this would be how Izzy says she wants to stay and fight TFR but Cade says that you can't fight them.
As a G1 fan, Mark actually is very reminiscent of Spike, like the older 3rd season version. If they were do a 1 to 1 G1 live action, Mark Whalberg would fit the bill as Spike Whitwicky.
As an actor he's fine. Certainly more than competent. He neither grates nor really phones in his performance, and has a discernible personality to him. He plays his character well and is probably my favourite human character behind Simmons and Mearing. Lucas got himself killed, though. Lucas didn't die protecting Cade or anything, he died because Cemetary Wind and Lockdown responded to him ratting out Optimus. And because he was too dumb to get out of a car.
I honestly prefer Cade and Optimus' relationship as they feel more like equals. While Sam was fine, Bumblebee really wasn't much a character and in Transformers movies, you need good Transformer characters. The first trilogy revolved too heavily around Sam. He starts off buying a car to impress a girl and there's nothing to ever really show that Bumblebee was anything more than a car or, at best, a pet in Sam's eyes. ROTF is all about Sam's hero journey, with Optimus dying and Bee desperately trying to stay near Sam, like a needy dog. In DOTM, Sam's story is completely irrelevant to the main plot and is just him being a dick towards Bee and freaking out over everyone moving on from him. AOE was Optimus' story and they actually made Cade relevant to it. Cade is a dreamer and idealist who goes out of his way to help Optimus. His willingness to help and his struggles to protect his family reminds Optimus why he needs to protect humanity. Seeing how Cemetery Wind effects the Yeagers reminds him that CW are hurting both Cybertronians and humans. Sure, he is very confrontational and a poor provider for Tessa, but Sam had some big flaws, too. He makes impressing a girl his main priority, ditching his friend for Mikeala in the first movie, never treats Bee as an equal in any of the films and acts petty throughout the entirety of DOTM. I honestly don't think Cade is much worse than Sam.
The Bee/Sam/Cade thing needed to end. You can't make it last forever, there needed to be movies with more stories, not the same ones. Its a good thing it's not the same. But Wahlberg is without a doubt ten times better then Shia. Also i like how Cade and Optimus are what Sam and Bee were. Also with Sam, Transformers felt like a kids movie
Eh, sorry, I found Sam kinda annoying. One can argue that Cade's sort of the same character, but at least he's more mature. Also Wahlberg can get away with getting a little goofy without pissing me off; when Shia did it it just didn't work for me.
He's adequate. Doesn't quite have the charm that Sam did, but it was nice to see a character who could hold their own. Also, he has his moments here and there like the "you better have insurance" or the little spat he had with Stanley Tucci's character in the building towards the end. I still prefer Sam, but that's because there's three movies of his character on display as opposed to just one for Mark.
I'm sorry but I find Cade better. He's decently written and cares for the Transformers. We're told that Sam supposedly cares but did you notice that not once did he ever not refer to Bumblebee as "his car." It made Sam come off as seeing Bumblebee as only a possession that he can simply toss away when he's bored or annoyed. Even freaking Mikela came off as more caring to the Transformers unlike Same. Another thing is that at least Cade doesn't hog the spotlight like Sam did. Cade's story is intertwined and compliments the Transformers' storyline, helping not draw away from the main focus. Yes he's turning into an important character lately, but despite Cade's focus, there's still a large amount of focus on Optimus and the history behind Cybertron. Sam's storylines barely intertwined with the Transformers. Exactly how was Sam constantly searching for a job relevant to the main storyline. The answer is that it isn't. They could have cut all that out and started with him already at a job, perhaps working for the guy that allied himself with the Decepticons and doesn't know this until a spy points it out to him or maybe even he accidentally overheard his boss talking to the Decepticons. It would have gave Sam focus but not draw any attention away from the main Transformers storyline. There's also the fact that Cade kind of contributes more than Sam. When he was refereed to as only the messenger in DotM, they weren't kidding, he's pretty much only a glorified delivery boy. Think about it, he delivers the All Spark, he delivers the Matrix of Leadership, he delivers info. Sam never really got involved all that much in the conflict. The ones who did were pretty much... well everyone else. Heck who could even forget Mikela using the truck to help Bumblebee fight after he lost his legs in the first film. Cade gets in the action more because it shows how far he's willing to go to help the Transformers whom he sees as his friends.
I find I like Cade a lot more as a protagonist, mainly because I was too old to get fully on-board Shia's train when the first movie came out in '07 and by '09's Revenge of the Fallen I thought he was a noxious douchebag. What also works in Cade's favour for my money is that he interacts with the Autobots as people (so to speak) and thanks to the new direction the films have taken, he gets more opportunities to do that.
Sam was never close to being the worse thing about the movies, I even felt he was a bit like me when i was at school, short temper, mouth getting me in trouble all the time, my mother is even like a British version of his mum. But 3 movies in, it was so time for a change, and Markus Mark was a treat of an upgrade. I think think this is such a vital thing. They still need to get it more, and I worry they might be backtracking in TLK, but AOE was heading the right way!
Sam as a character always came out as a douchebag that hated everything about being involved with the cybertronians and was only interested in fucking hot babes. Cade, as a character actually feels like he belongs in the movie and with the bots. So yeah as much as I hate Wahlberg as a person his character and acting are overall better and one of the more tolerable parts of AOE.
There are roles I like Mark Wahlberg in so as an actor I'm okay with him. But Cade really doesn't do anything for me. I don't like him, I don't dislike him, he's just sort of there. I'm not relating to the character or feeling any connection so he's kind of in the way as a character since there is a lot of Cade time last movie but by the end I felt the same about him as I would some random background character with no lines. Cade don't feel like the sort of person I'd hang out with or who would be on my list of friends.
Well, thank you everyone. You have changed my mind about marky mark. Still looking forward to this crazy movie.
