I really enjoy reading everyone's posts, especially the thoughtful ones that point out great things they liked about the TF movies and the stuff that they didn't like, hated or wanted to change. All of the news here lately at TFW has me super excited for TF3 next summer, but at the same time I know there's a camp of folks that look at gunned up NASCAR cars and shake their head wondering where it all went wrong. So, in the spirit of fair play, whether you love or hate the first two films, what's the one thing you'd keep for TF3? What's the favorite thing (if you love them) or the silver lining (if you hate them) that Michael Bay got right in your opinion? On the flip side, what's the one thing you'd get rid of immediately? What's that one thing that distracts you enough to piss you off about how it was done? Remember, keep it to ONE thing on both accounts. For me, as a fan of the first two films, it's hard to pick one thing that I absolutely love. But what I think Bay got right is sort of obvious, the choice of Peter Cullen to play Optimus Prime. Because I can hear "Prime's Voice" when he speaks and the character is true to what I remember as a child, it keeps me into the movie. Whether Prime is the main focus or not of a scene, my brain goes into "Prime's doing his thing somewhere" mode. What I hated? It's a minor issue for me, but the way the Matrix was used in the 2nd one. I always loved the G1 version of the Matrix, holding the knowledge and history of the Autobots, and I loved how it was carried by a Prime. Again, keep it to one on each side.
One change - I'd eliminate the "potty" humor (the Twins, showing Simmons butt, dogs humping, etc.) One keeper - While there is a lot I like, I think you hit the nail on the head - Cullen as Optimus Prime.
It's funny you bring that one up. The 12 year old in me laughs at that stuff horribly, but the adult in my looks at it and thinks "yeaaahhh we could really get rid of most of that." I think that's a problem in Hollywood a lot now, 2012 had a lot of silly humor in it too, imho. To elaborate on that, I've heard over and over how "dark" the TF movies are so that the humor was necessary. The thing is, it's a Transformers movie, we all have a general idea that good will prevail over evil in the end, so maybe that's why a lot of the humor is out of place. G1 had plenty of cheesy 80's humor, but it certainly wasn't potty humor. I think much of Simmons' character (butt cheeks aside) fits that kind of role and was plenty to lighten up the mood when it occasionally needs it.
one change - less bastardization of characters or concepts we kinda like as is; e.g sideswipe+sunstreaker, constructicons one keeper - the 'fun' and cheesy feel of the movies, which makes the whole concept easier to swallow than some wanky homage-fest.
I like this one a lot. I know there are a lot of fans that would love a G1 style homage instead of the Bay universe, but I think that would have been a huge mistake. Why? The direct comparisons to the original G1 would have been even worse than they are now, and it would be even easier to nitpick.
The Keeper Peter Cullen doing the opening monologue as Prime. For the people that don't know Transformers all that well it gives them what they need to know going into the film. For everyone it's a quick run down of the important things that happened between the films since they are set a few years apart. For Transformers fans it gets us all ready for the movie hearing the voice that is so familiar to us. The Change Decepticons that aren't easily beaten. We all know that American film makers aren't brave enough to give us anything but some happy ending or just a set up for a happy ending at the end of the film series. But that doesn't mean that it should not feel like the good guys didn't have to work for that happy ending. The Decepticons need to be stepped up to the status of great movie villains rather than feeling like cannon fodder for making one of the heroes look all edgy and cool. I know it might be shocking news to some of the folks in Hollywood but there are more than just a few fans of the villains out there. The Joker is talked about more in the Dark Knight than Batman was and you see more Darth Vader costumes at geek gatherings than you do Luke Skywalker costumes. About time the Transformers production team got the memo they need cool Decepticons not just cool Autobots slaughtering the bad guys like they were Droid Troopers from the Clone Wars.
The thing I'd change would be Bumblebee's alt mode. Never thought the flashy Camaro fit his character. He doesn't have to be a Beetle, but I think he does have to be a small compact car. I always wondered why they didn't make Bumblebee the Solstice and Jazz could've been the Camaro. His old alt mode could have been a beat-up Sunfire or something. I tried hard to think of something original to be a keeper, but I gotta go with the group: Cullen as Prime. Without him, I'm not sure the old G1 fans would have embraced these films.
One Change -- None of that God-awful humor we saw in ROTF. One Keeper -- Definitely Prime's opening monologue.
The one thing to change... hhhmmmm lots of little niggling things with me really... but for the sake of going for something a bit different I'm going to say a bit mor consistantcy and forward planning, and not having throwaway comments in the script which seemingly contradict other plot points. For example the whole thing about Jetfire's father being the first wheel and not transforming into anything just makes no sense for one thing as it suggests his bot mode was just a wheel, and secondly it jsut adds to the whole confusion of where the Transformers come from along with the Allspark giving life to machines and the hatchlings on the Nemesis. I think this for me has been the biggest letdown... even if there was no guarantee that they'd get to make movies 2 and 3 they could have done a J K Rowling and planned ahead so that they knew the universe that they were working in before even writing movie 1, rather than making it up as they go along like G1.... As for the keeper, despite what many people think, I'm going for the major change in aesthetic. I'm not a big fan of each individual design, and I think certain characters would've been best just not done at all, but I really I do like the way they look onscreen, eve if they'll never translate into toys 100% perfectly.
Keepers - Definitely the monolounge from the begining, plus fights/appearances with soundtrack (forrest fight scene, arrival scene) One change - erm....I'm sort of with the 'less humans' crowd, but I wouldnt mind them so much if they actually do something serious or important (ex.the entire parents scene....)
Change: The brainless shit jokes. Pretty much what other people in this thread have mentioned. Keep: The amazing robot designs. Also, let's get some back-and-forth combat banter between the Autobots. You know what I mean. They've been fighting side-by-side for millions of years and they almost seem like strangers to one another. OOH! And bring back Bumblebee's real voice. I'm getting sick of the radio gimmick- they said he didn't even NEED to use it in the second one.
Keep - the plot Change - the script I thought the overall plot of the flms was great (particularly the first one), but some of the dialogue and non-plot advancing scenes didn't fit. I think, as I've seen people mention in other threads, that Simmons (and possibly Leo) should be the limit of the low-brow humour. There was no need for Prime's "my bad", the twins' "hillbilly ninja" act, or most of Judy Witwicky's scenes.
keep: most of the movie aesthetic/some of the action style/military characters/the music get rid of: the humor/two dimensional characters/main human characters/the plot/weak Decepticons
Keep: Completely changing up established characters and mythos Kill with fire: all of the bad taste humor (funny stuff is fine but it shouldn't have to be scatalogicaly based humor).
I can't keep this to just one. Keep: Cullen as Prime (of course), The Twins (but maybe demote them to a slightly lesser role), ROTF-style Simmons, awesomely complex designs, I could go on... Change: I want a more bot-centric movie. While I don't think was as big of a problem in ROTF, the humans are far too heavily featured. And, while I actually like the Movieverse humans more than those in most other continuities, this really has to change.
Change : the focus from sam. Keep : high test action I think the films have well established Sam but it is time to mine elsewhere for story. time to get the lives of the transformers onscreen. None the less I think mike bay is really suited to bringing transformer's battles to fruition on the big screen. 1.5 billion gross in movie tickets still means the world over likes what they see.
