Sam was better in the teen years where I could emphasise with his troubles as a young man and stuff. It's the same thing with Charlie in Bumblebee. I find that part of life relatable. With Cade, I like him better for how he handles crazy situations. Rather than scream, it's actually more tolerable to see a human just do everything he can to fight back. I do think he's a little too on the nose with his status as an inventor though.
Cade, for sure. I really don't like Sam at all, past the first movie (which he was decent in). Aside from Shia's rather annoying performance, Sam just seems boring. He's constantly after a 'normal life'. Who cares about going to college and having a job when you're friends with alien robots, and helped save the world multiple times? Alien robots who are asking you for help! In reality, I'm sure some people would prefer a nice, comfortable life...but I don't want to follow them as the main protagonist of a story. I wouldn't go as far as to call Cade a great character, but at least he picks up a laser gun and tries to get stuff done. Despite the Witwicky motto, Cade ironically sacrifices far more than Sam in order to help the Autobots. It feels like he has adventures every day. You could probably make several movies about his adventures between AOE and TLK. Constantly on-the-run, helping struggling Autobots. You can't say the same for Sam. If I could be one, I'd definitely be Cade.
Neither one of them is what I'd consider to be a good character but I'd say that Sam was arguably the stronger protagonist, specifically in the first movie. His bond with Bumblebee was set up fairly decently and gave the film its more emotional "Spielberg" moments. It seemed like they didn't know where to go with his character in the sequels (although to be fair, they literally had no idea where they were going with these movies) and he became fairly unlikeable. In RotF, his character started out as "this isn't my war, I don't want to be a part of this" but eventually ended up stepping up, which kind of felt like a retread of certain beats from the first movie. In DotM, his character had the opposite mindset, wanting to be more involved and "matter" to people. With the right writing/directing team (as well as tighter continuity) this could have been an interesting bit of character development but Sam's job antics and general behavior just made him unlikeable in the movie. Cade also had a decent setup with his family situation and his early interactions with Optimus Prime but once they got aboard Lockdown's ship he became a fairly average action hero. The Last Knight tried to retcon some stuff about his past, namely that he is destined to be "The Last Knight" but Sam had already been through the whole "destiny" character arc in RotF, so it felt like a retread. I didn't find him unbearable but he never struck me as an interesting character. I know she wasn't an option but Charlie was definitely an improvement over both protagonists and is an ideal example of how to incorporate humans into the Transformers story. Instead of using Bumblebee as a prop, Bumblebee is integral to her character arc and their relationship is the emotional core of the movie. I know that I'll get attacked by certain Bayverse fans but I'd put Charlie way higher than the other two leads.
I think both started out strong but kind of wore out their welcome. Sam was a solid core of TF1 and the relationship with Bumblebee was well done. In ROTF I think it was a mistake to forcibly tie the story around Sam in the way they did. In DOTM I liked the angle they were going for of Sam wanting to matter, but Shia came off as annoying most of the time in it. I liked how Cade threw himself in with the Autobots and thought the family dynamic was solid. I even liked how he was Autobot "den mother" in TLK. But TLK then made the same mistake ROTF did by forcing him as the center of the plot.
I hope we get a version of Sparkplug and Spike/Buster for the new universe. Take the best aspects of Cade and Sam, and give it a father/son dynamic.
Had to watch DOTM again. I'll give you that. My point still stands though. Sam is barely a character. He is the same template through three movies...a total screwball with hints of first world problems. Cade isn't perfect either. But he is a character. He develops, he struggles, in ways we can actually identify with, and he has an arc, kinda. Cade gave enough of a shit to be bad ass throughout AoE, and he is actively sheltering Autobots and being a BFF in TLK. I don't know how you can claim he didn't care. In AoE Cade's response to Optimus wasn't to turn him in but fix and shelter. The reasoning may not have been entirely aultruistic at first but end of movie Cade certainly gives a damn about his new Autobot friends.
ROTF and TLK are similar in some ways,I believe it's really the case.If you think about it neither of them chose to be the center of attention.Sam wanted to be normal and Cade didn't want to go with Cogman and thought Burton was crazy with his shelter for old TFs..plus the Knight gave him the thing because he was heroic and happened to be there...both were forced into being the center but in my opinion ROTF did it better.In TLK Vivian was more important..his role was to block that sword with the Excalibur..loved the moment but he's focused on a lot for just having that one scene as "The Last Knight"
I don't think Cade was "destined" to be The Last Knight it seems it was more a matter "circumstance" and "being in the right place and the right time" sort of thing. His act of kindness towards The Tailsman Knight was what made him chosen rather than something planned all along. In the movie, Sir Edmund flat out told Cade the Tailsman Knight didn't travel to Earth specifically for him, but rather someone of knightly qualities for the Transtech-like Tailsman. Sam was more "destined" for the The Matrix to revive Optimus, at least according to the Dynasty of Primes themselves. I do wonder with the Bay Films having so much focus on the humans, and the introduction of the tailsman, Sam's grapple glove, The Excalibur, all this we would have all led up to Godmasters, the ultimate lifeforms, created by the fusion of human and Transformer, such as Overlord?
Megan Fox. She's fallen off the face of the Earth into Space Bridge obscurity. Too bad she couldn't keep her mouth shut. At the very least, we'd have something to look at.
See, Shia had a great dynamic with Kevin, they played off each other really well and had they not included his mother (or made her less annoying) you probably could have had that. Alas.
