Talking Pictures: September 2006 Archives

HT again: Angry Zen Master

Update: The Superficial has a picture of Optimus up. I don't know. What's up with his feet? They look like metal ET feet.

Lots to say over at Angry Zen Master blog on this very pressing subject! Warning: the language is kind of profane.
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It is not looking good for The Transformers movie.

Exhibit A:
Megatron looks really stupid.
I am going have to say the Superficial's interpretation of how he looks may be vulgar, but quite accurate.

Exhibit B:
The tidbits in this Shia LeBouf interview starting with:

There's a lot of stuff... you know, there's new robots that he'll create. Or he'll take something like Soundwave and turn it into Soundbyte and it'll become something else.

I don't care, set the movie back in the 80s and make it retro. Please don't do what you did to Megatron to Soundwave. Please...

There are certain things, like Megatron wasn't a jet, you know?

Yes I know! Any self-respecting, self-claimed, geeky Transformers fan knows Megatron ain't no dang jet! I read somewhere (can't find it) that they decided to make him a jet because when the toy comes out they are afraid the gun will influence kids to play with guns or something. I grew up on Transformers, I never shot anybody.

A few years ago, my husband bought a reissued Megatron toy directly from Japan (they didn't make them here). It took like three months to get here partly because of customs problems because it looks like a real handgun; in a package with a plastic front and cartoon drawings (that is how guns nuts buy guns-from Japan don't you know). It is so cool. Gosh, I hope he still has it and my mother-in-law's boyfriend didn't steal it and sell it for .50 cents for crack money.

But back to the "kids with Gun-Megatron" thing, you know, I don't even think that whole line of thought deserves any credence. You don't like warring giant robots for your kids, the stay away from the Transformers. But don't torture the rest of us by changing Megatron. Characters like Megatron, Galvatron, Shockwave are big shooty things. Thundercracker, Starscream, Skyfire are cool jet guys (although, isn't Skyfire afraid of heights?). Transformer history was changed when Megatron sucker shot Optimus killing him and initiating the horrible chain of events that gave us Rotimus Prime. (But that is OK because there was not a sweeter moment then when Optimus came back to life, and Rotimus handed the Matrix back). So what, is he going to fly over him in this movie?

"Ooh Optimus, I can fly and you can just drive around!" Wow. Entertaining.

Exhibit C:

I don't even have to comment on this, the corn is so self-explanatory:

QUINT: You know... I sat down with Bay before shooting and he told me that the whole hook for him with this project wasn't the robots or the action. He said it was the human story, specifically your story, what he called the All-American story of a kid getting his first car.

SHIA LABEOUF: When I met with him he said the same thing. That's why I was into it. I mean, yes it was TRANSFORMERS and oh shit! You're taking me to meet with Michael Bay, but then he was like, "It's a coming of age story."

That is what The Transformers was always and we didn't know it-a coming of age story. I thought it was about giant robots in a war and coming to earth disguised as earth vehicles.