Darkness Rising introduces us to the new Transformers series with a bang, but leaves some misgivings in the viewer's mind.
It's been a while since we've had a CGI Transformers series and I'm glad to say that things have come along a lot since then. The animation is very smooth and the character models are pretty good looking, while also managing to be very expressive and emotive. I'd say that the look is one of the high points of the new series so far, paired with some really fantastic voice acting. Old hands welcome the return of Peter Cullen and Frank Welker as Optimus Prime and Megatron, and my own personal highlight was Jeffrey Combs as Ratchet, really bringing the part to life.
That said, let's talk bout those misgivings. People have mentioned Miko and she's definitely a big problem, but for me she adds to something a little more worrying; the decepticons are not threatening. The five-parter opens with Decepticon storm troopers killing Cliffjumper, which is good, but unfortunately the last time they'll be effective. Later on we see the heroes wade into gun battles with dozens of Decepticon enemies, completely unscathed. Even the humans are immune; later they wind up beneath the Decepticon battlecruiser, filled with decepticons, and only one autobot to defend them! The result? It takes about five minutes and as many losses for them to capture two of the humans, who are promptly freed, while autobots and humans run freely around the Decepticon ship.
Megatron is an exception, but only enters combat once. His plan to resurrect zombies is undermined by their total ineffectiveness; Optimus and Ratchet dispatch a hundred of them without any serious damage. This is a shame, since in that fight we see that the animators are very capable of visceral combat damage- but it only ever seems to happen to zombies.
Overall the combat is reminiscent of Energon- a comparison that would send the chills down the back of any Transformers fan. Hopefully the series can grow out of this in time. Darker theme is good, but in turn the villains need to be more threatening. Consider that in Animated Megatron's head posed a serious threat to the heroes for the entire first season.
Prime has a long way to go, but I think it can still get there. Here's hoping.
A decent start, but a long way to go
Darkness Rising
Darkness Rising introduces us to the new Transformers series with a bang, but leaves some misgivings in the viewer's mind.
It's been a while since we've had a CGI Transformers series and I'm glad to say that things have come along a lot since then. The animation is very smooth and the character models are pretty good looking, while also managing to be very expressive and emotive. I'd say that the look is one of the high points of the new series so far, paired with some really fantastic voice acting. Old hands welcome the return of Peter Cullen and Frank Welker as Optimus Prime and Megatron, and my own personal highlight was Jeffrey Combs as Ratchet, really bringing the part to life.
That said, let's talk bout those misgivings. People have mentioned Miko and she's definitely a big problem, but for me she adds to something a little more worrying; the decepticons are not threatening. The five-parter opens with Decepticon storm troopers killing Cliffjumper, which is good, but unfortunately the last time they'll be effective. Later on we see the heroes wade into gun battles with dozens of Decepticon enemies, completely unscathed. Even the humans are immune; later they wind up beneath the Decepticon battlecruiser, filled with decepticons, and only one autobot to defend them! The result? It takes about five minutes and as many losses for them to capture two of the humans, who are promptly freed, while autobots and humans run freely around the Decepticon ship.
Megatron is an exception, but only enters combat once. His plan to resurrect zombies is undermined by their total ineffectiveness; Optimus and Ratchet dispatch a hundred of them without any serious damage. This is a shame, since in that fight we see that the animators are very capable of visceral combat damage- but it only ever seems to happen to zombies.
Overall the combat is reminiscent of Energon- a comparison that would send the chills down the back of any Transformers fan. Hopefully the series can grow out of this in time. Darker theme is good, but in turn the villains need to be more threatening. Consider that in Animated Megatron's head posed a serious threat to the heroes for the entire first season.
Prime has a long way to go, but I think it can still get there. Here's hoping.