Transformers One

[Ghid]

@DuneToa

despite people hating their attempts at comedy in the trailers and lack of attention to canon.

Thing is, the Sonic movie was still not only not funny, it just wasn’t that good of a movie

In that regard, the trailer was entirely accurate, as it was an unfunny slog through the most inane film writing on a barely serviceable plot. I had the extreme displeasure of seeing it recently and it’s honestly quite sad that it sold as well as it did.

@DuneToa

It’s one thing to say the trailer is bad. It’s another to extrapolate that to the entire film from approximately 1/60th of its length (assuming it’s a 2-hour movie).

And yet, in most cases, the trailer is a good judge of the film. I say in most cases since, like with Mario, there are clear and well-produced exceptions, where the trailer throws the presentation entirely for an otherwise excellent film, but the amount of times a trailer has shown off a film accurately are too many to ignore.

Besides, what else am I supposed to think when I’m only shown bad portions of a film as the exemplary part? That the rest of the film is somehow better?

@DuneToa

Ngl, even Reddit was more tolerant of the trailer than most people here, which really surprised me.

Just goes to show the TTV Boards denizens have better taste than Reddit

[Chronicler]

@Ghid

as it was an unfunny slog through the most inane film writing on a barely serviceable plot.

Holy based, finally a good take on the Sonic film. It was no better than all the other annoying “cartoon in live action world” films that are a dime a dozen.

I mean, I also liked the Mario movie but clearly not as much as everyone else because I only found it serviceable. (And it’s not like we had any better Mario adaptions.) There is a lot of things I wish that film did better.

@Toan

If he doesn’t get a studio series I will never forgive hasbro

This is hasbro we are talking about, they only know how to take L’s these days.

[Pakari]

I’m not really a Transformers fan at all, so I don’t really feel that strongly about this film one way or the other.

I do think it’s weird that they decided to make a comedy-focused origin story their fully animated, Cybertron-centric movie instead of the Cybertronian War movie all of the diehards were asking for since Bumblebee, though. I respect wanting to do different things with the franchise, but you really can’t deny that they would have much more of a guaranteed audience if they went that route.

I don’t really think many children nowadays are huge Transformers fans - I think if you’re going to make a movie that looks as visually appealing (and expensive) as this does, then it should probably cater to the largely adult audience that still enjoys Transformers, especially stuff surrounding G1 lore.

@Ghid

Thing is, the Sonic movie was still not only not funny, it just wasn’t that good of a movie

@Chronicler

Holy based, finally a good take on the Sonic film. It was no better than all the other annoying “cartoon in live action world” films that are a dime a dozen.

As a Sonic fan, I only partially agree.

The actual plot of the first Sonic movie isn’t what anybody wanted, and in that regard it is exactly like every other “cartoon in live action world” movie.

That being said, the entire debacle surrounding the redesign is what makes it pretty culturally significant, and the fact that a redesign did happen is what allowed it to be so successful. It was way too late for the plot of the movie, but in every other aspect, from a Sonic fan’s perspective, there is care and attention put into the film franchise.

I wouldn’t really go back and watch Sonic 1, but Sonic 2 is genuinely a good time. It’s true that the humor isn’t all that funny, and there’s a human scene in the middle of the film that goes on for an eternity, but what most Sonic fans are looking for is the character interactions, and Sonic 2 nails those.

And they’ve only been getting better since the first film, especially when it comes to adapting actual game material.

It might be fair to question why that first movie did as good as it did, but I wouldn’t say it’s sad - Sonic fans got what they wanted from it, and because it did succeed the studio actually realized there’s better ways to run the franchise and are mostly letting the creatives do that.

[Ghid]

@Chronicler

It was no better than all the other annoying “cartoon in live action world” films that are a dime a dozen.

Only real hopeless internet users remember Illumination’s Hop

@Pakari

Sonic 2 is genuinely a good time.

Really wish I could trust you on that

Perhaps at some point in the future I’ll take a look at Sonic 2, but for right now I’m still recovering from all the gratuitous up-close shots of Sonic’s disgusting feet with hole-ridden socks that happened back to back

I was having a nice meal during that movie and I almost blasted my mouthful of it across the screen. I didn’t get to finish it

@Pakari

because it did succeed the studio actually realized there’s better ways to run the franchise and are mostly letting the creatives do that.

Hopefully that all culminates in Sonic 3 actually being a good movie, since Keanu Reeves as Shadow is undoubtedly going to be a moneymaker. And I know one Boards user who cares about that

Wait this is the transformers one and done topic

[ajtazt]

@Ghid

Only real hopeless internet users remember Illumination’s Hop

Why did you say that name!?

I literally can’t forget it. We were forced to watch it in theaters because it was part of a cousin’s birthday party.

“He never forgot, and he never forgave” - The Hobbit

[NOTaHFfan]

Transformers One, not to be confused with Transformers 1, a Michael Bay film from 2007

@Ghid

The visuals are absolutely phenominal, the animation work is spectacular, money went into this and it shows.

I more or less agree with all your other points, but, gonna be honest with you chief, I don’t see anything appealing about the visuals. Stylistically the visual aspect of this movie (I almost typed “show”, it’s this hard to believe that it was made for the big screen) gives me triple A game cutscene vibes more than anything, and not the good kind.

There’s just nothing special about the visuals. Yeah it’s clearly well put together and the animation is good, but the visual aspect is so painfully generic. When I see the phrase “absolutely phenomenal visuals” in 3D animation, I think of stuff like Into the Spiderverse, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and even the new Ninja Turtles show, as they actually try to do something creative and unique, while this is just… not that. Seems like your standard by the book, run of the mill 3D animation with no defining characteristics whatsoever, just with a little more money put into it than usual. I honestly don’t get the thought process behind the visual style of this movie. It seems to go for semi-realism, which is such a bizarre concept, given that you’re working in a medium that allows you to do literally anything. This just strikes me as lazy ngl.

My biggest problem with these visuals are certainly the character designs (and it’s something that I actually feel qualified to talk about, as character design is the main thing that I specialise in when it comes to my art). The designs for the main group are, again, so painfully generic, it’s actually kind of impressive how they were able to achieve that. They were somehow able to turn Optimus, Bumblebee, Megatron and… I believe that’s Arcee (???) into the most generic robot designs possible. I get that it’s justified by the lore and all that, as they haven’t received their alt modes yet, but the situation doesn’t really improve even after they do. It’s really not a good thing when your main cast looks more like background characters than background characters themselves. It’s especially painful to see because it’s clear that the character designers clearly knew how to character design. For example, the robot old man who gives them alt modes in the trailer looks great, he has an easily recognisable design, and I have no clue who he is. So I assume that the bad designs are not the fault of the artists who worked on them, but the higher ups who gave them unreasonable instructions.

The easiest way to determine if a character design is good is through the “silhouette test”, as I like to call it. Basically, if you’re able to recognise a character just by their silhouette, it generally means that it’s a good design (there are exceptions, but it’s a general rule that works most of the time). It’s something that I keep in mind all the time whenever I design a character, and it’s something I heard many artists far better than me talk about. So anyways, the main four fails this test miserably. There’s no way of telling that Optimus is Optimus, which is a first for me, considering that literally every version of the character before this one didn’t suffer from this issue. And he seems to have the exact same proportions and shaping as Megatron, which doesn’t help this case in the slightest. Additionally, their designs don’t tell anything about their personalities, which isn’t helped by the same face syndrome that they all seem to share.

But why is this bad though?
Marketing.
Appealing, interesting looking characters attract people, especially when the people in question are children, which this the primary audience for this film, so giving extremely generic designs to the characters that are going to be featured on all of your promotional materials does not seem like the smartest move in the world.

And, lastly, it’s a very personal thing, but I’d rather see this animated traditionally. I’m getting really tired of 3D animation, I’d much rather see something hand drawn, but it seems to become more and more of an unachievable dream when it comes to modern Hollywood productions…

I’ve got nothing to say about the the writing, humour and plot of the movie, it’s just not my thing to be honest, but these are my two cents

[DuneToa]

@NOTaHFfan

I believe that’s Arcee

That’s Elita-1, as evidenced by the helmet (google the name, and you’ll notice all versions of the character have the same helmet design)

[NOTaHFfan]

@DuneToa

Elita-1

I’m well versed enough in transformers lore to know who she is, but the fact that I wasn’t able to recognise her here just by looking at her design reinforces my point

[Sabretooth]

@Pakari

I do think it’s weird that they decided to make a comedy-focused origin story their fully animated, Cybertron-centric movie instead of the Cybertronian War movie all of the diehards were asking for since Bumblebee, though.

I can’t argue with this at all, I think One looks nice and I still would have preferred that

[Ghid]

@NOTaHFfan

gonna be honest with you chief, I don’t see anything appealing about the visuals.

By that I mean lighting, rendering, texture details, colors, yadda yadda, the artstyle itself is a bit mid ngl

@NOTaHFfan

My biggest problem with these visuals are certainly the character designs (and it’s something that I actually feel qualified to talk about, as character design is the main thing that I specialise in when it comes to my art).

I agree that the characters look a bit stupid, and Hollywood seems dead set on giving Optimus a pair of lips in every iteration from now on, despite how (as talented 2d animator and former Disney animator/director Aaron Blaise stated) eyebrows account for WAY much more in terms of expressing emotion in a character than mouth movement does.

It’s why characters like Wall-E go through the extra effort to have eye sockets that tip to emulate the emotions of eyebrows (or emulate them in other fashions, very few characters have tipping eye sockets[my uncle did but he was at chernobyl]) and in turn are remembered for being far more expressive than any Transformer character has been. Which makes it all the more sad that the shaved eyebrows look of the transformers here goes so far out of the way to make the eyebrows as undefined as possible that any expressions require the same-y slab faces of all the characters to do the heavy lifting, which in turn makes them feel very dead despite the vocal energy.

@NOTaHFfan

The easiest way to determine if a character design is good is through the “silhouette test”, as I like to call it.

Oh yeah, and which character is this?

That’s right it’s Sonic

@DuneToa

That’s Elita-1,

which battle angel is this

I’m aware of the Transformers character I just like taking potshots at anime

[Pakari]

@Ghid

Oh yeah, and which character is this?

I was 90% positive that was Luigi.

@Ghid

Perhaps at some point in the future I’ll take a look at Sonic 2, but for right now I’m still recovering from all the gratuitous up-close shots of Sonic’s disgusting feet with hole-ridden socks that happened back to back

Thankfully no feet in Sonic 2.

Just an agonizingly long and boring human scene that you can skip without consequence.

@Ghid

Wait this is the transformers one and done topic

As a Sonic fan, I will take any opportunity I get to derail a conversation to the hedgehog.

@NOTaHFfan

So anyways, the main four fails this test miserably. There’s no way of telling that Optimus is Optimus, which is a first for me, considering that literally every version of the character before this one didn’t suffer from this issue.

This is all correct, and I think it’s because their usual identifying features are very small. It makes a bit of sense considering they are, in-universe, basically average citizens at the moment. They do all share a very similar body shape, though.

But to play devil’s advocate, Transformers in general tend to have that problem. If you can give the Bayformers one thing over the rest of the franchise, it’s how distinct all the characters are. Yes, some of the designs are very very bad (looking at you, Wheeljack), but at least in the first film, you can certainly tell Optimus from Megatron from Bumblebee just by shapes alone.

But to give One a bit of credit…I do think you can tell which character is which given full context, most especially in their helmet designs and color schemes. Optimus has that little diamond sort of shape on the top of his, Bee has his horns, Arcee has the Leia look, and Megatron has his classic bucket head.

Silhouettes are very important, but they aren’t everything. I would have preferred if the characters in One were more diverse and distinct, but I wouldn’t say they’re bad outright, or unfaithful.

Uniform and boring, yes.

[Ghid]

@Pakari

Thankfully no feet in Sonic 2.

Proof that there is a God

@Pakari

I think it’s because their usual identifying features are very small.

Compared to G1, definitely - Optimus Prime had the massive, square proportions, bumblebee had the very rounded design with the angular horned head, Megatron had a slimmer boxy design with dramatically sloping shins, and Elita-1 had her iconic single-wheeled design with her iconic garbled mess of a body barely resembling what it was supposed to be.

wait wrong one um

@Pakari

at least in the first film, you can certainly tell Optimus from Megatron from Bumblebee just by shapes alone.

I think I might be the only person on the planet who liked dorito Starscream

@Pakari

I do think you can tell which character is which given full context, most especially in their helmet designs and color schemes. Optimus has that little diamond sort of shape on the top of his, Bee has his horns, Arcee has the Leia look, and Megatron has his classic bucket head.

You calling her Arcee is just proving Nota even more right Unless I’m stupid and that was a joke

I mean, reduce them to all black silhouettes and you’re gonna have a much harder time telling the three dudes apart. If color schemes are required in order to tell who someone is in direct comparison to their contemporaries, then the design of that someone is not very good, especially if they are meant to stand out, like if, say, they were the main characters of an animated movie.

As example, compare the TF1 Orion Pax East design to basically any other Optimus Prime design in silhouette form and it’s not hard to see which one looks like Optimus Prime:

Even with his arms folded incomprehensibly like that it’s clear who this is supposed to be. Chunky limbs, wide shoulders, twin exhaust pipes, and those little helmet points all add up to Optimus Prime, no matter how distant he becomes from his own source material.

ngl I really hate so many of the Transformers Animated designs

If it comes down to your characters looking so incredibly similar that the only distinction between them is paint apps and the minute details, perhaps more could have been done to make them actually unique and not R2 astromech droid levels of variety.

@Pakari

Uniform and boring, yes.

Here’s a group of characters which all share nearly identical color palettes, generally same-y attire, fairly similar height, and are meant to be as close as possible with as many unifying elements as will permit themselves to coexist in the same space. I wonder how they do with the silhouette test?

@Pakari

I was 90% positive that was Luigi.

no wait sorry this is luigi

[Mael_Str0M]

This has got to be one of, if not the best Transformers movies, if not the best incarnation of the brand since Animated and/or Prime and G1/Beast Wars. As much as I didn’t care for Toy Story 4, I’m not sure what was up with that movie because Josh Cooley did a phenomenal job of directing and even being rather hands-on with this film’s development. While the celebrity cast thing did seem to put me off a bit at first, I think it’s obvious just how much Chris Hemsworth respects the role of Optimus Prime, as do the other actors do their characters. Keegan-Michael Key using, well, his own voice for Bumblebee might not be too popular, but I can forgive that knowing how big a fan he actually is. I really like that most of, if not all the side characters are voiced by Transformers veterans. Jazz being voiced by an African-American actor is a nice return to form for a character who has always been such since his inception, I hope to see more of him going forward. Brian Tyler was able to call back so much to G1 and Prime while also making something completely new with the score, which is absolutely delightful to listen to. Overall, this is a treat for Transformers fans, made by fans, but also easy enough to welcome new members into our ranks. 11/10, those toys can’t come soon enough.

[DuneToa]

Agreed (despite not having watched it yet). This seems to be a much better form of movie for Transformers, as it’s easier to focus on the story when the only way celebrities appear in the film is through voices (I think the whole reason the live-action movies focus on the non-Transformer characters so much is simply to justify having famous actors in the movie, not just cost of CGI). I love the designs of the cast, although I wish Elita-1 had a shorter neck– it’s the one part of her design that feels off compared to everyone else.

[Ghid]

@DuneToa

I wish Elita-1 had a shorter neck

I can help with that

[DuneToa]

Oh dear… I think I know where my words are going…

[Sabretooth]

I just want the record to show that the amount of Bionicle-Miramax comparisons that came up about this movie after I made my initial comment on this topic indicate I was right all along, haha!

Edit 11/19
Also, I finally watched it a couple days ago! It was so good. Like everyone I loved how they did Megatron, and I would love if they’d consider a redemption arc for him in this continuity

[Chronicler]

Finally watched this.

It was better than I expected, but not great. It was mediocre in my eyes. The only part that drew me in was Megatron’s origin story, everything else I felt I have seen before.

Beautiful animation still. Not enough to save it from a plot I found rather predictable.

[Ghid]

Took a look at it, apparently there’s more than one Transformer? False advertising

[Sabretooth]

@Ghid

Took a look at it, apparently there’s more than one Transformer?

No it’s just foreshadowing for Transformers: TWO! …right guys? Right?!