My Review of Transformers war for Cybertron Trilogy

My Review of Transformers war for Cybertron Trilogy

 

Intro: Netflix should be embarrassed by how this series turned out, considering who worked on it. 

Transformers War for Cybertron trilogy: This series takes place on Cybertron, where the Autobots and Decepticons or at war with each other for reasons. The war has reached a turning point when both parties learn about the Allspark and plan to use it. The Autobot's plans for it end up making things worse for everyone, so they have to find it before the Decepticons do. 

This series was disappointing, not because I think it's bad it's because it doesn't do anything new with the Transformers mythos. Instead, it plays around with what came before it, and it's done in a what-if scenario. The show tries too hard to appeal to adults by being dark and edgy. You can do that without the series being joyless. Transformers Prime is a fine example of that. We finally get a crossover with characters from another Transformers series, and it's wasted. It could have been better if the characters from the other show had the same characterization as that series. Plus, the voice acting makes them worse. The dialogue in this series is driving me nuts. Sometimes it's cringey, other times characters sound like they're giving a speech. 

I don't know if this series is a remake of G1 or its own thing because this show made references to events in G1. It seems like the writers want to have it both ways in that department. What really hurts this series is that both sides are morally ambiguous, which makes it hard to tell who we should be rooting for? War has no business being in the title of this series because the show starts at the tail end of the war. We don't see the beginning or middle of the war, so what's the point of calling it the war for Cybertron? This show drops hints about how Cybertron was before the war and why the Autobots and Decepticons are at war? However, it's not enough to fill in the blanks. This wouldn't be an issue if each chapter had more episodes to flesh these things out. The ending is odd; I'm leaving it at that. I don't have a lot to say about most of the characters because they're either underused, or underdeveloped, or a victim of bad writing. 

Optimus Prime is pathetic in this series. I say that because he can't put up a fight against Megatron; no wonder his team has no faith in him. Speaking of that, I don't get why the Autobots are loyal to him. I mean, they keep second-guessing him, and they would have done things that Optimus would frown upon if he wasn't around. That's what bugs me about him, I mean, we learn that other Autobots resent him for his role in the war, but the show doesn't tell us what he did? It's hard for me to be on Optimus's side because he does things that will cause more harm than good. For example, Megatron offers a peach treaty, but Optimus won't sign it, why!?! What was on that you don't agree with? This makes me question how the Matrix of leadership works? 

Elita-1 didn't make the best first impression on me because all she did was worry at first. Later on, we see that she's headstrong and a better field leader than Optimus. The show drops hints that she and Optimus were an item.    

Bumblebee is a scavenger who's indifferent about the war; however, he will play a bigger role later on. The only complaint I have with him is that the writers rushed what they were doing with this character. 

Megatron is still menacing; however, he's conflicted about what he has to do to win the war. We see that he has a love-hate relationship with one of the Autobots. This makes him my favorite version of this character because he didn't want this war because he's power-hungry; it's because he wants to change whatever's going on on Cybertron. What bothers me about him is that the creator they to make the Decepticons victims. This could have been done without making the Autobots look bad.   

Starscream is the same as his G1 counterpart. Also, the voice actor almost sounds like the original voice actor.   

Jetfire is the leader of the Decepticons Seekers. He's a loyalist with a code of honor. What this show did with this character feels rushed.      

I like that this show introduces concepts despite them amounting to nothing. I appreciate the writers trying to make the conflict between the Autobots and Decepticons not black and white. The animation shows details on the transformers, as far as the wear and tear on them. The series could continue because of how it ended. In closing, this series didn't have the touch or the power of the creative team behind it.      

My Black Widow review

My Black Widow review

Before I get started I want to thank Marvel Studios for making us wait an extra 14 months for nothing. 

Intro: It's a shame that Hawkeye gets no love! 

Black Widow: This movie takes place after Civil War and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow is now a fugitive for helping Steve Rogers/Captain American escape. While on the run she attracts the attention of an assassin which led her to run into someone from her past. After learning about a conspiracy involving the organization that turned her into a spy/assassin she has to stop it before it spreads.

If you were expecting this movie to be The Winter Soldier's little sister you're going to be disappointed. Instead, this movie is a copy of that movie but with a few differences and not as good. I wouldn't have minded this story if the writers didn't retcon what we knew about Natasha. Of course, the movie mixes humor with the serious stuff and it doesn't work. Speaking of humor will this studio please stop with the fat jokes you're not good at telling them. I have issues with the ending I mean it raises questions about how did Natasha go from point A to point B? It's kind of a letdown that we don't see characters doing a lot of spy work. What's the point of having spies if we don't see them being spies? The plot holes are also an issue for me because they don't help us understand how things played out in the movie. Sadly, the movie has feminist vibes to it because of how most of the men are portrayed in this movie. We should have gotten a Black Widow movie sooner both figuratively and literally. To be fair we would have gotten this movie sooner if it was for Isaac Perlmutter.   

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow is naked in this movie and I don't mean literally. The movie tried to give her an arc of healing from her trauma. The issue with this is this is something she should have done sooner like after Winter Soldier. I wasn't satisfied with the scenes with her surrogate family because they left more to be desired. It's understandable why she never mentioned them because of what they did to her. Speaking of that the movie jokes about it what the fudge!?! I wish we got into Natasha's head in this movie. In age of Ultron, she said she feels like a monster because of what was done to her, I was hoping to get more of her expressing how this organization affected her in hindsight.      

Yelena Belova (Natasha's surrogate sister.) is sarcastic and plays off Natasha well. Because she's a legacy character I was worried that she would step on Natasha's toes in this movie, thankfully that's not the case. This characterization is what annoys me about her. I mean I find it odd that she would be like this after everything that happened to her. I wish was cold like Natasha was when we first met her because doing that would help reinforce how much Natasha has changed. I would like to know how she was able to reach out to Natasha the way she did? 

Melina Vostokoff (Natasha's mother figure.) is a scientist. The movie tried to make her a victim but she has blood on her hands plus she could have used her brain to get out of the situation. 

I'm not happy with Alexei Shostakov/The Red Guardian (Natasha's Father figure.) because he serves as the comic relief. He should have been written out of the film not just because he creates plot holes around the Super Solider serum it's because he's wasted in this movie. 

TaskMaster (One of the villains.) maybe be considered as another forgettable bad guy but I'm fine with how the character was portrayed in this movie. This character is like the terminator in this movie and he mimics people's moves that's what this character does in the comics. With that said this doesn't change the fact that the TaskMaster from the Spider-Man PS4 was better than this. The liberties that the creators took with this character might bother fans but I'm OK with it because it worked in the context of the film.         

There isn't much to say about the main baddie because we barely see him, when we do, he's an egotistical power-hungry madman.   

I like that the movie can serve as a social commentary on child abduction, child soldiers being hunted by your past, and family dysfunction. I appreciate that this movie isn't an origin story because we had bits and pieces of her backstory where we can fill in the blanks. The movie has moments that will take you by surprise. The opening credits are the best part of the movie because it can pull on your heartstrings, but it has room for improvement. The humor is not overbearing in this movie.  

After all these years this was a poor attended to give Black Widow her own movie. However, that doesn't mean that this movie can't be enjoyed on some level. The movie could have been better if it took place before Iron Man 2. I say that because her going from a target of S.H.I.E.L.D to working for them is more interesting than the movie we've got. I would recommend this if you like spy films. 

Rating = Rental