Guess who’s back.

Transformers Movie Bumblebee! In his later incarnation, the Camaro 2008 Concept. Here he is riding Transformers Movie Arcee.

They removed Arcee from the movie because they decided that female Transformers weren’t feasible. I have to agree – with the Allspark Cube (the Rubik Cubist in me squealed each time they said Cube) being the source of life to these biomechanical sentient beings, there was no need for females and robot reproduction.

Sorry Bender, they aren’t robosexual.

Arcee, as is with all Transformers that transform into bikes, not that great. Better than Transformers Energon Arcee, with poseable arms, but still not that balanced. Bumblebee isn’t that great either in car form, where his parts are not flush and completely aligned.

Transformers Movie “Are you LadiesMan217?” Barricade versus Transformers Energon Barricade (on left).

Now Barricade, he’s awesome. As a quick-changing robot chasing Sam Witwicky, awesome. The holographic policeman reminded me too much of Terminator 2.

As a toy, awesome too; his gait is like Spiderman’s Venom, with a permanent arched knee. Menacing is the word. No loose parts. Sturdy, solid ball joints. Perfectly aligned car mode with great detailing.

Transformers Movie Bumblebee leads Transformers Classic Bumblebee on. (And yes, there’s a Ultimate Bumblebee coming up.)

Due to issues with Volkswagen not wanting their cars to be associated with “war machines” such as Transformers, Michael Bay and co. simply could not transform even a new Beetle into a robot. They got their revenge with Bernie Mac in the movie, though. 🙂

Oh, and how was the movie?

11 out of 10!

I will watch it again. I don’t quite know of any other movie that has that many people saying “I wanna watch this again!”

I managed to watch it on the 27th, still not as early as Eyeris did, though.

Michael Bay was smart. He knew how to outrage fanboys and get them having low expectations of the movie by releasing crappy initial designs. (I was repulsed, too.) We also thought there wouldn’t be much robots. He then turned it around by the third trailer, surprising us all.

He initially didn’t want to do this “toy franchise” cartoon-made-movie, and says we’d all cringe if we saw the cartoon and original movie. While I wouldn’t, I can see why some people would – people always questioned their mass-shifting capabilities (Megatron transforms from giant robot to tiny Walther P-38 gun, and Optimus Prime had a trailer that would disappear into another dimension.)

The story is more like Beast Wars, which brought coherence to everything.

Michael got cooperation from the US Army to borrow soldiers, planes and tanks, who might’ve seen it as a chance to turn this into a Tom Clancy novel. They almost do, what with all the jargon flying about.

He also left the humor to the humans! Thank goodness. Yay for stereotypical black people. You don’t get a Thundercracker/Waspinator doing a Three Stooges stint.

Funnily, Ron Witwicky looks exactly like the cartoon’s Sparkplug Witwicky.

Product placement is subtle, like the jet fight, where a Citibank tower comes into and out of focus. It taunts you when it’s out of focus, to look at it!

There is a death of an Autobot, as made mandatory by the previous movie. At least it’s the dude with the least lines, though if you’d seen the cartoon you’d feel a strong tinge.

We got a lot less of “such heroic nonsense“, and Optimus Prime is no longer a peace-loving, forgiving Autobot general who seemed to be leader only because he had the sexiest, most macho voice of the Autobots. He no longer lets Megatron beg for mercy. Heck, Megatron does not beg for mercy here!

I didn’t believe it either when Optimus said it was fine to leave an Autobot behind.

And so, I salute Michael Bay, for he must’ve hated those moments of the cartoon and movie, and eradicated it from his vision.

The Transformers are generally much more badass, Ironhide especially, who plays cowboy well. Ratchet spouted, “The male’s pheremone readings indicates that he wants to mate with the girl.” (Or something like that.) Teehee.

They also spout classic lines, like “You have failed me, Starscream!” I can only imagine some fan mashing the old background music to the movie soon. Especially when we first see the Autobot logo for the first time.

Oh, and the cinematography! I loved how Blackout transforms and wipes out a desert base like a Mechwarrior. I loved how Starscream took on some F22s (though as a toy, he looks like a pigeon. Ugh.)

Towards the end, it’s all a massive brawl, with undistinguishable robots crushing metal, but heck. Robots die. They’re just soldiers.

They say there will be a sequel, but Michael Bay doesn’t want to do another one. Who, then, will continue the movie through such relatively coherent realism?

Anyway, back to the toys. Transformers Movie Bumblebee is the same size as every other Deluxe class, next to Transformers Energon Downshift.

From left: Transformers Alternators Grimlock (who is a 2005 Ford Mustang), Transformers Movie Barricade (who is a Saleen-modified Ford Mustang) and Transformers Alternators Prowl, who really is a good cop.

Soundwave and family, none from the original series; from left: Transformers Cybertron Soundwave, Transformers Cybertron Laserbeak, Transformers Alternators Rumble, Transformers Alternators Ravage and Transformers Movie Frenzy in front.

In the movie, Frenzy takes on a few forms; here, he is just the engine of Barricade in vehicle mode. A minor slip would be his blue eyes in the movie, when it’s the rule that Autobots have blue eyes and Decepticons have red eyes.

From left: a stealth bomber, a Honda Civic Si, a stealth bomber’s… bomb?, a Jaguar XK and an engine block of a Saleen-modified Ford Mustang. Heh.

I also went for the Robotcon 2007, organized by TransMy, a Malaysian Transformers fan club. Here stands the world’s biggest Optimus Prime.

Transformers: A story about a boy and his car. Or so Spielberg would’ve sold it.

The voice-changing Optimus Prime helmet.

Transformers Energon Unicron, the size of a planet. Behind him is Primus, another transforming planet.

Everybody I knew then thought that Decepticons were cooler, especially when you have Sixshot, who transforms into six different modes. Standing behind him is the mighty Overlord. My cousin was cool. He had both. That’s why I went to his house.

Oh, he had Star Saber, too. He didn’t have Victory Leo, who had the coolest combination. Spot the Metroplex!

Predaking and Predacons made out of Lego! What’s even cooler is that they actually transform. However, I did spot some inconsistently colored pieces.

I had to ask someone who this was – it was Trypticon, with the artist’s own interpretation of how it would transform into a robot, if it could.

Pictures of Lego Trypticon in various modes.

It took me a while to figure this guy out, too – Devastator! I spotted Mixmaster’s cement mixer down there and his chestplate immediately became obvious.

Speaking of combiners, these were Transformers Energon combiners. I have Transformers Energon Superion, and two-fifths of Transformers Energon Devastator and three-fifths of Transformers Energon Bruticus.

The original Dinobots in front of Omega Supreme! (Sorry I snipped Swoop out on the left by accident.)

The cool Nike Transformers.

This was something else, too – fan recolors! Masterpiece Starscream, originally an army olive green, gets painted the original cartoon Starscream color. Transformers Classics Megatron, who was white, green and purple and looked like a water gun now has his original chrome.

Click on my Toys category to view more Transformers goodness.