Transformers as a film series has had a very long, tumultuous history. While many loved the action and scope of the Michael Bay films, it came to ahead with The Last Knight being the lowest grossing and reviewed movie in the franchise. As such, most Transformers fare has struggled to find a new creative direction in live-action. And after so long, we now have a new animated film in theaters now. An origin tale of Optimus Prime and Megatron, where before, they were Orion Pax and D-16, miners from the planet Cybertron. Together with their new allies Bee and Elita, they uncover a great secret about Cybertron’s past, and how it leads them down to a familiar path for both characters.

For most Transformers fans, this is probably a dream come true. Newcomers can finally see how both Pax and D-16 become their iconic selves. And how Cybertron works as a whole before they come to Earth. A Pre-War Cybertron works as a nice basis for an origin story. But that’s the main problem with the film: It’s an origin story.

Origin stories usually have a lot of buildup, but not much of a payoff. Many Superhero movies, for example, usually start with an origin story, and take their time to establish their cast, their arcs, and setting up the main conflict past just starting out. Transformers One does fall into these same trappings. There’s many concepts that the film introduces (the Quintessons, Starscream, and the rise of the Decepticons etc.), are brashly introduced to only be saved as a later conflict for a sequel. Maybe I just seen it one too many times before. It also doesn’t help that the humor in this film is a stock, with repeated improv from B-127. Keegan-Michael Key does his best (even if it just comes to rambling improv), and if you like this type of humor, more power to you. He does mellow in the 2nd half of the film, which helps to show the grave situation our protagonists find themselves in. Though, I can’t say he is any more relevant after that point.

The best parts definitely come from Orion Pax’s and D-16’s friendship, how it transforms into becoming true enemies. While Orion is mostly a static character that tries to prove his worth throughout the film (kind of reflected by Chris Hemsworth boisterous acting that has been seen numerous times before), D-16 is made the straight man in their antics, as the more law-abiding citizen that trusts the system. Only when he realizes how much the system betrays everything he’s ever cared about and known, he becomes radicalized to destroy. Brian Tyree Henry provides a good shift to his character when that midpoint happens, and his change in attitude increases to vengeful extremes. Elita-1 doesn’t have much going on, unfortunately, other than to trust Orion near the end, (I guess you can say it’s being more than judt protocol and promotions, but it mostly just culminates to her and Orion.) And Steve Buscemi’s Starscream is just there. His voice isn’t bad (they actually do a small gag with how his voice sounds later in the movie), Screamer just doesn’t have much to do other than be in command of the High Guard, and just a means for D-16 to get himself an army at the end.

If anyone is familiar with Sentinel Prime, (for most casual audiences, his appearance in Dark of the Moon where he’s played by Mr Ballad of Bilbo Baggins, Leonard Nimoy), they shouldn’t be too surprised by his role. His actions set the the current state of Cybertron under his thumb, but when it comes to his fate near the end of the film, it makes a grand moral statement of whether it’s right to kill those who oppress us. It does feel a little refreshing to see Optimus be concerned for life, as opposed to the bloodthirsty portrayals in past films, and they show D-16’s turn to becoming Megatron, with lots of visual symbolism that children can get easily and be entertained. And the film presents you to not be a cog in the machine. You can be so much more than what society tells you to be, and shouldn’t let them take away those options. By the end, though, it feels like we just rushed through to 2 different climaxes, and once more teasing more to come. In hindsight, it’s not egregious like other franchise films, but it’s annoying to see that happen time and time again.

With having seen Rise of the Beasties last year, and to a certain extent, Bumblebee, it seems Hasbro/Paramount wants to play it safe and conventional for their Transformers films, making them more like Marvel films (as evidenced by the writers, script by Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer, both of who’s notable work is Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Josh Cooley, the director for Toy Story 4). Their creative direction is a little derivative in nature, but it’s not without a distinct change in tone once the 2nd half kicks in, and really drives home its story and themes. For all Transformers fans (myself included), it’s a good gateway for newcomers to enjoy this film that takes from previous stories and lore for a cohesive new story.

-alArts

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New downloadable content for the worldwide phenomenon of a video game known as Minecraft has dropped, this time themed around our favorite robots in disguise. Now, the Autoblocks can wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticubes.

Okay, I made those names up. Anyway, see how it looks for yourself:

Autobots, get ready to roll out! The Transformers DLC by Syclone Studios and Hasbro has swerved into Minecraft with a story-driven adventure that will take you on an adrenaline-fueled ride between Earth and Cybertron. Your mission? Only the small task of saving humanity! Claim your free Character Creator item: the Transformers Hoodie from the Dressing Room, then strap in and let’s defeat some Decepticons.

And from the Minecraft Marketplace, where you can purchase the DLC pack:

There is more than meets the eye in this epic Transformers Adventure Map! Play as fan-favorite Autobots like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee as you work to stop familiar foes like Megatron and Starscream. Take your battles to the next level with a variety of blocky blasters and hop into co-op multiplayer to take on the fight for freedom with friends. Autobots, roll out!

Want to see more? Then here are some screenshots for you:

You have to admit, the original, blockier G1 designs translate pretty nicely into the Minecraft style. But you might be thinking to yourself, “Why does this look so familiar?”

Well, that would be because the game seems to take more than a few cues from a past release, Transformers: Devastation. This is most evident in the use of the Decepticon Ground Soldiers as cannon fodder.

Also worth noting that this was probably easily done because Microsoft, owners of the Xbox brand, recently acquired Activision Blizzard, the publisher of Transformers: Devastation. That means they likely had easy access to the assets and resources from that game, even though the development was handled by PlatinumGames.

Still, it makes you wonder… Did they pull out those old assets just for this? Or is there more to this than meets the okay, no, I’m sorry, I can’t do it. Too easy. I have standards! …apparently.

Anyway, if you’ve already got Minecraft and want to roll out, then you can get it from the Minecraft Marketplace for $8.99 USD (or the rough equivalent in your currency), or the universal Minecraft price of 1,510 Minecoins.

If you’d like to mine for what other people think, or just craft your own comments to share, then head over to the “GameSpark News: For the TF VG Stuff That Maybe Doesn’t Need Its Own Thread” in our forums, and talk to your heart’s content!

Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!

*crickets chirp*

…yeah!

First up, Supercell’s mobile MOBA hero shooter (or casual strategy? Make up your mind, Wikipedia), Squad Busters, is collaborating with our beloved robots in disguise as Optimus Prime, Elita-1, and Megatron join the fray against… well, watch for yourself, and see. The animation is nice, starting in a more normal Transformers style before going to Squad Buster chibi. So if you get nothing else out of this, at least we can all enjoy that, right?

Anyway, the ability to squad up and roll out has been in the game since the 16th, so you should be able to grab it now without any real difficulty from the App Store or Google Play. There might be a fee, though, so proceed with caution, Squadobots.

But that’s not all! We also finally have an official date for the long-awaited release of G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra!

Well, kind of. We have a release date for the Steam, Good Old Games, and Epic Games Store versions. Us console-type people with Xboxes, PlayStations, and Switches are apparently just gonna have to wait to find out when our nebulous “soon” is. Anyway…

If you’d like to talk to fellow fans about either of these new developments, you can do so in our forums! Just head over to “GameSpark News: For the TF VG Stuff That Maybe Doesn’t Need Its Own Thread” for the Squad Busters collab, or crash through the sky and let out a fearful cry of “Cobra!” in the “G.I. Joe thread – 09/13/2024: Pulsecon – Dreadnoks, Dogs and Cereal” thread.

Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!

We were never quite sure what Optimus Prime meant when he uttered those fateful words all those years ago during the Battle of Autobot City, but now we finally know.

Okay, so he didn’t say that, exactly, but it more or less applies to this Hasbro Pulse video from the 2024 San Diego Comic Con, as Hasbro Product Designer Evan talked with Takara Tomy Transformers designer Tomo Tatsumi as the latter demonstrated how to transform the figure he helped create. Check it out:

And in case you missed it, we’ve already had a good look at several product shots and a little behind-the-scenes action.

So, are those 40 steps you’re willing to take when you get your hands on this prime Prime? Or will Earthrise continue to reign supreme on your toy shelf? Tell us all about it in the “Studio Series discussion” thread in our forums!

Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!

Happy Prime Day.

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A post shared by Evan Brooks (@naveskoorb)

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A post shared by Evan Brooks (@naveskoorb)

Join the discussion in our Transformers forum, our Discord Server, our twitter, or our Facebook group!

Well, okay, there was the one other time, but that was a fortnight ago.

Anyway. If you scoped out the Overwatch 2 x Transformers collaboration, but came away feeling like you wanted something a little meatier, then have we got the mash-up for you!

Despite that, though, it looks like the characters are using the evergreen versions of the designs — or, at least they are before they get, uh, sausage-fied? At which point, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Elita-1, Megatron, Soundwave, Starscream, and Shockwave (huh, little heavier on the baddies there…) take on a more “chibi” appearance, with larger heads atop smaller bodies. Looks like some of the native humanoid characters can get some Cybertronian-styled gear as well.

And they’re fighting over the Allspark, because of course they are. Here’s the description:

The Allspark has arrived on Sausage Island, and the Cybertronian warriors have arrived in style! Form a ties with the Transformers and join them in this exciting and nerve-racking adventure!

Cool collaboration between Sausage Man and Transformers debuts on July 19th! Autobots and Decepticons will engage in fierce battles on Sausage Island. Let’s join them in this exciting and nerve-racking adventure!

The game is from Singapore, by the way, in case you were wondering.

And if you’re interested, it looks like these worlds collide on July 19th. Presumably of 2024.

Like Overwatch 2, we don’t really have an active thread going for this, but you’re certainly free to make one in Fun & Games! Or Transformers Discussion. Whichever suits your fancy, we’re not Prowl. It’s not like Reactivated is likely to be distracting from it any time soon, at any rate.

Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!

…wait, what?

We’re not supposed to get Optimus Prime news drops from Amazon on this day? Then what did he even die for?!

Okay, fine. Well, regardless of intent (or the fact that these technically got out yesterday — spirit of the season, and all that), it would seem that some of the overseas branches of Amazon (including Germany) have gotten on the ball with their possibly-unplanned reveal of the hotly-anticipated “Studio Series ’86” version of Optimus Prime, based on how he appeared in the smash hit* 1986 feature film.

See how much “Touch” this big bot has for yourself in the pics right here:

While the page itself doesn’t really tell us much more about the toy than its measurements (“33 x 10.2 x 27.9 cm; 299.82 g”, for those curious), we can still glean a few details from the pictures themselves. For starters, he comes with a familiar-looking trailer, his trusty ion blaster, handy Energon axe, and a couple of blast effects, too. Roller and the mechanical tower-drone from the Combat Deck are there, too, and what’s more, they can combine! And use effects parts!

Prime himself has articulation in his index finger (the better for pointing in which direction to “roll out!”), as well as his… antenna? Horns? The things on his helmet. They seem capable of folding back.

He also has two more effects parts, specifically so you can recreate that time he took part in the Oregon State Chili Cookoff the way he blasts off from a rolling start in truck mode to transform and start sniping Decepticons in midair. If that’s how you want to display him, then you’ve got options.

Oh, and he also hides the stripe from his original toy that remains on his torso, yet disappears in his truck mode. What’s that all about? Well, there are theories, but suffice to say, it is toon-accurate — and more specifically, movie-accurate.

Notice anything else? Does this make you want to toss your Earthrise Optimus in the bin? Or are you going to wait and see which of the inevitable repaints better suits your fancy? (I’m pulling for G2, myself.) Or does it all hinge on how they handled the conveniently-obscured backpack? Tell us all about it in the “Studio Series discussion” thread in our forums!

Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!

*It’s a big multiverse. I’m sure it was a smash hit in one of them.

On April 23rd, 2023, the world’s first Transformers-themed restaurant was opened to the citizens of Hong Kong. But if you’re like me, for as big a Transformers fan as you may be, you might not get out that way very often.

But fear not! Local fan and YouTuber Hightail Creations has taken us inside the establishment known as “The Ark” to give us the inside look at what we’re missing, and whether or not we’re missing out.

So, what sounds good to you? Any number of options on the “Prime Burgers” list sound good to me, but it’s hard to deny the testimonial for Bumblebee’s fried chicken (though I am a little disappointed it’s not honey-fried). The Parma-Ham Allspark Pizza sounds kinda nice, too. But enough about me, share what you’d like to fuel your spark with in the “Talking About Hong Kong’s Transformers-themed Restaurant, The Ark!” thread in our forums!

Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!

Okay, before we go any further: Read our previous story to get yourself caught up, because I don’t feel like repeating myself in the second consecutive front-page story because they couldn’t have just done this earlier.

Got the gist? Good.

Today, Activision Blizzard decided to roll out a second trailer, featuring actual gameplay of their characters cosplaying as Cybertronians in action. Have a gander:

If you’d like to discuss this with other fans on our forums… well, as I said before (verbatim), we don’t really have an Overwatch thread, sequelized or otherwise. We do have this Activision Blizzard thread in our “Fun & Games” section, though. It hasn’t really been touched since the company laid off nearly 2,000 employees at the start of the year, so this might be a way to liven it up, yeah? No? Well, you can start a separate thread, if that’s your whim. In the Transformers Discussion section, perhaps? The trailer is kinda anime-ish, so PrimalxConvoy shared it in the “Japanese Transformers News” thread, even though that’s about as far as the relevance goes.

Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!

Does that mean anything? Maybe. Maybe not. Probably not. But keep it in your back pocket, I guess.

Anyway, those folks rolled out a trailer for a new collaboration that begins today, and features some of our favorite robots in disguise as skins (for the gamer illiterate, that’s basically like “costumes”) for a quartet of pre-existing characters from the game. Check ’em out:

For what it’s worth, Overwatch 2 principle artist Mike Hardison explained on SMOKAT that these are the Overwatch 2 characters cosplaying as the characters, rather than the actual characters themselves. That said, there is a little more meat to this crossover than just everyone playing dress-up, as they also released a free digital comic online called “Transmission” that shows Megatron establishing a trade with Ramattra: He gets Cybertronian tech in exchange for Megatron using him as an avatar in this world. Naturally, the Autobots can’t have that, and so the race is on to find new heroes to which they can lend their aid.

So… maybe these costumes are actually — say it with me — more than meets the eye?

Right.

So, anyway. If you play the game (it’s free on Nintendo Switch, Steam for PC, Xbox One/Series X|S, and PlayStations 4 & 5), for those interested by this), the costumes will be available starting today, July 9th, 2024. And if past crossovers, specifically the recent Cowboy Bebop, are anything to go by, they aren’t cheap. Those went for 2,500 Overwatch coins, or roughly $25/£21.

Oh, and that’s each, by the way. So kiss your favorite picture of Ben Franklin (or whatever the equivalent would be in other countries) good-bye if you decide to go all the way in on this.

If you’d like to discuss this with other fans on our forums… well, we don’t really have an Overwatch thread, sequelized or otherwise. We do have this Activision Blizzard thread in our “Fun & Games” section, though. It hasn’t really been touched since the company laid off nearly 2,000 employees at the start of the year, so this might be a way to liven it up, yeah? No? Well, you can start a separate thread, if that’s your whim. In the Transformers Discussion section, perhaps? The trailer is kinda anime-ish, so PrimalxConvoy shared it in the “Japanese Transformers News” thread, even though that’s about as far as the relevance goes.

Not a member? Register now! It’s totally free, save for that teeny little fragment of your Spark that helps sustain our existence! If forums aren’t your bag and you’re more of a social media kid, then you can find us on SMOKAT (that’s the Social Media Once Known As Twitter — just you wait, this’ll catch on better than “X” ever will) @AllsparkNews. Or you can do your web-slinging Into and Across the Metaverse to find our Facebook page, Facebook Group, and Instagram! Or you can go Beyond the Metaverse, and join us on our Discord, Discord.gg/allspark, where our operators are standing by to serve you!