First, I would like to give a special mention to Rob and Rebecca, the hands-down most active participants in Punchsplosion 2009. There were some noble efforts, but no one came close to the breadth and depth presented by the Youngbergs. Check out Rob’s comment on that post, and you’ll see what I mean. Great identification of subgenres of punchsplosion. Peg, yours would count as a “cussplosion.” Kudos with those of you with the courage to participate!
This week I want to address another childhood love of mine whose resurgence has me on the brink of incontinence: Transformers. Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “But, Tim, you set yourself up for such disappointment with Indy 4! Remember how excited you were and how subsequently crushed you were?” To that, I respond, “What? They made an Indy 4? Never heard of it…”
There is no way that this summer’s Transformers 2 can possibly let me down. That sounds like quite a statement, but for me, it all comes down to expectations. Consider the following metaphor: For me, seeing a movie by a director like Stephen Spielberg is like eating at the Cheesecake Factory. The selection is extremely diverse, you may not like everything on the menu, but there are some things that you’re just going to love. Once in a while, you get a real plate of crap (perhaps shaped like a Crystal Skull…), but it’s usually quite good. Then you’ve got Michael Bay. He’s like the McDonalds of the film world. Nothing really changes, it’ll probably make you feel sick, but you know exactly what you’re going to get. And sometimes it’s exactly what you want.
I loved the first Transformers movie. I wanted to see giant robots beating each other up, and that’s exactly what I got. The sequel promises more of exactly that, and the only way I’ll be disappointed is if the Autobots and Decepticons decide to put down their weapons and talk out their differences over a cup of tea. But from what I’ve seen in the trailers—and knowing what I do about Michael Bay—I don’t think that’s going to happen. Now, I can’t say that Transformers was a great movie. Or even a really good movie. Maybe not even a good movie, by typical movie standards. I concede that the dialog is ludicrous, characterization is nil, it’s always sunset, and Megan Fox looks way older than any high school student. But I wanted to see robots transforming from vehicles into robots and back again while beating each other up—and it far exceeded my expectations. I still giggle while watching those actions scenes (I just finished watching it moments ago, and I’m still giggling). Honestly, more often than not, I put the disc in and fast-forward between the action scenes, because the rest is ridiculous. But that’s okay; that’s what I wanted.
There are “hard-core” Transformers fans who thought that the movie was a desecration of their childhood, was not true to the source, blah blah blah… I grew up with Transformers, I loved the toys, I loved the cartoons. But once I understood that the cartoons were made by Hasbro in order to sell toys, I realized the cartoons really aren’t that great. I’ve posted a clip of the first episode, and you’ll find dialogue like “There’s not enough energy in these conductors to last a cortex!” What does that even mean? So, it’s not like the original was up there with Shakespeare. You have to admit that only a few lines in the 2007 movie match the ludicrousness of that line. Enjoy if you have the time:
All that being said, if you hated the first movie, I understand. If you already hate the sequel, so be it. I’d say to give it a chance, but if you hated the Big Mac today, you’re going to hate the Big Mac tomorrow. You’re probably all getting bored of reading, so if you’ve made it this long I will reward you with what you probably came to this blog for in the first place: pictures.
However…
They are all pictures of this past weekend’s Botcon 2009—the official Transformers convention—that I had the opportunity to attend, as the studio for which I’m working was there to promote our new Transformers game. They are also the first pictures to appear on the blog from our new camera. I won’t feature Weston pics here, but there are a bunch, and Jean will post them soon.
This sign welcomed guests in the lobby:
Beyond the sign was this giant statue of Bumblebee.
Another shot of Bumblebee.
Here's the entrance to the hall. Not super huge but packed to the gills with merchandise, T-shirts, and nerds.
Here's the Activision booth where they were hosting demos of the new game in action.
Optimus Prime! The truck from the movies. Pretty awesome. And crowded by nerds. There was a guy dressed up as Bumblebee posing for pictures, so it got pretty congested around there.
Here's Hasbro's booth. The obviously have a strong presence there as the owners of the franchise. Their new line of Revenge of the Fallen toys was launched on Saturday, too, so they were showing those off.
It was pretty fun. I only spent about an hour there, and had to leave before I spent too much money. I did wind up getting some pretty cool stuff, though. I got myself a sweet Optimus Prime figure-- okay, toy. I got a Bumblebee toy for Weston. And I got Weston and myself matching Autobot T-Shirts. Good times.
Here's Hasbro's booth. The obviously have a strong presence there as the owners of the franchise. Their new line of Revenge of the Fallen toys was launched on Saturday, too, so they were showing those off.
It was pretty fun. I only spent about an hour there, and had to leave before I spent too much money. I did wind up getting some pretty cool stuff, though. I got myself a sweet Optimus Prime figure-- okay, toy. I got a Bumblebee toy for Weston. And I got Weston and myself matching Autobot T-Shirts. Good times.
