First, have a look at my image gallery. Do you see those robot shapes? These are high resolution images of the new Transformers as they will be seen in the upcoming live action movie. To view an image in its original size, simply click on the thumbnail. When the picture loads note that you can click on it again. It will then load the original size on a blank page.
Do they look ugly? Most definitely.
Have they lost the charm of the old, recognizable cartoon Transformers? Perhaps.
Wherever these pictures are shown now, people moan and complain about their jumbled and messy looks. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Lots crying going on about it, these days.
However, I believe the idea here was to make the robots look “realistic”. While realism in such a movie is far from applicable, it should still make a little bit of sense how a robot, that can run, walk, punch, balance and gesture with high motor skills, will transform into a fighter jet and take off into the skies. Yes, again, I know this isn’t realistic to begin with. Nevertheless, how are you going to have them transform and take a probable shape in each stage?
Most of the Decepticons transform into airborne vehicles. Streamlined forms are mandatory, here. Aerodynamics and streamlinging set very limited constraints on the shape of the humanoid robot form. That’s how you get this “jumbled mess” which the Decepticons depict on the images.
In order for a car to drive, however, all you need is an engine and wheels. This leaves far more options for robot shape design. Thus, the Autobot models all look far more discernible.
Lastly you have to consider that cheap car manufacturer advertisement, as seen for various cars these days, does not set any standards for how cars or any other vehicle can or should transform and how they look like in their transformed shape. If you think that Citroen or Opel have set the leading example of live action transforming, then you are going into this movie with the wrong expectations. This isn’t another cartoon version of Transformers: The Movie. Where DO you put the side mirrors? Where DO you put the engine? Where DO you place the huge chassy of a giant truck or the body of an entire fighter jet? It’s no longer enough to simply make the transformation animation so fast and blurry that nobody can see the ugly details.
And you didn’t really expect Megatron to have a face with a mouth like a human, did you? Unless he can make his face melt in order to allow lip movement, that would have been a bit silly, right?
I vote for the lamenting to end. The fans should appreciate the fact that someone put some thought into it instead of just slapping something together to make a few stubborn hardcore Transformers cartoon series fans happy.
Nevertheless, do not be troubled. Rejoice! I am an informative guy and for educational purposes and also to make my point as clear as possible, I show you proof. The video below will detail precisely how anatomically correct transformation should work. It doesn’t get more realistic than this:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akNJ6S2UqsE[/video]
