My Review of Predacons Rising · 8:38pm Jun 23rd, 2020
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; might not watch it again but still happy I watched it for the first time
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
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Hey, guys. Here is my review of Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising. I believe I only watched this film only once or twice before, but in all honesty, I actually really enjoyed this movie. This felt like a wonderful conclusion to the show itself Transformers: Prime . Speaking of which, that show is my second favorite Transformers show of all time. Just like Animated, it shows us the splendid characterization of the Transformers and is filled with interesting themes, concepts, and ideas that actually captivate the whole lore of Transformers—especially the whole conflict between the Autobots and the Decepticons. For those of you who watched the series, you know that this is true.
So, let’s talk about what really worked in this animated film, shall we?
1). This movie has absolutely no humans in it. I kid you not. This is another Transformers movie that actually focuses on the Transformers! Plus, the setting of the story takes place on Cybertron, not earth! For the people that have been crying for a Transformers with no humans and that takes place on Cybertron, this movie is for you! Don’t worry, we all will get another Transformers movie in 2022, but seriously, this movie is for you! Stop crying!
2). Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and Frank Welker as Megatron. As usual, their voice performances were top-notch. I really love these guys.
3). Unicron made his cinematic return as the final villain of the series. Never mind Megatron as he was once again his tool because Unicron had really set the tone in this film like he did in the G1 movie. Although I honestly prefer him as his own entity like in G1, his design looks very impressive. He was an amazing villain and provided a series of challenges for our heroes here and in season 1 of the actual series. I think it was a great idea to properly establish him as a villain in that first season finale prior to his return in this film so that his power and presence could be much more compelling and justified. John Noble did a great job voicing him here.
4). I really loved the Decepticons in this film. Shockwave, Knockout, and Starscream were quite fantastic. Knockout was also funny as always alongside Screamer here. Plus, seeing Knockout having enough of Starscream’s shit was so satisfying to watch. However, there is one flaw in that transition. In the last episode of season 3 after Megatron’s death and the cyberforming of Cybertron, Knockout immediately expressed his wish to join the winning team. The question I have to ask is: what actually motivated him to change sides so quickly? Why couldn’t he just run away and assemble the last survivors of the Decepticons to take down Prime and his team? Was there a struggle or conflict in Knockout that made him have to choose which side to join? If the last episode—no the whole season actually developed him and answered those questions by showing us his struggle as a Decepticon and seeing the goodness in the Autobots, his tradition from ‘Con to ‘Bot would’ve actually made much more sense.
5). The same question I ask even of Megatron. Sure, his sudden reformation was actually nice to see, but there’s still something missing from that. It would’ve been great if, prior to Unicron’s defeat, there was a moment where Megatron has flash backs of him doing nearly similar acts of evil to the Autobots and the humans. Realizing how that he is no different from Unicron, what oppression really is, and how it is literally destroying him, he sees how being a ruthless tyrant truly affected him. If they had shown that scene, I would have loved it much more.
6). I also liked the Autobots here especially Bumblebee. I am thankful though that the movie did not focus on him too much, but they did grant him enough character development as someone who has truly earned the title “Warrior”. However, there is another issue I have: Why did they pick Smokescreen as the potentially new leader of the Autobots yet later on have Bumblebee as the new possible leader in the future? Come on, movie! You guys are so earnest to make Bumblebee as the ultimate hero to kill Megatron (which somewhat makes sense considering what Megatron did to him) yet you unceremoniously abandon your initial idea of developing Smokescreen as the new Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime of the series!! That’s just not right!
7). The story was exciting, and the conflict was actually epic to see. Those Terrorcon Predacons were really impressive to look at. Still though, how did Shockwave survive those attacks from the Terrorcons? He was buried under their blows!
8). Skylynx and Darksteel were decent new characters. However, it would’ve been better if they were introduced in Beast Hunters to establish their character arch and grant them more character development throughout the season.
9). Predaking was awesome as well. It was so satisfying to see them terrorize and kill Starscream off-screen (oh wait... he survives them and kills the Predacons as revealed in RID. Ughh... I hate that show).
10). Also, Starscream is seen immediately turning back to his old ways of seeking for the Decepticon throne after Megatron defects. Umm, why exactly? You mean to tell me that his complete loyalty to Megatron throughout the last half of season 2 and throughout season 3 was a lie?? Because seeing him turn back to his old self felt like his sincere gratitude to Megatron after the latter killed Dreadwing and his upmost steadfastness to Megatron’s authority was for nothing. Remember how he was hurt and shocked by Bumblebee killing Megatron? He literally cried, “I will avenge you, master!” That is just ridiculous writing (especially his out-of-nowhere revenge against Megatron in RID).
11). Finally, the ending... while not as emotionally striking as Optimus’s death in the G1 film, his sacrifice was well-done and well-executed. His ending speech was fantastic as well.
So yeah, this film has numerous flaws, but it is still a great film. Therefore, I rate it an 8/10. I recommend this to anyone who hasn’t watched it yet. Any thoughts?
Peace and stay tuned for my Bumblebee review!
RiD wasn't bad.
5291793
To me, it is. I can make a WHOLE list of reasons of why it’s bad, but I’ll save that for another time.
5291799
Well, we're still going to use it. Sorry.
5291801
Did I say I didn't approve of you using that show’s characters?
5291809
Oh. Hey, maybe I should a special thread for you and Chrysy. I have an idea.
5291811
User page, buddy. 👈🏼
5291812
I know. But just wait for a second.
Despite some glaring plot holes and inconsistencies, I still think this was a satisfying conclusion to Prime. Therefore I give it a score of 7/10.
5291820
Thanks for sharing
5291834
What can I say except... YOU'RE WELCOME!
What movie are you doing after Bumblebee in general?
5291882
I will be reviewing Batman vs The Dracula, Lego Batman Movie, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, and more.
5291799
Haven't seen much of it but I am curious on what made it receive such negative reception.
5292201
The episodes were just downright cringe-worthy, Bumblebee was out of character, the Decepticons were animal-like, the other characters learn a lesson in one episode then continue their path of stupidity like they never learned anything, the overall show itself is like a step down from the tone and characterization that made Transformers: Prime great. I can go on and on.
5292222
I can definitely see RID being a step-down big time when compare it to Prime/Beast Hunters.