BombshellDaBug wrote:I think a few other people have hit it on the head when they say that the movies tend to treat the robots as being disposable. It's one of my biggest criticisms of the movies, and I'm saying that as someone who was brought into Transformers because of DotM. But what's ironic about it is that I was brought in because of how DotM treated Shockwave. I saw the movie because Shockwave showed up in every trailer and poster, and got really invested in the character after researching him. I got more involved because I wasn't satisfied with how he was treated and wanted to see more of him. So I guess in a weird sense, this sort of thing can motivate people to get involved by ironically not delivering on certain characters.
I think the treatment of Shockwave might be the biggest disappointment for me in the franchise so far, considering what an important character he is in every other continuity, especially in the G1 comics. I think that's the best development of the character, even though IDW did a fairly good job with him in their comics as well, until they actually killed him off, which kind of pissed me off. Shockwave has nearly limitless potential as far as being a villain. He's highly intelligent, ruthless, and powerful. He has almost no flaws, other than perhaps his inability/refusal to deviate from his plans, no matter the cost. He's definitely a better overall leader than Megatron. Honestly, I still think his character can be brought back in Bayverse, by simply stating that the Shockwave we saw in
Dark of The Moon was a highly advanced clone. Shockwave is a scientist after all. For him that wouldn't be a stretch.
In fact, this is the reason I'm worried that Grimlock and the Dinobots might be killed off, especially since the trailers only have Grimlock in two scenes (please let him live).
The trailers show Grimlock getting attacked and blown away, don't they? So it's safe to say he's probably going to die, as will the other Dinobots. I did find a deluxe class toy for 1 of the characters, but that doesn't mean he'll survive. Bay himself did state previously that he hated the characters of the Dinobots and he would never put them on screen. I guess he was overruled on that one, but I think he will do as little as possible with them and will enjoy killing them on screen. Supposedly there will be mini Dinobots in TLK, so we'll see what that's about. Maybe they actually survive as smaller versions of themselves? A tiny Grimlock would be really cool, especially considering his character in G1.
EMB wrote:As for character deaths, The only characters we were really with long enough to really feel were Ironhide and Ratchet. Ironhide wasn't as surprising to me (since I read the book a few days before seeing the movie for some reason), but I had actually gotten attached to Ratchet enough (combined with the sheer brutality of his death), and that death may be the hardest one for me to watch. In any movie, actually.
That scene got to me as well. The 1st time I saw it, I actually had a lump in my throat, I won't lie. Ironhide had the same effect on me, even though I did the same as you and read the book in advance. Even now, any time I watch
Age of Extinction I skip the scene with Ratchet's death. But, I keep asking myself: is he really dead? Lockdown ripped out his spark, but didn't destroy it. Just stored it. Right? Or did he "assimilate" Ratchet's life force into his own, making himself stronger and killing Ratchet in the process? I think that could be an opening to bringing that character back. Of course, the marketing side of these movies thrives on newer characters to sell toys, so I doubt that will happen.