Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy - Part 3 Kingdom (2021) Review

So we have now come to the end of The War For Cybertron Trilogy with its third part Kingdom and I watched it all today and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees The Transformers crash on a new planet where they meets new allies and enemies which aim to help lead them to the AllSpark. 

Main Character

Optimus Prime and Megatron really have the focus put on them this season and they both thrive. Prime is a really interesting character, you can see how the events of the previous parts are weighing on him and affecting his decision making and confidence in being the leader of the Autobots. Whereas Megatron doubles down on his beliefs and seeing the contrast between the two of them is fascinating and the differing ideologies between the two leaders and groups is what has driven this show for me and that continues here. 

Supporting Characters

This show has a massive roster of characters, too many to mention so I will reduce it to just a few. Starscream has always been an interesting character and I think he is at his best and most nefarious here, they do something with his character that made him more dynamic in his characterisation. They introduce the maximals led by Optimus Primal and he is a good character, fans of the beast wars series will know more about him then me but I really liked his portrayal and he was a good addition to the show as was pretty much all of the maximals. I mean some of the characters get less to do with Bumblebee being the main character hit by this but he is still a good character and I think this part improves on focusing on the interesting character and staying focused on the important elements of the story. 

Story

The story is interesting, seeing the alliances between the maximals and autobots and the decepticons and the predacons. The four factions are interesting and they fit into this web in a dynamic that manages to hold the interest enough with some pretty unique concepts. The issue is that the story feels a bit bloated. The last few episodes go into some pretty crazy places but it feels like it comes out of nowhere and that it is maybe trying to set up a future for the series instead of giving a fully satisfying ending to this show.  

Script

The script is functional, it has some decent dramatic moments and dialogue to it but not enough to captivate. Plus the show is so serious it feels like a pretty morbid watch, that if you watch it in one go can be a bit much. 

Style 

The show still has some pretty good animation and it feels true to the Transformers legacy in terms of giving them the action pieces they deserve. The issue is that the new Beast animations for the maximals and predacons are terrible and really stand out because of how bad they are compared to the Transformers. The show is also a bit long and it could have done with a few less episodes to tell a more cohesive and faster paced show. 

Overall

Overall, Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy - Part 3 Kingdom is a good finale to this series. It is a solid Transformers show that puts the shine on those characters and I think if you are a fan of the franchise then give this one a go, I think you will quite enjoy it. 

Rating - 7/10

Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy - Chapter 2 Earthrise (2020) Review

I really enjoyed the first part of Transformers: War for Cybertron and with the third and presumably last part coming out next week I finally caught up on the second part Earthrise and here is my review for it.  The premise of the season sees Optimus Prime and his Autobots attempt to locate the Allspark, while Megatron and his Decepticons look for any way to save Cybertron. 

Main Character

Optimus Prime and Megatron are huge names in the world of TV and Film and they are really well executed on this show. They are seen as good and evil but there is more nuance to it, especially, Megatron who is given much more character development here and you see how this whole thing has affected him. Optimus takes a bit of time to get going but it is interesting to see a younger version of the character as he doesn't get everything right but is still trying to be a hero. 

Supporting Characters

There are plenty of supporting characters in this show, I mean there are way too many to even really keep track of. The main two that stood out to me were Starscream and Bumblebee, Bumblebee has had plenty of development this season, he is now transitioning into his character that we have seen in other mediums over the years. Starscream is actually quite entertaining to see just the lengths he will go to in order to betray Megatron and take over the Decepticons while being really bad at it. But the rest of the characters basically fold into one, Alita and Jetfire were given plenty to do in the first part but here they are less then important, Jetfire in particular isn't given anything to do and that is a real letdown when you consider his character from the previous part. 

Story 

The story involving its main characters is the most interesting part of the show. Megatron and Prime are really interesting characters and their feud really drives this show forward and makes it rise above some of the more messy parts of the story. The show becomes a bit complicated with the amount of characters it tries to focus on, I mean we don't even see Optimus Prime for the first few episodes. It tries to focus on so much Transformers Lore that it gets a bit bogged down in the story it is trying to tell. 

Script 

The script is okay, it is a bit darker then you would expect from an animation but it is effective and makes it feel more gritty and dramatic. But it does lack life at times and feels a bit too much in terms of everything that it is trying to fit in to tell its cohesive plot. 

Style 

The animation still looks great, the transformers look as they should and the action scenes are fun and also pretty brutal at times. It is only a shot series, but I felt like it was more bogged down here due to everything that is thrown at it and it just felt me not as engaged as I was with the first part of the show. 

Overall 

Overall, Transformers: War for Cybertron Earthrise is an above average second part of the series. I didn't enjoy this part as much as the first but there is still plenty of enjoyment to be had here and if you are already watching then stick with it and hopefully it really delivers a satisfying conclusion. 

Rating - 6/10

Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy - Chapter 1 Siege (2020) Review

I am not as well versed in Transformers lore as maybe I should be so this animated show Transformers War For Cybertron intrigued me and I have now watched the first chapter called Siege and here is my review for it. The premise of the show sees on the planet Cybertron two factions The Autobots and Decepticons battle to ensure the planet and their races survival. 

Main Character

Optimus Prime is an iconic character in pop culture and he is a large part of this show and I thought he was an interesting character. This show takes place early in his run as leader of the autobots so this is the point where we see a bit of a doubtful prime and you see how the war has affected him and that he struggles at time. He shows moments of being the leader that we know and his character is interesting when you compare him to Megatron the central antagonist. Megatron is super interesting here, he starts off as yes an antagonist but one who just wants to see the war end and with morals but as the chapter progresses you see how much he struggles and how is persona and mind are affected and change him as a character. The show does a great job of making these two main characters 3 dimensional and way more interesting then they were in the live action films. 

Supporting Characters

Bumblebee is here and they do some different things with his character, I mean he isn't even an autobot here which was surprising to see. It did a good job in showing that not everybody belongs to one of the factions and that the war really affects everybody on the planet. I mean if you know the character of Bumblebee you know where his arc goes but it is handled well. The characters Jetfire and Starscream and I liked how there personalities clash and you see that even in a united force that these people don't always agree and that makes it more interesting then if they just all followed the same hymn sheet. There is a character called Elita 1 and at first I did not like her, she questions Optimus pretty much all the time and it became annoying, but when you consider where Optimus is in terms of his development and the fact that there is clearly some history there it actually makes sense and does a good job of adding a female character here. 

Story

The story is interesting here, it portrays the two factions in really interesting ways. Maybe the heroes aren't flawless and maybe the villains aren't complete evil, this complexity makes for an interesting story and makes you think about the characters. Though this show does suffer from what the films do and that there are so many transformers you are meant to care about that it becomes difficult to track and you get attached to some and some not as much. Also this is a specific point, but there is something that happens in the finale that feels very forced and comes out of nowhere that felt very poorly written which hurt the overall story. 

Script

The script here is good, it deals with themes that you wouldn't expect from an animated show that maybe could be designed for children. The drama works and seeing the different character arcs just shows how well this show is written. 

Style

The style looks pretty great, it is darker and more intense then I expected which made this feel very different. The character and world models are great to even the sound when they transform which is exactly how it should be. But I did thought maybe the action scenes could have been better made, they are not terrible it is just there is nothing that stands out. I also think that this show could have done with a few more episodes to make you care more about some of the story arcs. 

Overall

Overall, this is a great animated show, it is a unique style and does enough to keep you interested throughout. Even if you are not a fan of Transformers the this could be worth a watch as I really enjoyed this and recommend it. 

Rating - 8/10