The Series Finale is here! Watch as Predacons Rising puts an exclamation point of one of the best Transformers cartoons ever. This review might have SLIGHT SPOILERS, but it also could be SPOILER FREE!!
First off THANK YOU SO MUCH to Brian Ward and Tom Chen of Shout Factory. They were gracious enough to send me a copy of the DVD Predacons Rising.
Now I feel I need to unburden myself, and this might be very hard to bare it all. Since it premiered I’ve professed nothing but love for Transformers Prime. Just as other TF fans fell in love with Animated, Beast Wars, or G1. Yes I can admit I have a ton of small insignificant nitpicks about Prime. However they wrapped everything up quite nicely, with two exceptions. I’ve been told that these exceptions will not be brought up in the remaining three issues of the comic mini series Beast Hunters. Yes the kid i me is still a G1 fan, and I always will be, but TF Prime is by far the best writing, the best CGI, the best music, the BEST everything for me. Specifically to vehicle based Transformers shows. The Beast Era is a beast of a different color.
When I heard that Prime was ending I could not believe it, but I have come to accept it. Considering the awesome ending that they have given us. Both in in the 13th episode of the series, and now this finale film.
We all know the synopsis of the film right? “A resurrected UNICRON has taken over the now-lifeless body of MEGATRON to seek vengeance on the AUTOBOTS and ultimately, the destruction of Cybertron. This formidable enemy forces an unlikely alliance between the AUTOBOTS, DECEPTICONS, PREDAKING and two new PREDACONS, who come together in an epic battle to help protect their newly restored planet.”
OK the formalities are outta the way. I must say this is the best I have ever seen from the Prime team, both at The Hub Studios and Polygon Pictures. I received the single disc edition with a behind the scenes bonus feature. It was very interesting to see crew talking about how collaborative the process was working on this show!
The voice acting is once again top notch. The best part about this is how Frank Welker and John Noble’s voices overlap each other. I thought that was a very interesting vocal effect. With Peter Cullen, Sumalee Montano, Daran Norris, Steve Blum, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jeffery Combs, Nolan North, and so many more this film is packed with talent. I love seeing these characters just one more time. Now that Bumblebee has Batman and Lion-O’s voice, I love how Will Friedle brings the A game to Bee. Without overstepping the character’s personality.
I’ve always been a fan of Prime’s R2D2 Bee, and now that he has a voice, I can safely say Friedle was not what I was expecting at all. I love how all the voices go together so well with these characters. The Prime Storyline has progressed over the last three years, and the actor’s are well suited for the characters that they play.
The CGI animation and backgrounds are all gorgeous. It amazes me what can be done these days. Just the way smoke billows from debris, and other effects. Prime fans will not be disappointed with the animation here. The space scenes are spectacular, transitions are all done extremely well, and so much more. Predacons Rising has everything, a damn good story from beginning to end, it’s an epilogue to the cartoon series, the action is beatufil, and it even has moments YOU WILL NEVER EVER EVER SEE COMING!!!!!
Final Thoughts:
BEST ENDING EVER! There that is my final thought. More will be said on TF Prime in the future from The GeekCast Radio Network, but for now TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!!!
You can get Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Predacons Rising from Shout Factory on DVD and Blu Ray.
Final Rating:
“That’s Why he’s Prime!” – Wheeljack
I need to watch it again, but I agree it was a good ending. Before it was over though I was asking myself, “Did we need this movie/finale? What is the point?” But it actually pays off, even if it takes a while to get there. I don’t want to say too much because I really need to re-watch it. As for the series as a whole, which is more of the focus of your review, I think Prime was a very well done series. The CGI was amazing. The music in the series was great as well, which, for me, is the key to any great series. In the beginning I was excited for the series. The five-part opener had me extremely excited, but that excitement waned for a while as the writers hit the reset button at the end of almost every episode. Story-lines did eventually intertwine but there were times I wished they had left us hanging on a bit longer to play some things out a bit more. I often felt few moments of, “How are they going to get out of this one?” than with other series, knowing that by the end of the episode some means would be found. The second season really ramped things up, however. The button wasn’t reset at the end of each episode and the Decepticons won some victories that truly hurt the Autobots, leaving some lasting repercussions. and the series was more interesting because of it. Season three built on that, although I don’t feel that Predaking added anything of great significance to the overall plot of the season, but I need to re-watch it to see if I missed something because I watched some of season 3 out of order since I acquired The Hub about mid-season. TF Prime is a solid series. I own the other seasons and I will complete my collection when season three arrives later this year.
well I had to say stuff that wasn’t gonna spoil it as when I wrote it … it was 2 days before the TV airing, and before the release tomorrow.