With Netflix, Hasbro and Rooster Teeth teaming up for a new Transformers series, it has gotten a lot of fans excited. There are fans who enjoy watching the actual Transformers as the main characters compared to seeing human characters taking the lead, and Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy: Siege delivers on that. The emotional stakes are just as high, even though it’s about two robot factions fighting each other. After having seen all the episodes from the first season, it was a dream come true to see these beloved Autobots and Decepticons back with their G1-inspired designs in a big animated production. It’s improved further with a compelling war story where everything isn’t black and white.
Design and Animation
Fans of the G1 Transformers will love the designs here. These are based on the Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy: Siege toy line, and those have been honoring the classic design. Fans will instantly recognize the many Transformers including Optimus Prime, Megatron, Ultra Magnus, Arcee, Shockwave, Soundwave, Starscream, Mirage, and Wheeljack.
The Transformers are brought to life with solid animation, and the studio has raised the bar compared to the previous CG-animated Transformers series. It’s a nice blend of adding details where needed and keeping the simple designs that make each robot look unique. Of course, if there’s a film or series with the same or better quality as 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie, then all bets are off.
Story
Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy: Siege is a whole new tale that isn’t based on the video game titled Transformers: War for Cybertron, even though there are a few similarities. The series is based on the recent toy lines, with the first season set right before the Autobots leave for Earth.
The Autobots are in a losing battle as Megatron and his Decepticons have taken over Cybertron. Optimus Prime and the few Autobots are still trying to preserve what little they have left.
Fans of Peter Cullen will be disappointed that the legendary voice actor won’t be reprising his role as Optimus Prime. That honor goes to Jake Foushee, who is still able to capture a fearless leader with a commanding voice. He’s a talented young voice actor. (His Ellen appearance as a teenager is still amazing as he shares his deep and smooth voice.)
The Seekers are flying Decepticons, and they have prominent roles in the series. Leading the pack is Jetfire, who is being undermined by Starscream at any opportunity. As a fan of Starscream, I was happy to see his personality intact. Frank Todaro does a good job of delivering the high-pitched, whining voice that fits his sniveling and egotistical nature.
One of the things that really pulled me into Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy: Siege was that some of the Decepticons aren’t painted as one-dimensional beings. There are those who are strictly evil, but we see some that believe they’re on the side of right. It also looks at the different classes in Cybertron, and how they have been treated that makes them join a cause.
Because of the added depth, the two characters that stand out are Decepticon’s Impactor and Jetfire. We see their struggles as they feel disillusioned with the war. Bumblebee comes in third place as he doesn’t want to take sides, but his reluctance can get a bit old.
One annoying subplot is the relationship between Optimus Prime and Elita-1. Every time she is on the screen, the story is bogged down due to her disagreement with every single plan from Prime. This resulted in her coming as a character that only complains while offering no solutions. There’s also no chemistry between the two, and I wondered how they got along in the first place. It’s a missed opportunity since seeing Optimus with a more interesting love interest could have added better depth to his character.
Final Reaction
Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy: Siege brings depth to the Autobots and Decepticons, creating an emotional tale with giant robots fighting giant robots. There are no humans here, yet we can still relate to their plight and suffering. Here’s hoping that Netflix decides to do a live-action series starring the Transformers.
Score: 4/5 Atoms
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