Fact: I just got a new phone, the Optimus V. Fact: it doesn’t transform into anything, or speak to me with the guttural boom of Peter Cullen. Sigh.
In news unrelated to my smart phone acquisitions, ComingSoon has a promo pic of the proper Cullen voiced Optimus from Transforms: Dark of the Moon…
(click to embiggen)
…as well as some soundbites from Michael Bay. If you’re into that kind of thing.
I find it interesting the way Bay has started speaking openly about Transformers 2 being a mess. I mainly find it interesting because so many of his movies are messes, for the exact same reasons that T2 was a mess. But previously Bay had nothing and no one he could blame but himself, as he is king koopa on his films (something he loves making very well known). Now that he has the WGA strike to point the finger at, that man is really living it up. He just won’t shut up about it.
“Yes, it might have gone south on the direction, but we were under the gun. There was a terrible writers strike and it was a sh*t position to be in. We were under a tremendous amount of pressure. We had to write it real quick. A lot of people [on a third film] will check out and get a paycheck. I’ve been working every day for two years because I want to make up for the second one and I want to leave this franchise the best I can.“
But on Dark of the Moon Bay and screenwriter Ehren Kruger (hmmm) spent a “solid” eight months on the script. “This one is a more mature storyline, definitely darker, more emotional in the end. You feel the stakes are higher because it takes place in an American city. You’re not disconnected with Egypt and the pyramids. I’m very happy with the movie,” he says, touching lightly on the story we can expect to see. “It’s a small group and you follow them. There’s no cavalry coming. I’ve said this with Ehren, we were talking about concept, we used the term ‘Black Hawk Down.’ We try to make the cavalry unable to come. And it’s more fun to watch our heroes in this epic ending with just a small group. It makes it more intimate.“
Of the robots who will be punching each other in the face, Bay says: “This is a very involved robot story. I hate letting the cat out of the bag, but you just learn more about the hierarchy, what goes on a Cybertron. Leonard Nimoy plays a great role. I was scared to ask him, but he said, ‘Sure, I’d be glad to be back.'” Bay accredits Kruger for pulling Sentinel Prime (Nimoy’s role) into the story, but pushed for more details on the other Transformers fans can expect to see, the director clams up. “You notice we’re not putting a lot of stuff out there.” Don’t expect the “twins” from “Revenge of the Fallen,” that’s for certain. “There are two small characters. They start off a bit goofy, but they have a huge comeback. One of them is a new character.“
Bay also makes it clear that this will be his last Transformers film, but he imagines that the series will surely continue on without him. And without Shia. “Not with Shia. He’s turning grumpy in his old age. You put him on a wire and he just turns into this evil monster.“
Transformers: Dark of the Moon opens July 1. A new trailer will be punching you in the face April 28.