Wicked Woman wrote:Yeah, I saw it. IMHO, I didn't like it as much as I liked Where is Thy Sting. But I will watch out if there's any more leaks or if the leaker is arrested.
I'm wondering if Predacon Rising will truely be next or will it be something else?
WW
Predacon Rising will surely be next.....and since DiTillo and Foward are writing it....
Behold,another long Review!!!
But before that Review,I give you this Review of 'Where Is Thy Sting?'
Animation
Jetfire/Jetstorm:The Twins' Alt-Modes are Cybertronain Jets,but are able to have firepower that matches their colour schemes.For their Robot Modes,Jetfire and Jetstorm contain similar designs,but are different enough to be told apart(Aside from their colour schemes).Jetfire,the orange bot,has a helmet that resembles a WWII fighter pilot's helmet,complete with goggles.For Jetstorm,the blue bot,has a helmet resembling,well,an Earth bike helmet.Unlike his brother,Jetstorm has a visor instead of optics for his eyes.The two have small and slender bodies,giving off the idea that they are kid-bots,around BumbleBee's age or perhaps younger.Thank God their not yellow(lol)
As Safeguard,he is a bigger,stronger Autobot with half of thier colour schemes
BumbleBee:He's a lot prettier than Wasp without his helmet.
As for the city itself,the scenes with rain are beautfully animated,as the usual 'blurry' camera effect is used,but is not as much as a main focus that can take the viewer away from what is going on.
Characters
Ultra Magnus:In his first scene of the Episode,what he said to Longarm Prime gives out his theory that he might be the Decpeticon traitor,telling Longarm that Wasp may be tipped with any information about the Elite Guard.However,with that in mind,we can guess that he thinks that Wasp and Longarm may be working together for the Deception Uprising.
Sentinel Prime:Our favourite jerk returns with 20% more aggrivation for the Autobot crew.Although still disgusted with the planet,he has changed since the last time in terms of how he adresses Optimus now.Instead of reminding him of his mistakes,Seintinel bickers with Optimus as his equal and hardly insults his crew and his leadership skills anymore.Rather,he only tackles with Optimus' observation skills and is stubborn and skeptical to believe any word he says.
Jazz:We return to Jazz's fascination of Earth's little wonders,such as rain and video games.Instead of seeing Jazz as a super smooth ninja-bot,we see a humourous side of him,as he reveals that he doesn't listen to most of Sentinel's sayings.
Optimus Prime:He speaks a little more in this Episode aside from sharing banter with Sentinel.He sticks to his observations and is used to advance the subplot by explaining Sentinel that Longarm is the Decepticon traitor.Unlike most of the Autobots,Optimus' observant nature gives him the natural suspicion that BumbleBee is not what he seems.Guess he and Ultra Magnus are the smartest Autobots around in this Episode.He also seems to be calm to Sentinel,but slight frustration can be heard in his voice.
BumbleBee:At first,BumbleBee was his usual kid self by playing video games,but until being faced with Wasp,he feared for his life by his friends and his enemy.
Tom Kenny was able to play BumbleBee for the majority of this Episode and he was able to emulate the fear in BumbleBee's dialouge while speaking like Wasp.Tom was able to adapt Bumper Robinson's voice acting style when portraying as 'BumbleWasp',right down to his 'complaining' attitude.
Jetstorm/Jetfire:Although they are two seperate characters,the Twins have the same personality,being young,playful,humourous,and quick-witted.These Flyboy bots are cheerful and energetic,and like Jazz,are fascinated by Earth's little amazements and contain the kid-like personality that makes BumbleBee pale in comparison.They also speak in Russian accents,however,heir dialouge is a lot more broken than their original dialouge in the Comics,but their 'ethnic' difference does cause a few laughs,such as calling Bulkhead,'Bulbusgreenone' and Prowl 'Cyclemotor'.
Bulkhead:He also returned to the character that values friendship over anything else,as he was bouncing like a child over knowing that BumbleBee is in Wasp's body.As for his view on Wasp,he shows his hatred for him,that no matter how innocent Wasp is,he will always be a jerk and a bully to him and BumbleBee.
Shockwave:This Shockwave is being more of a combination to the Marvel and Cartoon G1 Shockwave:Having the ability to kill his enemies,but is severly loyal to Megatron rather than being his own leader.However,unlike most Shockwaves,he seems less of a 'computer' and more of an individual Transformer,but he does not show any evidence to classify him as a Transformer with emotion.
Waspinator-Review II
His Earth Alt-Mode and Robot Mode design is the exact design to BumbleBee,except with a few differences that make him more 'ditinguishable' from being a regular BumbleBee redeco.His face without a helmet is creepy,as it resembles like a deformed skull,which emulates his demented nature and horrifying presence.The animators also made a redrawing of Wasp's face to have an innocent look to him when BumbleBee was in possession of Wasp's body.The animators even used the same gestures to describe BumbleBee,such as his hand motions.
Speaking of his Alt-Mode,Wasp had enough time to observe BumbleBee during 'Black Friday' to 'Three's a Crowd'.This shows his everso determination to eliminate his foe and differs him to his namesake in terms of strategic thinking.
He is portrayed as the usual 'I want revenge' type of character,however,when comparing to the Original Waspinator of Beast Wars,this one gets the job done.He is more focused,more motivated,and is more determined to accomplish his ambitions.However,when viewing the original Waspinator,he also attains those characteristics,but only for survival..Although it is too soon to tell,Wasp may contain the original portrayal of Waspinator before Bob Foward changed his mind and made the character the famous boob as he is today.But like Waspinator,Wasp does gain the unfortunate luck his namesake has,;not physically,but mentally.
Also,Wasp has the intelligence to craft his own weapon,however,his namesake may also have a similar intelligence to him,seeing as Waspinator can repair himself in every Episode of Beast Wars.
Tom Kenny's Portrayal of Wasp:Unlike 'Autoboot Camp' it seems that Tom Kenny was focusing on how to perform Wasp's dialouge rather than sound similar to Scott McNeil.Though he contains a similar voice and speech patterns,the stress or 'buzzing' cannot be heard.However,Tom's Wasp has a more 'smarter' dialouge and can deliver his lines to make any viewer feel sorry for the bot,but at the same time,acknlowedge the fact that this bot is also demented,to the point of switching armour plating with his enemy.
Bumper Robinson's Portrayal of Wasp:Unlike the somewhat pressure Tom Kenny has to face in playing Wasp,Bumper is able to play that role in his own style,but keeps a similar dialect that's more aimed to Scott Mcneil's Waspinator than Tom Kenny's.First,he uses emphasis on his words,but does not stress his words to contain a 'buzz' on his voice.Second,he continues to address BumbleWasp and himself similar to Waspinator addresses everybody.However,being different from the two Voice Actors,Bumper adds more pause to Wasp's character,but contains similar speech pattern to BumbleBee.Of course,when Wasp did download the files to be more like BumbleBee,Bumper was able to be more of himself.
As for BumbleWasp,he expereinces the physical bad luck his namesake possesses,such as being blown away from Jetstorm's attack,twice.
Storyline
'A Robot In Disguise swaps metal with a double agent who is really on the level.'
-Jazz
It all starts with the Elire Guard ship crusing though Earth.Longarm communes with them on why they are heading to Earth without his knowledge.Ultra Magnus informs him that Wasp could be tipped off if Cybertron Intel were told about their whereabouts.Jazz,using the computers to detect Wasp's energy signature,tells Longarm that Wasp is heading to the Earth Autobot's base.Sentinel tells Longarm and Magnus that he heard no word from Optimus or anyone else.On Earth,BumbleBee is at the base playing video games,but was interrupted by Prime.He explains to BB that he should have been on monitor duty to see if any Decepticons are nearby and/or anyone from Cybertron.The computers detected nearby Cybertronian lifeform,and Prime leaves BumbleBee alone as the rest investigate.Instead of watching the monitors as told,BumbleBee heads off to play his video game.
The Elite Guard finally arrive on Earth.Jazz and Sentinel start to search,but not without Sentinel struggling on the rainy roads on his Alt-Mode.Back at the base,the lone BumbleBee is in a blackout,and with emergency lights on,the voice of Wasp echoes through.In a second,the two are finally reuinited.Wasp shouts for revenge,while BumbleBee explains about the mistake he caused.He runs from Wasp,but not for long.Wasp,in his bitter insanity and misery,pulls out a gun and his helmet,and Stasis Locks BumbleBee.
BumbleBee awakens a few cycles later and sees the Autobots along with himself;mask down and with purple optics.BumbleBee notices that he's in Wasp's body and Wasp in his body.'BumbleWasp' tells everyone that his armour was switched,while 'WaspinBee',and the Autobots gain suspicion.WaspinBee commands the crew to take the 'traitor' away,but Prime tells him that Wasp is supposedly innocent.BumbleWasp keeps explaining that he's BumbleBee,but WaspinBee convinces the Bots that he's insane.Freaked out,BumbleWasp blasted the lights out and dashed off.The emergency lights kicked in and the Autobots ran after him.Jazz and Sentinel arrive,meeting up with Optimus and the crew.Optimus explains to Sentinel that they lost Teletraan-1 and could not communicate to Cybertron.Sentinel does not care and plans to take down Wasp,but Optimus explains that Wasp is not the traitor,but is in fact,Longarm Prime.Sentinel,of course,does not believe in him,and Optimus tells 'BumbleBee' about Longarm in which the bot tells nothing but a pun on his name.Sentinel,Jazz,and the others leave,but BumbleWasp decides to stay in the base.
In Cybertron,Shockwave tries to contact Megatron,but recieves nothing,but continues telling that he's taking matters into his own 'servos'.Meanwhile,Prime and Ratchet discuss about the sudden changes in BumbleBee and see Jetfire and Jetstorm pass,mistaking them as Decepticons.On the streets of Detroit,WaspinBee tries to wash off the green paint job.Jetfire and Jetstorm find him and prepare for the attack.Jetstorm pulls out a gust of wind and WaspinBee fights it off with his Alt-Mode.Jetfire was about to go with the final blow until Ratchet intervined.WaspinBee changes back to Robot Mode and is glad to see Ratchet,but is blown away by the wind.The Twins decide to fight against Ratchet and Prime.All battle,but the Twins gain the upper hand by their speed and small size.The two combine and become Safeguard.As Optimus battles the Combiner,Sentinel arrives and commands Optimus to stop,declaring that the Twins are Autobots.Jazz and Sentinel explain that Jetstorm and Jetfire were Reformatted using the Tech Specs from Starscream when they captured him.The two Primes argue again on Wasp and the angered Sentinel commands the Twins to find Wasp.
At the base,WaspinBee plays the video game and is enjoying life as his enemy.After losing,he decides to find more information about BumbleBee via the computer.For BumbleWasp,he's driving away from any dangers as possible.He stops at a Hot Dog Stand and colours himself by using mustard.Prowl and Bulkhead find him and attack,Bulkhead being the first.BumbleWasp then reminds Bulkhead about their time in Boot Camp and the surprised Bulkhead was overjoyed to see his friend.The Twins arrive and mistake Prowl and Bulkhead for working with Wasp.They attack the Autobots and BumbleWasp is sent flying again.Jetstorm Cuffs him while Prowl fights Jerfire.At the roads,Optimus explains again to Sentinel(Who's driving still sucks)about Longarm.Jetstorm Comlinks Sentinel that he and Jetfire captured 'Wasp','Bulbusgreenone',and 'Cyclemotor'.The slightly frustrated Optimus tells him one more time about what's going on.The stupidly stubborn Sentinel doesn't believe him and now thinks they're traitors.Optimus drives off,while Sentinel commands Jazz to follow.As for Ratchet,he just makes fun of Sentinel's poor driving skills.They finally arrive and Bulkhead explains to Optimus about BumbleWasp.Sentinel doesn't believe in them,and Prime finally tells him off in a peaceful manner.Optimus realizes that WaspinBee is at the base and they return.
WaspinBee speaks to Sentinel about all the events in 'Autoboot Camp',which Sentinel does not remember,but eventually did.WaspinBee then talks to Optimus about the events in 'S.U.V.'Sentinel was convinced that BumbleWasp is the real Wasp,but Bulkhead suggessts on how to know who's real and who's not.
By playing a video game.
Bulkhead explains that whoever wins the game is the real BumbleBee,but Sentinel thinks otherwise,while Jazz and the Twins enjoy the idea.WaspinBee,nervous,decides to take the other approach:By refusing the challenge and take BumbleWasp hostage.WaspinBee explains about his revenge,but Bulkhead tells him off about his revenge.WaspinBee blasts the lights and runs.The emergency lights are on and they run after him.Bulkhead finds BumbleBee's body lying down and beats him,only to find out that it is the real BumbleBee he's beating.Prowl explains how the permanent paint job was placed(By a button on his helmet)and Jazz is convinced that Longarm is the traitor,and Sentinel wonders why Optimus never told him.In Cybertron,Ironhide is looking for Longarm,only to see the carcass of Ultra Magnus.The Elite Guard Leader reveals that Shockwave was the one who destroyed him and goes into Stasis Lock.
The scene with BumbleBee and Wasp is eerie and somewhat horrifying if you were a six-year old.To place the idea of armour-swapping as kid-friendly is amusing.However,I wish that the horror theme was played out a little bit more,such as showing Shockwave nearly destroying Ultra Magnus to Stasis Lock.Instead,we had more of the kid-appeal theme by Wasp and BumbleBee playing a video game.
This subplot is really played out nicely as we are focused with Wasp more than Shockwave.This could be a tied loose end to one part of the Double Agent plot,as Wasp is to be in another Episode,but that would be a stand-alone filler rather than being part of the subplot.
There is a Continuity Error concerning Ratchet's 'No Autobot flies.' line.This can be explained.There are two Autobots that can fly;Swoop and Omega Supreme.Swoop can not be counted because he was not created from Cybertron and there is no explination to how he is an Autobot,when he is originally created by a Human and a Decepticon.If Swoop is counted,this raises the 'How are the Dinobots,Autobots' debate.For Omega Supreme,he was created in Cybertron by Autobots...however,he is not classed as a civilian Autobot,which is what Ratchet probably meant by 'Autobot'.Omega,described by Ultra Magnus was a weapon and was used specifically for that purpose.Other than that,Omega is also the Ark,so he could not live like a civilian Autobot like the others but is used for two purposes:War and exploration.
Speaking of flying,Decepticons are only flyers,which raises another clue to how the Great War and Cybertron's backstory.We are aware that Decepticons are exiled,possibly extinct,and are now explorers.Now that they are the only flyers of Cybertron may mean that Decepticons were the military race,while Autobots were the diplomatic race,which is the norm for most incarnations of the Franchise.There are still more information that may or may not be layed out in this Season...but we have the idea of who was formerly the 'defense' of Cybertron,but not the 'power' of Cybertron.
Speaking of Continuity Errors,when WaspinBee was alone,Tom Kenny recieved the role.This seems appropiate since he's talking amongst himself,however,BumbleWasp said the Voice Synthenziers were switched.Does that mean it was theory?It's likely,considering that Bumper contained the WaspinBee role again later.However,at one hand,this may be proof that the two are more similar than design that realized,but,at the other hand,Wasp gained the 'Waspinator' voice during his time in prison...which may not be part of the 'BumbleBee' design.
Or maybe I'm thinking too hard at this.
Weapons
Jetstorm's uses wind power that could send any Autobot flying,which is similar to the wind power of the character Tigerhawk from Beast Wars.Like him,he also has the ability to create tornadoes.He also has speed similar to Blurr and/or BumbleBee
Jetfire uses fire balls that can emit from his hands,similar to that of Animated Hot Shot.Jetfire can also run on walls and even jump from wall to wall.
The two also have very acrobatic skills.
As Safeguard they have strength to even let Optimus himself have trouble battling.
Quirks
The bouncing from Bulkhead(Aww)
Two references from 'Other Victories',mainly Wasp blowing in the wind
Optimus can really stand Sentinel's crap.
Wasp learns about BumbleBee through Transformers Wiki
Everything can be solved by a video game.
To Ironhide:Are you dense,or just don't care about a dying Ultra Magnus?
[img]http://tfwiki.net/w2/images2/8/85/ShockwaveDesertionOfTheDinobots1.jpg[/img]
By Primus,You Are Awesome!
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