Iâm totally not back for some Late Night Transformers One discourseâŚwho said thatâŚI wanna address something Iâve seen in some of the feedback for the film that, I donât know, irks meâŚ? One of these things is the fact that âOrion is an assholeâ or âimmature and stupidâ and therefore people donât like him. I donât know how to say this, butâŚheâs like that in a lot of continuities. Orion, in most variants, is a smartass. He has a mouth which gets him both a platform and also in trouble. He also has a habit of seeing short-term solutions to long-term issues. These are things that have existed for a long time, and I think those who have been calling him unlikeable or an ass havenât seen his variants in the source material. People who also expected him to be a data clerk and throwing a fit about the fact that heâs not also need to realize that itâs a COMIC FRANCHISE. You wonât get the same story every time, and to expect a new continuity to fall back on the sole continuity YOU want is honestly insane. If we regurgitate the same narrative over and over again, the franchise loses originality. Audiences for other franchises have also voiced disdain when their favorite pieces of media get repetitive. This is also a reminder to people that Orion Pax and Optimus do not have the same exact personalities. Thatâs the whole point and why some people grieve Orionâs absence. To expect him to be the likable gentle giant we know as Optimus Prime right away is an impossible demand to be met. Not only that, but this isnât even the film relying on one version of Orion, but a mosaic of them all.
I also saw people saying D-16 switched on Orion way too quickly. Iâd also argue here that other continuities did similar behavioral changes. In Aligned, Megatronus literally turns his back on him and abandons him at the Council meeting. The behavior is shockingly abrupt, which hurts Orion because he didnât understand what he could have possibly done wrong. Iâd also argue that, in this film, you see multiple times where D-16 is irritated with Orionâs sense of almost immature and irresponsible justice. Itâs subtle but then leads to a quick snap. The behavioral change is supposed to be jarring. Youâre supposed to feel like it comes out of nowhere.
I am half asleep writing this so I can make another in-depth post when Iâm more alive, but I just wanted to remind people they only had an hour and forty minutes to display how a civil war occurs. Thatâs very hard to do as someone who studies and writes about revolutions and anti-colonial resistance. With the time they had, it was a good job. I only pray people read the source material before giving CinemaSins-esque critiques as well. No Transformers film is perfect. This one definitely wasnât trying to be.
