I Watched Transformers: Kingdom

(Published Aug 11, 2021)

Where do I even begin? Just like the two seasons before, the voice acting SUCKS. But I feel like it was extra bad for Kingdom... Predacon Megatron has always been voiced by David Kaye, who gave him a very... Shakespearian voice/dialogue. He uses larger words, more controlled in his speech, and of course the Yesssssss. The actor who did his voice in this show sounds barely out of puberty... And nothing was sophisticated or someone who was well versed. Everyone else also sucked. The usual long drawn out pauses, sounding like Batman, poor acting... And not sticking to character. It was more annoying with the Rattrap actor trying SO HARD to sound like original Rattrap and failing terribly. Everyone just sounds the same.... And then Dinobot didn't sound like a bitter warrior, just some... Guy. That's literally it. They either sound like Batman trying to be dramatic, some random guy, or a typical woman voice. No one is unique, no one has a personality to their vocabulary or tone. Just the same. This entire trilogy is that.

And because of this lack of individuality, it just ruins the entire show.

Ignoring the terrible acting, the animation, again, isn't bad. Not bad CGI, models, lighting, etc.

What also is poorly done is whenever a firefight is going on people just STAND THERE in the range of fire withOUT cover and somehow don't get shot. Literally in the second episode Blackarchnia, Dinobot, and Predacon Megs are standing as people are firing at them having a conversion. But I guess when everyone has plot armor there's no need to worry about getting shot...

The only line I think that was remember-able I guess would be the "I can fly" quote from Starscream, but it lost it's touch with the fact Megatron lived. Had he died it would have made it an epic moment for Starscream.

The plot... The entire storyline for this trilogy just has been so poor. It's rushed, it doesn't go into details, it doesn't explain things, and it tries to force SO MUCH into such a short time. It leaves you confused. I'm a big Transformers fan who has seen all the G1 cartoon, movie, Beast Wars, Beast Machines, etc. so I get all references and already know the characters and their stories. But for someone who hasn't seen this or is new to the Transformers world this makes zero sense to them. And the creators clearly want this story to stand on its own, so they NEED to tell it in a way that newbies can understand and follow. The Bayformers did this, Transformers: Prime did this, G1 did this.... But this trilogy did not.

It's so disappointing as the CGI and everything could have made this a decent series. But with poor voice acting and a complex storyline without any explanation just ruins it. Even if the story was the same but the voice acting fixed it would be a hell of a lot better. The voice acting, which makes a character, which gives them personality, is so incredibly paramount for ANY story, and this series didn't care about it. So it has no soul, no uniqueness, just... Nothing.

That's my biggest annoyance. Had they just hired the original actors for several of the characters... And I know these actors love the characters so might have been willing to do it for less money making them affordable. Of how morbid it is to say, many of these actors won't be around for much longer. I rather they get paid to voice these characters we love for the time they have, than some newbies show up. The newbies will have their time in the next decade. Just for now... Let us have Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Corey Burton, etc. They aren't going to be here forever. And they know this and want to be part of these shows and be their favorite characters as much as possible until they are unable to.

I don't recommend this trilogy at all. Especially not to anyone who wants to get into Transformers as it may scare you away. But I hope maybe the people who made it will learn from their mistakes and try again and give us something amazing. Again, the CGI was good. It's the voice acting and script that needs work.