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themosleyreview · 3 years

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The Mosley Review: Transformers: War for Cybertron: Kingdom

Wish fulfillment. That's what this entire trilogy has become for me. Siege showed the darkness and horrors of the war on Cybertron and Earthrise gave characters more depth character with their sacrifices and it was a great space adventure. This entry ties all of what made the first 2 entries great and delivered something that I've always wanted to see. The Autobots and Decepticons finally meeting their future counterparts the Maximals and Predacons. As a massive fan of 90's computer animated classic series Transformers: Beast Wars, I have waited for the moments that were alluded to finally come true. Time travel can be tricky and sometimes it doesn't mix well with certain franchises. It can become convoluted and too sprawling for its own good and that happens a few times in this finale. The action is great and the story is cool, but I felt there was a disconnection to the main plot somewhere in the middle. I did love that the story leans into a more spiritual direction when tackling the mythos behind the life force of the Allspark. This final chapter was truly something special and all the characters you knew and loved may have changed in this iteration, but a few stay consistent with their previous versions.

Jake Foushee once again delivers a great performance as Optimus Prime and I can't stress enough the amount of depth he brings to the character. This is the most emotional and very flawed version of Optimus I've ever seen. All the consequences of his actions meet up with him and it was really fun to see him navigate his present as he deals with his possible future. Joe Zieja was awesome yet again as Bumblebee and he continues to be a strong companion and sometimes a better leader than Optimus. Bill Rogers still nails it as Wheeljack and I loved his jabs and sly comments about the battles in the series. Linsay Rousseau returns as Elita-1 and she has one of the most powerful and heartbreaking moments of the season. The Maximals are introduced in this chapter and growing up with the original voice cast, it was very jarring to not hear them or their cadence with each other. I also felt most of them weren't really handled well. Justin Luther did a good job as Optimus Primal, but from the beginning I felt he didn't understand the commanding presence needed for the character. His characterization of him was really off in the beginning and lacked that same gravitas. As the chapter progresses he gets better, but not to the full potential what could've been. Joe Hernandez was good as Cheetor and I think he got the hot shot personality of the character just right. Frank Todaro did well as one of my favorites Rattrap. He was a little under used for me and I would've loved to see him trade wise cracks with Bumblebee or Cheetor more. Andy Bernett was perfect as Rhinox. He nailed the tech savy and wisdom of the character. Erin Ebers was excellent as Airazor and she stole a great deal of the show with a great arc.

Jason Marnocha was excellent once again as Megatron and I liked that his obsession with the future has really pushed him over the edge. Jason's portrayal of Galvetron was even more sinister and sometimes sadistic as you feel his desperation to be free of his master Unicron. The 2 of them together were excellent and offer up some great insight into the idea of knowing too much about your own future. Jonathan Lipow was perfectly menacing and terrifying as the ever present entity Unicron. You are in constant fear once he's on screen and I loved his soft and dark tone. Frank Todaro was excellent again as the conniving weasel Starscream. This time he actually has an important purpose instead of betraying everyone. Marqus Bobesich was good as a sort of younger interpretation of the Predacon Megatron, but I hated that he was such a slave to the original. He has some great moments of action, but I would've liked to have seen more of the conflict between him and Primal. Jeanne Carr was perfectly devious and creepy as Blackarachnia. She always has a back up plan and I liked the chemistry she had with Airazor. The one character that I hoped would steal the show like he did in the past, does that once again. Krizz Kaliko was perfect as Dinobot and he is every bit the warrior he deserved to be. I loved that we get an emotional depth to his warrior spirit.

The score by series composer Alexander Bornstein was excellent once again as the mix of orchestral and technical synth is brilliantly placed throughout the season. The biggest problems I felt with this chapter in particular were the Maximals and Predacons themselves. They added to the story and overall arc of the series, but they seemed misunderstood and sometimes miss cast. The story gets a little too big for what they were trying to achieve in 6 episodes and it felt rushed towards the end as they threw as much as they could at the screen. This was a good final chapter that could've been great and as a trilogy, this is still one of the best iterations of the Transformers lore I've ever seen. I definitely recommend this trilogy to all fans that have been waiting for a darker, edgier and sometimes grounded story. The entire Netflix Original trilogy is now streaming. Let me know what you thought of the show or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

#transformers war for cybertron kingdom #jake foushee #Joe Zieja #bill rogers #Linsay Rousseau #justin luther #Joe Hernandez #Frank Todaro #Jason Marnocha #Marqus Bobesich #Jeanne Carr #Krizz Kaliko #netflix

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