I’ve seen both the normal and Imax version, and enjoyed it a lot.  In fact, the two things that annoyed me first time around (the twins and the length) grated a lot less on a second viewing.  Aside from the fact that I found the twins annoying as the film went on (but very funny at the beginning), that’s all I’m saying about them.

All in all, I thought the film did exactly what a good sequel should, which was just taking what worked from the first film and do it twice as good.  The plot is pretty much identical to the first, but there’s some more focus on the actual Transformers this time.  There’s some nice scenes between Megatron and Starscream which flesh them out, and Optimus gets some great moments.  The forest fight stands out as a high point of the film, where Prime takes on most of the Decepticons single-handed.

The returning cast did a good job as well, but interestingly for me, this time the film was stolen by John Turturro’s Agent Simmons.  In the first film, I wasn’t really bothered about his character, but in this sequel I thought he was hysterical.  Shia LaBeouf turns in his usual great performance, again getting to show off his comic timing perfectly whenever Sam starts getting flustered, as in the first film

In terms of the Transformers themselves, Jetfire probably stole the film for me.  The idea of a cantankerous old Transformer was really well played out here, and very funny.

There’s not really a huge amount to say here.  If you enjoyed the first one, you’re on pretty safe ground with the sequel.   Its great fun.

Obviously the original is still the best, but I kinda like this version.  I could pretty easily see it playing over the end credits for Revenge of the Fallen

You can view it here.

I can’t afford it sadly, but its certainly drool-worthy, and hard to resist for a big Ultra Magnus fan like me.

On a related note, I’m really loving the Universe Classics. Prowl and Sunstreaker have both been released over here, and they’re ace toys. I really love the way that Prowl’s shoulder-mounted missles have been integrated in, instead of left as separate pieces. They’re great updates of the originals.

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Its a cracking wee game. Its a turn-based strategy game, whereby you have to use your Autobot units to complete a set objective which could be capturing power stations, or freeing your comrades from a Decepticon prison cell. You’ll have different units based on G1 Autobots (Bumblebee, Ratchet, Metroplex, Optimus Prime and more), all of which have different stats for moving, combat etc.

I’ve been having great fun playing it. And the good news is that there’s a demo available online here.  If you’re interested, then check it out.

Its just mad.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m definitely picking this guy up.   He looks really cool

This is easily the best show since Robots in Disguise. While I enjoyed Cybertron, Armada was quite painful for most of its run (surprisingly since the plot was actually good – just badly executed with really annoying kid sidekicks) and Energon I just got bored of and stopped watching by the halfway mark.

However Transformers Animated has a good balance between humour and action. They’ve changed things around in a way that’s probably not been done since Beast Wars, with Optimus Prime being much younger and an academy washout, now running a simple repair team who happen to find the Allspark while on a routine maintenance mission. Its not long before the Decepticons (who haven’t been seem in generations) turn up and attack them, forcing them to crashland on Earth.

This show did two key things which make it a great draw I think. The first was to muck things about. We have a Prime who’s young and not the best commander in the world. The Autobots on Cybertron being run by Ultra Magnus in this continuity (yes!).

The second was to make the Decepticons much more of a threat than they’ve been in years. In this show, we’ve got an unexperienced maintenance team of Autobots. So if even one Decepticon turns up, then they’ll be fought to a standstill. There’s a real sense of them being out of their depth when 2 turn up together, and when Megatron is finally reactivated you know they’re in big trouble. Its a big difference to the classic days when Megatron’s favourite battlecry was “Retreat!”

On a personal note as well, as a UK G1 comics fan, I’ve always loved Ultra Magnus. He was the first “big” Transformer I got as a kid, and as such I’ve always had a soft spot for him. So it was a bit dissappointing to see the character be so ridiculed in the US fandom (which I guess is understandable, as they didn’t get the ongoing Magnus/Galvatron grudge match we did). I loved it when the character was resurrected for Robots in Disguise and thought it was a great updating. However since then, he’s been relegated to being a white Prime repaint in just about every line, and he’s certainly not been a character in the show.

So having him not only back, but now the wise, leader of the Autobots is brilliant. Its another very different interpretation of the character but I love it none-the-less. And he’s got a whacking great hammer. Which he controls thunder and lightning with.

He’s the Autobot Thor! Brilliant!

Annoyingly the toys still aren’t out. There’s a good few must-buys for me from this line. Sadly part-and-parcel of getting sucked into the cartoon is that now I want loads of the toys. I’m going to be skint

TFW2005′s forums have some pictures up of the new animated Grimlock toy.

That’s a “must buy” for me. It looks brilliant

I’ve been enjoying the new cartoon a lot. I was originally dubious as it was such a large departure from the “Unicron Trilogy” style that I’d gotten used to, but its worked really well. I love the re-invention of the younger Optimus Prime, who’s been drummed out of the Autobot academy and found himself leading this ragtag space bridge repair crew. Its really different to what’s been done before and its put a nice fresh spin on things.

Plus, as a UK comics fan, I love the fact that Ultra Magnus is in charge of the Autobots in this version. Can’t wait to see what his new toy is like

As a result of this fairly cool scene, I’ve been keen to pick up the two of them, so the giftset seemed like a great idea, especially since the box was roughly the size of a Voyager-class, I figured it’d be nice and affordable. Well, shame on me for not checking the price tags more carefully, as the cost was actually £39.99! I was in a hurry though, so wasn’t really watching what I was doing.

Now, since most people reading this won’t really follow Transformers toys, the problem here is that Blackout is a Voyager class toy. Which means he retails for £19.99 (give or take). Scorponok meanwhile is a deluxe, meaning a cost of £9.99.

Yup, Toys R Us suckered me good.

Sadly, I’m one of these strange people who won’t take it back and complain, as I view it as my fault for not checking the price before buying it. That and the set is now the source of a perverse amusement for me, just for the audacity Toys R Us have for stocking it at that price.

As for the toys themselves? Well, fortunately I quite like them. Blackout’s helicoper mode isn’t necessarily as robust as I’d like, but he matches his on-screen appearance well, looks suitably evil, and his some nice gimmicks in his mini-Scorponok he carries with him, and his geared rotor system.

Scorponok should be awful. Only his beast mode appeared on screen, so the designers have had to cobble together a robot mode for him based on what they had. It kind’ve works though. He looks quite monstrous which appeals to me. Again, he’s got a nice gimmick in his gears claws (push him along the ground and they turn, along with a flywheel in his chest), and his tail is nicely articulated. Plus I quite like how the fixed spring-loaded missle in his tail works as a stinger. Simple idea, but it works well.

As an added bonus, Scorponok can be pegged underneath Blackout to be carried into battle, and apparently (though I’ve not tried it yet), in this mode, triggering Blackout’s rotors will also activate Scorponok’s claws. Neat.

The new aesthetic will take a bit of getting used to, but the toy designs look pretty fun. Plus the opening theme is one of the best in recent years.

Here’s a video that was taken of a recent promo shown at a convention in the States.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And Tformers has a gallery of the new toys:

http://tformers.com/ig.php?mode=album&album=8198&start=0

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out anyway.