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I do warn that this review DOES contain numerous spoilers and I’d advise against reading it unless you’ve seen Beast Wars and Beast Machines.
I’m going to start by informing anyone reading this that I like Beast Machines. There – said it. This is a mostly positive review (I didn’t like everything about it), which you are about to read…
Before I launch into this review, let’s take a quick step back – Beast Wars.
I think everyone will agree that Beast Wars was fantastic. For the American and Western Markets it completely revived Transformers and made it a mainstream and viable cartoon for children (and fans). Beast Wars took new characters and made them favourites. What established Beast Wars for me personally was that, whilst also reinventing Transformers as a concept and making it fresh, it also drew on familiar elements of Transformers mythology and back-story. We got to see Starscream, Optimus Prime, the Ark, the Nemesis, Ravage. When we leave Beast Wars, it is with a band of heroes returning to Cybertron, having won the Beast Wars battles on Earth – with Megatron as a prisoner…and then Beast Machines kicks in, and it all falls to pieces. Everyone is back to their old beast modes, Megatron’s in control and Cybertron has been decimated of its sparks.
The Story: From the outset I was telling myself that I wouldn’t like Beast Machines, and I think that this is a conception that I assumed from conversing with other fans and from what I have read online about the series. I’ll bet there’s been many people who have deliberately bypassed it because of what they’ve heard/read online. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I thoroughly enjoyed it. In a nutshell, Beast Machines is a very tightly written series that sees the characters (and the audience) treated as adults, who think and feel and have genuine emotions for those around them. It’s been my experience with franchises that accrue large fan followings, that the fans are the harshest critics of all. Most of all, they seem to dislike changes – especially into unchartered waters. Beast Machines is steeped in as much Transformer mythology as Beast Wars was (e.g – Key To Vector Sigma, Plasma Energy Chamber, Iacon, the Prime Statue). As a series, It seems to get hammered due to the fact that characters are changed into unattractive robot modes, the techno-organic elements, and then the ultimate changes that befall Cybertron at the conclusion. However, I would say that far more characters die in Beast Wars; how many die in Beast Machines?
In terms of story development, I wasn’t sure how well it would work with such a small cast of bad guys to battle against (small – in terms of individuals with sparks). However, the legions of drones served to heighten the danger and difficulty, which the Maximals faced. In some areas the story almost relaxed to a very slow pace, with little development, in others it rushed forward…
Characters: We have a core cast of about 10-15 players for the entire duration of the series. I have to admit that the Organic Transformation modes in this series were the only thing that I didn’t like (and they took a while to grew on me). Initially I disliked the skinny nature of a lot of the Maximals – Black Arachnia and Botanica being good examples of this – however, the animation team seem to have been placing more of an emphasis on the fact that this series was more adult – Black Arachnia looks and behaves more like a woman (compared to the girl she was depicted as in Beast Wars). Silverbolt is another example of this – he goes from bird-dog to grown up Ninja in this series. Rat-trap falls in love. Optimus Primal finds spiritual enlightenment. The whole thing with the Oracle and Optimus Primal is about the closest that the series has come to having religious undertones (I’ve not seen the 2005 series: Cybertron, so I don’t know how Primus is approached in terms of being a God). Primal’s death at the conclusion to the story was a surprise, but not a disappointing one – his death meant something – he died to save the planet and the people whom he cared for and loved. As we know that Primal is shown to have joined the matrix at the end, content to go this time, it almost seemed a fitting end. With hindsight, the signs where there throughout the series as to his future end.
Megatron posed as an interesting villain in this series. In terms of his character, he hasn’t changed much from Beast Wars – still a nut job, who cares not for minions or Maximals alike. Given the chance, I imagine that he would have happily walked all over his Predacons on Earth to get what he desired. Here, he is bent on absorbing all life on Cybertron and converting the planet into a single, perfect entity. This raises interesting moral questions, which various key characters ask during the series – Rhinox buys into it and dies trying to take over (claiming he is truly non-organic, unlike Megatron). Primal comments in one episode that maybe Megatron is right…! It’s a pity we don’t get to see more of Megatron’s alt dragon mode during the first 13 episodes – he preferring to pull stings and hide in the shadows. As a villain, he doesn’t to die and drifts from gigantic floating head, to drone and then ultimately to Primal’s old body, which keeps proceedings engaging for the most part. It’s a pity he wasn’t allowed more troops to play with.
Jetstorm, Tankor and Thurst brought back Silverbolt, Rhinox and Waspinator respectively. Waspinator is harder edge in this series, although Thrust still has the same rotten luck here too. I’m glad Waspinator made it to the end of Beast Machines…comedy character should never die. The story with Jetsorm provided a wonderful on-going plot thread concerning Black Arachnia – her love for Silverbolt meant she would never give up on him. Even when Silverbolt came back, he was adrift from the team for much of the series. Rhinox/Tankor proved probably the biggest shock of the entire series – Rhinox being the most docile of the Beast Wars Transformers, he’s the last one you’d expect to turn bad – I bet there were a lot of fans disgusted by this. Go back to Beast Wars and took a look at the episode where Rhinox goes bad – the seeds where there – he would have made a fearsome Predacon and he makes a fearsome Vehicon. Tankor proves a worthy, dangerous baddie as he’s far more clever than Megatron and way more dangerous. Whilst it was gut-wrenching to see a loved character turn in such a way – I think that Rhinox repented at the end – Rhinox merged with the Matrix, when Primal saw him, and he seemed to be regretful for what he’d done.
Noble/Savage – an oddity. I hated the animation of Noble/Savage, it jarred badly with the rest of the animation (I’ll come back to this shortly). Serving as a beast that could change into a beast, Noble was a tragic character, serving to give Nightscream some emotional depth. I thought the red dragon mode was good, but the character was underused. Obsidian and Strika were also a bit wasted towards the end – as great military strategists – why would have taken orders from Megatron, whilst in that drone body? Being cast into space seemed a bit of a limp way to dispose of them.
Religion: Through its characters, this series probed deep into what the Matrix actually is and how it affects Transformers – Transformers are a society of people like us, with belief systems, motivations and desires. This series show us that when friends die or change, it affects those around them. Perhaps this is too strong a concept to show in a children’s cartoon, however, watching as an adult, I felt that it was very rewarding – the series is intelligent – which is a depth often lost in modern day animation I feel – what sort of character development is offered in programs like Dextor’s Lab or Teen Titans? The animation in Beast Machines was superb. In terms of where the story finishes – bringing Cybertron to a state of Techno-Oraganic union is controversial – is it as controversial as blowing Cybertron up (as in Headmasters)? The Transformers, right from the start, were said to be able to “think and feel” – it makes sense then that there are more than just machines…
So there we go, I’ve probably got loads more to say about Beast Machines, and I’m sure that there are things that people here will agree/disagree on – and that is good. Please, lets hear your constructive thoughts on the show and on my review – I’d love to see some more people in here talking about this show…
Dai2000
