There’s some Transformers news making the rounds that I have to admit a bit of disappointment in. Now, I’m not a die-hard Transformers fan by any means. Watching the movie this summer was probably the longest I’ve spent paying attention to the iconic ‘80s toy line. I did enjoy the movie, however, even if I didn’t grok it on a total geek level.
One of the things I admired about the movie was its willingness to destroy beloved characters, namely the Autobot character Jazz. However, a new rumor making the rounds indicates that Jazz may not be as dead as we all thought he was. Actor Darius McCrary, who voiced the scout, is listed in a “where are they now” column as being in talks to reprise the role of Jazz in the Transformers sequel. The news comes courtesy of Black America Web.
I know in the Transformers canon, Optimus Prime is killed in battle – a death that shook the foundation of Transformers fandom for quite some time. New fans to the franchise won’t experience that same death, but I expected the loss of Jazz to mean something, perhaps a minor tribute to the loss of Optimus in the old days. Instead, if this news is to be believed, Jazz’s death will be meaningless, with the character popping back up in the sequel. It also establishes that none of the consequences of the movie have any permanency – something that may help bring back the series antagonist, but is a form of storytelling I find a bit disappointing.
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Remember, Michael Bay himself said that they were going to leak a lot of false information to keep everyone guessing. Much the opposite to Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight, where the director and studio are trying to keep the audience and fans involved during the long movie making process and thus pulling them farther into the Batman universe, Michael Bay is looking to alienate and confuse the very people that will be coming to see his movie. Either way, theaters will be full for both movies, so, whatever works. Whatever works.
Im with you rafe, I commented recently about how Heroes, a series that has always claimed to try and ground itself in reality, with real ordinary people with extraordinary powers, has suddenly removed the defining human characteristsic and effectively found a way to bring its characters back from the dead- Claires blood. What they dont realize is this gimmick which has been overused in recent years, destroys any semblance of the value of life and it diminishes sacrifices made by characters. What does it mean when a soldier, like Jazz, gives his life, if they can just turn around and bring him back? His sacrifce had no meaning. Same on heroes, OK, Claire cant be killed, but then any character that dies they can just inject them with he rblood and boom, theyre back.
In the season finale we say what happened to Nathan. We didnt see him die, but even if he did, they can just bring him back. Doesnt that make his bravery and his sacrifice meaningless?
I hope people smarten up and let these emotional cicumstances stand for what they were.
So for anyone who saw the first Transformers movie, in which 1) it didn't matter what any vehicle a given Transformer transformed into because it could just go ahead and scan a new one and replicate it, thus removing any kind of physical reality from the concept and 2) a massive, building-sized cube of indeterminate, yet seemingly heavy and dense, substance can somehow be shrunken down to the size of a breadbox and be easily carried around by a 105-lb kid and 3) a 25-foot robot constructed of steel, glass, rubber and alien materials can fall from a 30-story building yet somehow catch, in mid-air, in its terribly strong metal hands, a human boy without somehow squishing his body into fleshy paste...who could possibly have a problem with believability or impossibility with the concept of having a dead robot brought back to life? And who would be surprised by such a silly, uninspired plot device?
Im in no way questioning the "believability" of Jazz being brought back, im not stupid I know its a movie and as such it bends and break the boundries of reality. Im talking about killing and the ressurecting characters as a plot device. To kill off a character and then just bring them back at your convenience seems contrived to me, and , as I said, diminshes the significance of that sacrifice.
It happens a lot and its cheap.
Kris, you've said the magic three words that sum up Michael Bay's Transformers movie, as well as any and all subsequent sequels thereof: convenience, contrived and diminishes.
I think jazz is the best character he is so cool and funny he should not have died. I think he should come back in the second film coming out in 2009 because if ratchet can fix bumblebee when he got chopped in half then he can bring back jazz. BRING BACK JAZZ!!!!!
As a huge Transformers nerd, I must say that Jazz's death in the first film meant nothing anyway, other than to show that these characters CAN die. If they are planning to bring back Megatron then the return of Jazz is a minor detail. Personally, I'd like to see them leave Jazz dead and spend more time on the Transformers they introduced in the first movie.
Being that it's the first movie, they can't just kill Optimus yet lol. Most likely he'll die in the last movie, if he is to die at all. In regard to Jazz, as much as I would love having this character back, I highly doubt he will. It's unfortunate that so many scene's didn't make the movie, due to time and budget. In the game Jazz takes on Starscream and Blackout at the same time,using his superior and smaller size to outmaneuver them, before finally being killed by Brawl(Devastator in the movie). Optimus, Ironhide and Bumble Bee all had awesome battle sequences, I felt there's so much more they could have done with Jazz. They gave Jazz Windcharger's magnetic ability, which would have be latching on to Starscream, paired with his agility and assortment of kicks and punches, would have made spectacular scenes. My point being, I'd love to have him back, not just because I loved that character in the original series, but also for all the lost potential.
What? Michael Bay, if you're reading this, BRING JAZZ BACK. He was one of the coolest Autobots and one of the coolest looking cars. If he came back, his death still would have meant something. Just think of how many fans you will loose if you keep letting important people like Jazz die. He brought a little comedy to the movie. Please, Michael Bay don't let us down. I also think you should add Autobots Wheeljack and Hot Rod. They would look awesome in the second movie. Especially because they looked cool in the cartoons. If you take my advice, you might become one of the most suprising directors in history. Oh, and don't forget to add a motorcycle Autobot.
All of you are wrong your jusr RACIST!!! Jazz was brave cause he was fighting Megatron. I think they should bring Jazz Back And yall jus mad cause Jazz is black. yall think that white people jus suppose to play on transformers. but they not!!!! i lov all the transformers especially prime
Honestly, they probably might bring Jazz back. Like other people said, he brought humor and light to otherwise dark times. Also, they made a big show of pulling the fragment of the Allspark from Megatron chassis. As demonstrated when 'Bee shrunk the Allspark, size did not matter when it came to power. Whats to say the Allspark is gone? I for one would love to see Jazz back with Sunny, Sides, Prowl, Wheeljack (at least) arriving. Of course, we will just have to wait and see.
It would be cool to see Jazz back in the sequel. I do have to say in regards to the idea of Hot Rod being in there that it makes me sick. That whole series is an insult to the real Transformers series and the less we hear about that crap the better! Stick with the classics, none of this Rodimus Prime crap!
Ok Rafe, I understand youre discouraged about the movie but you relate it to the cartoon from the 80s. You're point is Jazz is dead and could possibly be brought back which ruins the whole sadness for his loss. But let me ask you this. How many times did Prime die in the cartoon and then was brough back..? I myself was the happiest kid in the world when Prime was brought back to life, and I would be just as happy to see Jazz returned in a sequel. I'm sure many other fans would be too.
Burbanked.. you're just one of those over anaylyzing critical "fans" that doesnt know how to just watch the movie and enjoy it. All you're points are ones that would have no effect on a normal fans perception of the movie. God gave you half a brain.. I'm sure, maybe try using it once in a while?
I agree with most of you, on transformers lots of characters are brought back to life with the allspark, like starscream and optimus I would be happy if jazz was brought back to life and frankly I don't watch anymore of the transformers movie which I used to watch in a dvd club ever since I found out jazz died so BRING BACK JAZZ OR DON'T MAKE TF2
I miss Jazz cos he was the worried one when BumbleBee got caught and I don't think they could have completely killed off jazz.
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There’s some Transformers news making the rounds that I have to admit a bit of disappointment in. Now, I’m not a die-hard Transformers fan by any means. Watching the movie this summer was probably the longest I’ve spent paying attention to the iconic ‘80s toy line. I did enjoy the movie, however, even if I didn’t grok it on a total geek level.
December 5th, 2007 at 23:47
Remember, Michael Bay himself said that they were going to leak a lot of false information to keep everyone guessing. Much the opposite to Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight, where the director and studio are trying to keep the audience and fans involved during the long movie making process and thus pulling them farther into the Batman universe, Michael Bay is looking to alienate and confuse the very people that will be coming to see his movie. Either way, theaters will be full for both movies, so, whatever works. Whatever works.