A Structuralist's Critique of Optimus "Past-His" Prime

The city in smokes, ruined, with all hope sapped out. The scene, gleaming in hues of brown, red and black amidst the gray-covered sky, paints a picture of despair. In the midst of the destruction, the coup de grâce that will ultimately squeeze all remaining expectation of deliverance is issued: “Constructicons merge for the kill!” Six identifiable robots subsequently emerged, and combines into the monster robot, Devastator. The behemoth, then, approaches the last remaining fortress of the Autobots, the “good guys.” Announcing, “Prepare for the extermination,” in a gruff voice, Devastator begins his destruction – slamming and breaking the city into rubble. Nothing seems as bleak as this opening scene in the 1986 animated movie, The Transformers: the Movie. Yet, just as everything appears as if the Decepticons, the “bad guys,” are winning, a spacecraft descends from out of the blue sky, as if signifying hope. A grand red-colored robot, then, descends into the war-torn city. Transforming into the celebrated red industrial truck, the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime exclaims, “Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost.” Coupled with the heroism, the background song The Touch raises a banner of glory, declaring aloud, “You got the touch! You got the power!” Cutting through the enemy line without much of an effort, Prime easily immobilizes his enemies. Drums rolling, he finally faces off, one-on-one, with his arch nemesis, Megatron, the merciless leader of the Decepticons. A fight ensues, where both robots are shown to be equals in strength, power and determination. Nonetheless, Megatron is soundly defeated. With his gun pointing at Megatron, who is begging mercy from Prime, Prime replies half-mockingly, “You who have showed no mercy now plead for it? I thought you were made of sterner steel!” Unknowingly to Prime, Megatron is actually trying to inch his way to a gun stashed under a pile of wreckage. Before the villain grasps the gun, a newbie Autobot rookie tries to jump in to stop him, only to become a hostage. Unable to fire at Megatron, Prime is shot at numerous times, sending him to his knees. To top it off, the antagonist nears the hero, tossing aside his hostage, and sneers, “I could have waited for an eternity for this, and it’s now over Prime.” With the last of his strength, Prime swings unexpectedly at the weakened Megatron, responding to the Decepticon, “Never!” Falling down to the bottom from where he fought with Prime, Megatron, now looking like scrap metal, is cowardly collected by the fleeing Decepticons. Though the Decepticons are defeated, the loss of the Autobots is tremendous. This is especially so when Prime dies in the movie, a sign of a true veteran hero.

According to the Merriam Webster Online dictionary, a hero is defined as a legendary male warrior endowed with “great strength or ability,” renowned for his “achievements and noble qualities.” Though helpful, a dictionary’s definition of a hero is, tragically, redundant, especially in today’s day and age where action movies pass here and by. Therefore, it is no longer surprising that a common layman with no surplus training in English can just as easily characterize what an action hero is without a dictionary. From action films such as Diehard, Spiderman, Indiana Jones and etc., it is apparent that the main protagonist is nearly almost represented as possessing an almost god-like strength, and then goes through a series of hurdles, of which he will, in the end, overcome. Of course, the most important trait of an action hero is that he is revered. Thus, it is clear that the animated movie’s Optimus Prime, portrayed as a self-sacrificing, courageous and fearless leader, with no hint of dim-wittedness or casual humor, is the action hero of the movie.

However, in 2007, movie director, Michael Bay released his live-action Transformers film. Instead of sticking to the character canon of Optimus Prime, Bay reinvents the robot. His reimagining of Prime is not only limited to the welcomed redesign of the overall machine’s appearance, but also in the subtle changes of his personality in the blockbuster. Unfortunately, the director should have kept his hands off from an attempt to renew the hero’s character. Instead of making Prime epic in the movie, to the chagrin of loyal fanatics, Bay’s version of the robot appears weak, bumbling, and ultimately not the hero of the motion picture.

Although Prime looks astounding in the recent film, his character is, unfortunately, incompetent. In the almost anti-climatic final battle scene, Prime is pitted against Megatron to a death match. Again and again, Prime succumbs into Megatron’s endless attacks, unable to hold his ground. Perhaps the director desires to show the audience just how desperate the war against the Decepticons is. Possibly still, Bay wants to highlight the terror of Megatron as the ultimate villain – after all, the Devil needs to have enough power to challenge God. So, in order to artificially convey his story, the director attributes much strength to Megatron – maybe a tad too much. Furthermore, he does it at the expense of Prime’s chief characteristic: his ability to triumph against evil. A real Prime is one that can square off against his arch-nemesis, even if the battle can be long drawn, and still emerges as the victor. Thus, there is no evidence that the recent film’s Autobot leader is a genuine Prime, much less the hero. To further tarnish the Prime’s role, the one who actually deactivates Megatron, towards the end, is none other than the excruciatingly insignificant human character, Sam Witwicky.

Secondly, Prime in Bay’s film is, sadly, shown to be a clumsy leader (if one could even call him that). After arriving from space, Prime is taken to Witwicky’s home, where he and his equally blundering allies are inevitably depicted as trashing the outdoor garden into ruins. Apologizing to Witwicky, another uncharacteristic quality the movie’s Prime suffers from, the head of the Autobots cries, “My bad.” Talk about appalling lines! What more, such a script reserved for the legendary Prime! It is as if the live-action Prime is devoid of his once lavish, yet valiant, dialogues. Such a line only serves to erode what little admiration the audiences have left for Prime. What a terrible injustice committed against the series’ fans as they watched writhingly their childhood hero suddenly appear in the limelight with a sort of amnesia.

Finally, Prime in this recent film is not even the hero of his own show. To further add insult to injury, the Autobot leader in the film needs to depend on Witwicky, to vanquish the nemesis. Moreover, sounding even more absurd, the teenager pronounces death by simply inserting a piece of metal, the Allspark, into the chest of the enemy. Such a conclusion suggests as if all the damages that Prime has sustained in battling Megatron are in vain. Why did Prime even bother risking his life to defend the humans when it just takes a skinny adolescent to easily end the war? Going along this line, one can also conclude that the movie should rather be titled “Sam Witwicky” rather than “Transformers.” In fact, Prime in the movie can even be renamed as Optimus Past-His-Prime. If Witwicky is the main hero, the appearances of the Prime, even the Autobots, has unexpectedly become superfluous, unnecessary and, like a death blow, irrelevant.

Regrettably, the character, Optimus Prime is not properly represented as an action hero in Bay’s theatrical adaptation of the Transformers. Instead of being the ultimate victor, the brave leader and the hero of the film, Prime is reduced into nothing more than just a stage prop sarcastically labeled as “Optimus Prime,” debilitated and castrated. Will there be a day when the Hero will rise from the ashes?