Megatron Throughout The Trilogy

[Punisher Rising]

Who else agrees that Megatron totally got the shaft in the trilogy? He was so terribly underused in all of them, it seemed. In the original, he only shows up as it nears the third act and even then you don't see a whole lot of him. He has a disappointing and anticlimactic fight with Prime, destroys some buildings, kills Jazz and that's it. ROTF treats him even worse, giving him little else but a slightly extended cameo role and making him second fiddle to The Fallen, even more ridiculously underused (The Fallen had to be the most overhyped and overmarketed yet underused and underdeveloped villain since Darth Maul, for sure). And finally, in DOTM, he gets the least amount of screentime, yet. We hardly see him at all and when he finally battles Prime for the final time, Prime destroys him in mere seconds (one-armed, to boot!).

Megatron's combined screentime over the three movies barely has to clock in around 15-20 minutes, if even that much. That's just pathetic for someone who's the main Transformers foe and the main threat. It's like if Darth Vader got that little screentime in the original three Star Wars movie, or if The Joker was hardly in The Dark Knight. I'm not saying he should be in every single scene, because overexposing and overusing a villain can certainly ruin his impact, but at the same time a villain like that should never be so severely underused, either. A careful balancing act of satisfying screentime with an important role to the overall plot is what has to be achieved, and none of the three movies really achieved that all.

I surprisingly liked DOTM quite a bit, but I felt this was one of the biggest flaws it had, especially considering it's supposed to be the final film of this trilogy. I surely hope a reboot (if it ever happens) remedies this problem with Megatron's underused role (and definitely among other problems throughout the original trilogy).

[Episode29]

Are you implying that when this series started you weren't eagerly anticipating getting to see him wear a cape and sit on the ground?

[Punisher Rising]

I expected him to have a bigger and better role and be put to good use, for sure. Not be so underused and poorly-developed.

[Episode29]

But didn't you see the cape!!!

[Punisher Rising]

Caped Megatron = looks cool enough, but a character needs more than just cool looks to work.

[S.A.A.D.]

I liked the new version of Megatron, he changed.

[Punisher Rising]

What I meant is how badly he was underused (IMO).

[Colossal Spoons]

Originally Posted by Episode29

Are you implying that when this series started you weren't eagerly anticipating getting to see him wear a cape and sit on the ground?

Haha, seriously. Wish cyber-flies either picking at him or repairing him. I couldn't tell which.

[Rowsdower!]

I don't think they went far enough with depressed Emo Megatron. I wanted to see him tying off his arm and pumping leaded gasoline into his pipes with a syringe, listening to My Chemical Romance and bemoaning the loss of his ex-lover, The Fallen.

[Thundercrack85]

His "role" in the movies was the main problem. In the first movie, he was a sort of McGuffin for the Decepticons. He couldn't get much characterization, because he was a popsicle for most of the movie.

The second movie had a similar problem. He was dead for much of the movie. Then when he did came back they had a chance to expand upon him, but we quickly found out that he was the Fallen's lackey. So, he spends the first half of the movie incapacitated, and the second half in the Fallen's shadow. So not only was he under-characterized, he was also emasculated.

They just didn't care.

[Punisher Rising]

Originally Posted by Thundercrack85

His "role" in the movies was the main problem. In the first movie, he was a sort of McGuffin for the Decepticons. He couldn't get much characterization, because he was a popsicle for most of the movie.

The second movie had a similar problem. He was dead for much of the movie. Then when he did came back they had a chance to expand upon him, but we quickly found out that he was the Fallen's lackey. So, he spends the first half of the movie incapacitated, and the second half in the Fallen's shadow. So not only was he under-characterized, he was also emasculated.

They just didn't care.

Spot on

[Phoenix_Flare]

Megatron didn't feel like a major threat! Even though he's the leader he felt more like a 2nd in command, he felt like a Brotherhood of Mutant villian in the X-Men films,(Mystique did more than he did!) He was just there to cause conflict and be in a big action fight scene...

[Chris B]

I agree. I thought movie Megatron was made too much into a dumb brute and willingly being a lackey to someone else. But to be fair, none of the Decepticons were really done right. Starscream was too much of a sniveling ***** with no hints of his leadership ambitions, and Soundwave and Shockwave were way too underused. Especially Shockwave in that regard.

I really hope the next director is an improvment over Bay in regards to the characterization of the Decepticons.

[nocomics]

Originally Posted by Punisher Rising

Caped Megatron = looks cool enough, but a character needs more than just cool looks to work.

Yes, I thought this version of Megatron was very well done and better than the other movies. Sadly, like everyone else he was under utilized and poorly handled. He seemed so easily defeated(okay maybe the first one one he was tough),but to get stomped by a one-armed OP is kindof shabby. I'd rather see a 3 way battle between Meg-OP-SP than what I saw.
Its the sameway with Optimus he usually gets manhandled and somehow he luckily wins the fight, they showed him some fighting greatness,but yet relied on luck more so imo.

[Darth Megatron]

In ROTF Megatron's plans for DOTM our put on hold cuz The Fallen returned from his dimensional prison but I believe in the !st movie Megs wanted the Cube for himself while The Fallen was nowhere to be found, now in the DOTM i believe what Megs did to Sentienal Prime in DOTM was going to happen anyway but Carly basically got him killed cuz he was going to wait til Sent Prime has finished bringing Cybertron cuz remember who is the Cons always leader Megs & Scream probably would've killed him later together but by what Carly did that gave Prime the opportunity to kill megs with a cheap shot when megs is calling for a truce- RIP LoRD Megatron

[Episode29]

Originally Posted by Darth Megatron

In ROTF Megatron's plans for DOTM our put on hold cuz The Fallen returned from his dimensional prison but I believe in the !st movie Megs wanted the Cube for himself while The Fallen was nowhere to be found, now in the DOTM i believe what Megs did to Sentienal Prime in DOTM was going to happen anyway but Carly basically got him killed cuz he was going to wait til Sent Prime has finished bringing Cybertron cuz remember who is the Cons always leader Megs & Scream probably would've killed him later together but by what Carly did that gave Prime the opportunity to kill megs with a cheap shot when megs is calling for a truce- RIP LoRD Megatron

Periods are your friend. Don't abandon them.

[TheGovna]

I liked the part when Megatron got depressed when he was sitting on the floor, I was just expecting him to have a drink in one hand and a tissue in the other.

[Punisher Rising]

Originally Posted by Chris B

I agree. I thought movie Megatron was made too much into a dumb brute and willingly being a lackey to someone else. But to be fair, none of the Decepticons were really done right. Starscream was too much of a sniveling ***** with no hints of his leadership ambitions, and Soundwave and Shockwave were way too underused. Especially Shockwave in that regard.

I really hope the next director is an improvment over Bay in regards to the characterization of the Decepticons.

So true, and Starscream was another who got the shaft.

[Drizzle]

I wish that Megs was given more to do, especially in DOTM, but I had no problem with the fact that he died that way. There was no way Optimus would allow Megatron to be in charge. In charge of what? Amassing a new army of Decepticons to go back to Earth and finish the Autobots? Megatron wouldn't have reformed at all. Prime did what needed to be done.

[Golgo-13]

This Megtaron was MINO, like so many of Bays Bayformers.....

[Punisher Rising]

Originally Posted by Drizzle

I wish that Megs was given more to do, especially in DOTM, but I had no problem with the fact that he died that way. There was no way Optimus would allow Megatron to be in charge. In charge of what? Amassing a new army of Decepticons to go back to Earth and finish the Autobots? Megatron wouldn't have reformed at all. Prime did what needed to be done.

I know, I just wish the fight had been longer and with more of a sense of closure and pay-off. It just happened so suddenly to me.

[Liam_H]

Agree with everyone's sentiments. Megatron in this movie just seemed like a bum in this movie with that rag on his head. Especially near the end when he's laying on the side of the building, I expected him to bust out a paper bag with a liquor bottle inside.

That speech Carly gives to him to get him riled up was so laughable. He doesn't even know her and he's clearly been shown to hate humans so I fully expected him to just flick her across the street. This was obvious meant for Megan Fox since she was in the last two movies trying to stop him with Sam.

[Punisher Rising]

Originally Posted by Liam_H

Agree with everyone's sentiments. Megatron in this movie just seemed like a bum in this movie with that rag on his head. Especially near the end when he's laying on the side of the building, I expected him to bust out a paper bag with a liquor bottle inside.

That speech Carly gives to him to get him riled up was so laughable. He doesn't even know her and he's clearly been shown to hate humans so I fully expected him to just flick her across the street. This was obvious meant for Megan Fox since she was in the last two movies trying to stop him with Sam.

As underused and poorly-developed as he was in the first two, at least in the first one he tossed aside any humans in his way. I found it dumb he didn't even do that to Carly.

[Spicy]

him and prime should have had one last epic battle

[Warhammer]

Let's not forget that Megatron was also letting Sentinel Prime s*** all over him in this movie. Remember when they were all on that building and Sentinel Prime roughed Megatron up for talking out of line? I chuckled like a little girl at that scene. How fitting of the leader of the Decepticons. And then he actually got manipulated by a human? Let's not forget that this guy led a planetary war against the Autobots on Cybertron.