Transformers Arrival kicks off with a lot of hype. A lot of 3D artwork and concepts were demonstrated on the channel before the release of its first episode, and even if the Bayverse-esque style isn't your cup of tea, you cannot deny the potential. However, ambition is not enough to sustain a project of this scope. The director, Laszlow, while an experienced researcher and Youtuber, shows how inexperienced he is in the process of animation, editing, directing, writing, and time management with the release of TF Arrival's episode 1.
Firstly, Arrival lacks any sense of proper pacing. The first episode somehow managed to run for about 10 minutes while accomplishing little to nothing plot-wise. In summary, we are greeted with the Autobots landing on Earth, checking on one another, and a very strangely hyped-up sideswipe name-drop. Additionally, there is a brief scene with the Decepticons where we learn about the status of Megatron and the state of their cause. It is so very boring! Strictly speaking about the execution of the story, 99% of the dialogue was either purely expositional, or random character interactions. There is no apparent direction, theme, or character development. One may argue that the apparent lack of content may be attributable to the fact that the first episode is part one of six. On the contrary, that is no excuse. If the story is not meant to be divided into parts, there was no reason why the production was rushed to push out part one when said part lacks proper story structure i.e. Have a beginning, middle, and end.
Accordingly, arrival lacks plot and story in favor of exposition dumping. When shows and movies divide their content into parts, each part can still be experienced as an individual whole with the bare minimum of having a plot and following Freytag's Pyramid. The problem is there are no events to drive the story forward, and exposition takes the forefront. When we first meet the Autobots, they check in on each other and we as an audience are greeted with a poorly paced exposition-fest. Even when we cut away to the Decepticons, there is no relief from the exposition. Let's use this scene as an example of the poorly written exposition that plagues the entirety of the first episode. We open with a strangely written dialogue sequence where Skywarp, Starscream, and Thundercracker are simultaneously knowledgeable and in the dark. For some reason, they are here on Earth, and yet Thundercracker and Skywarp ask about the Decepticon signals as if they don't already know what they are doing on Earth. Additionally, Starscream exposites about Megatron as if the others do not know the state of their leader. Story-wise everything the Decepticons talk about makes no sense, but from a meta standpoint we as an audience can gather that this is thinly veiled exposition for the sake of exposition.
Conversely, a competent story will usually attempt to interweave exposition with some sort of story event. The issue with the sequence with the Decepticons is that there is no event; if their dialogue is to be believed the 'cons appeared to be wandering aimlessly in search of Blitzwing with no ulterior motive until they finally asked what they were doing on earth in the first place. Here's an idea of how this scene might have been vastly improved. Imagine the Decepticons are already investigating the site of an injured Decepticon's scattered parts, and simultaneously engaged in battle with the military forces that presumably provoked Blitzwing's distress signal. We could take this moment to explore their character dynamics. Imagine if Thundercracker suggests that fighting with the humans accomplishes very little, as Megatron would have little use for dead or even weakened soldiers. Starscream might rebuke Thundercracker's loyalty, arguing, "Why should we presume to know what Megatron would want when he's made no contact for the past stellar cycle? For all we know, our dearest leader's already gone offline, and if he is, we must prepare for a future without him!" Maybe Skywarp might interject, "Quit yammering and get to blasting! These bugs need to know their place!" Ultimately, the result of this scene is the same, but there is a reason for their dialogue. Now, it becomes a triadic push and pull, with Thundercracker pushing for a logical use of their time and efforts based on Megatron's wants, Starscream urging the necessity of establishing a new army post-Megatron, and Skywarp hot-headedly looking for a fight regardless of the implications. In this new version of the scene, we learn why the Decepticons are on Earth, we learn of Starscream's ambitions, and we also establish who these characters are: Starscream the ambitious schemer arguing against Megatron's credibility (ethos), Thundercracker the loyalist using logic (logos) to anticipate Megatron's goals, and Skywarp the hot-head acting on pure emotion (pathos), driven solely by rage and ego. What we actuallly got from this scene, however, feels half-baked by comparison.
Moreover, Transformers Arrival fails from a technical standpoint as well. With a total of 7 animators, and mostly dialogue sequences, the animation should have ample resources. However, the execution is amateurish, lacks polish, and fails to display any sense of basic body mechanics, and acting. The scenes are bland, reused, and recycled, and it is obvious Laszlow's apparent lack of animation directing experience is to blame. When you analyze the works that many of these animators have done in the past they have the chops to make far better animations. Even with the vast crew, there was reportedly an inexplicable animation time crunch enforced on the animation team, and it shows from how many shots are reused or strangely slowed down to inconsistent frame playback speeds in post-production to match the performances. Additionally, the 3D models used lack basic texture work, which is astonishing given the fact that 5 people are working on the textures, modeling, and environment art. Any first-day texture artist could tell you that it is standard to use Physically Based Render, or PBR, textures to make realistic 3D materials. On the contrary, there is an inconsistent application of textures across the assets used in the production, with some having basic procedural textures, and others having a basic color shader applied, metallic attributes tweaked, and nothing else. While the presentation of these rendered assets is very poorly executed, it is not helped by the cinematography and editing.
Specifically, as previously mentioned, Transformers Arrival persistently uses recycled shots, inconsistent playback frame rates, noticeably shoddy VFX overlays, shot continuity errors, random cuts to blacks, and overall jarring cuts. The camera movement and placement are random and lack restraint. For instance, we are constantly greeted with low-angle shots of Ultra Magnus talking over the communication channel. The cinematographic reasons for low-angle shots are usually to make the audience feel powerless, but when paired with a generally calm environment and exposition, the audience is left with an odd disconnect between the events and mise en scène. Additionally, the odd cinematography violates basic conventions with no apparent motives, suggesting amateurish direction. For instance, there is a scene where Jazz and Bumblebee talk about Bumblebee's new name, but throughout their conversation, the sequence cuts to all sorts of angles having Bumblebee and Jazz swap between which side of the screen they occupy, thus violating the 180-degree rule. While this rule is only a convention, breaking from convention is usually done with a narrative purpose. Furthermore, the camera's lack of restraint is apparent through the constant movement. Many scenes will orbit, truck in, truck out, or tilt when it would simply suffice to have a still camera. It's almost as if they had a list of possible camera movements and decided to randomly pick one for each scene for the sake of having camera movement, and not for the sake of having a narrative purpose, cinematographic intent, or film direction.
Speaking of lacking direction, the voice performances were very strangely cast and directed. For instance, Ultra Magnus comes off as oddly aggressive and hostile toward his crewmates, and then in the next scene he will be perfectly calm, and it is hilariously jarring. Moreover many of the voice performances are sub-standard, lacking microphone quality, or simply do not fit the characters like in the case of Ratchet. Many of the voice lines lack any sort of effort or emotion and this can partly be attributable to the strange dialogue. Here's an actual line from Wheeljack: "We couldn't control them. I've crashed pretty hard, damaging myself." The performance of this line would probably sound strained since Wheeljack is hurt, but it sounds exactly as it is, a guy reading a line with no emotion; additionally, the line is poorly written as getting damaged from a crash is implied. As a result, we're left with an awkward exposition of Wheeljack's status, which holds no bearing on the rest of the episode anyway. The majority of the first episode can be cut, due to the lack of plot in the first place, since the only events worthy of noting are that the Autobots land on Earth and scan new alt-modes.
In summary, Transformers Arrival falls short of expectations, with its first episode revealing significant shortcomings. The director, Laszlow, lacks experience in animation, resulting in poor pacing, a lack of plot, and an overreliance on exposition. The technical execution is subpar, with amateurish animation, inconsistent textures, and flawed cinematography. Voice performances are oddly casted and lack emotion. Overall, the ambitious project fails to deliver a compelling narrative or proficient technical quality, highlighting the challenges in its production.
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