DVD review (region 2)
Starring the voices of Gary Chalk, Ian James Corlett, Scott McNeil, Venus Terzo
Release date 16 July 2007

Carrying on from where Transformers: Beast Wars left off, Beast Machines follows Optimus Primal and the rest of the Maximals as they finally return to Cyberton, only to find it overtaken by evil Vehicons…

Initially unpopular with Transformers fans (and allegedly referred to as “The Bad Thing” by Transformers voice actors), Beast Machines is an odd… beast. Instead of ditching the continuity from the Beast Wars universe it updates characters in a haphazard and arbitrary fashion, almost solely as an excuse to bring out more toy ranges. Still, it’s nice to have a Transformers series that was obviously written as a linear story arc, and once the longer stories get going a lot of the mythology starts to pay off.

The quality of the animation has dated pretty badly, and does tend to let Beast Machines down, with most of the action sequences looking less sophisticated than the average PSP game. The whole thing is played against a vaguely inappropriate techno soundtrack, which gives the impression of watching a half-finished 90s music video. The character designs are bright and interesting, however, and the different forms are fun and inventive. Ned Hartley

VERDICT: 5/10
Too complicated for new fans and not reverent enough for hardcore enthusiasts.

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