I’ve bashed Michael Bay’s Transformers movies on this blog a few times, mostly because he has so far failed to recapture my deep, unabashed love for the original animated cartoon. It’s a high bar, I’ll admit.
But he might be getting closer. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen screenwriter Roberto Orci confirmed that Frank Welker, voice of Soundwave in the animated series, will be reprising his role in the new film. For the unitiated, Soundwave was Megatron’s right-hand man and everyone’s favourite I-have-super-sensitive-hearing-and-will-sell-you-out-Megatron-if-I-overhear-your-mutinous-plot-so-don’t-even-think-about-it-Starscream-Oops!-You-did-it-anyway robot. He also embodied one of the more perplexing paradoxes of the Transformers universe. Namely, he was two-storey tall robot who somehow transformed into a boombox you could carry on your shoulder. Troubling.
Nevertheless, it’s nice to see the original Soundwave back for another kick at the can. Poor guy has fallen on hard times recently:
You’re a winner! And, there’s a second episode!
I remember seeing a new Soundwave at The Silver Snail, which transformed into a working MP3 player. Awesome. But I decided not to spend $150 on it.