Ah, the scene you're talking about was when the kids were showing Ratchet a funny cat video on the internet. Ratchet laughed, and Jack (I think it was) asked Optimus if he wanted to see something funny. Optimus plainly responded, "No," and went back to what he was working on.JediTricks wrote: NO SHIT! Throughout TFP our main hero has been a stick in the mud, a humorless curmudgeon miserably fighting this endless war - not as bad as the psychopathic live-action version, but still. I miss the odd moments of the G1 where Optimus would joke around and would do weird stuff or even come up short as a character because he wasn't trying to be perfect. They started to give Optimus a few little moments here and there, there was this odd reaction to something Raph said that showed some personality, it was humorless but it wasn't so dour, just kind of alien - didn't understand why Raph wanted to do something frivolous and just said no to it in a different way, something along those lines, I don't remember exactly, but it was personality for once. More personality for our heroes please, especially if they're gonna bother hiring the best actor to voice him!
But yeah. Optimus is in serious need of some life. I don't find him boring. I like his persona, his dialogue, his voice. He's a cool cat. My problem with him, is that this is the only side of him we ever see. He never, NEVER relaxes or enjoys life. Some people have told me that's the point of his whole character, and I could maybe buy that, except that they don't do anything with it. I was comparing Prime to Splinter from the new TMNT, and as an example- I can see where Splinter's personal story arc is going. His whole story is about how he lost everything that was dear to him, including his daughter. And suddenly his greatest enemy shows up in town with his own evil daughter. And I know that Karai (Shredder's daughter) has never been Splinter's daughter in other versions, but I can totally see it turning out that way this time, because it would bring about some serious payoff with Splinter's whole character arc. It'd be awesome!
With Optimus though- I can't really tell you what his character arc is. His whole life has been reduced to "Fight Decepticons. Protect life. Save the universe." What drives this guy? What's his purpose? His personal goals? We already know his faults- that he's 150% serious and on duty all the time. So maybe his character arc is about finally learning to enjoy life again? Except that nothing's been done to hint that he's moving in that direction. The Orion Pax 3-parter was a great chance to show us what a youthful Optimus was like prior to being weighed down by millenia of horrors and the mantle of leadership and having the Autobots teeter on the brink of extinction all the time. But all we learned from Orion, is that he's exactly the same, just a bit more naive. Like, C'MON!!! Ratchet says Optimus used to be like Jack, right? Well even Jack knows how to have fun once in a while and show off for the girls and *LAUGH!*
I liked the little bit where Optimus joked about bringing Raf back a snowball. I liked the little bit where he was uncomfortable and fidgeting in Wheeljack's ship. The moment he thought he and Arcee were going to freeze to death was touching. Flipping out when Starscream made off with all the Omega keys. And even the bit about not wanting to see something funny. We need more moments like that. Optimus Prime is a person, not an automaton. And even if his feelings and emotions are held in check, he still has them.
I really do like this Optimus Prime. I do think he's an interesting guy. But he's also a very flat personality. He's being written like an icon, not so much a character.
Optimus used to be a more rounded character, he was more able to jest with the guys and take some time off, take risks, make mistakes. The guy has been fighting a war for millennia, he's got to be used to failure by now, yet this version never lets up on him the whole time.
