As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
"You have fought bravely. But this world… is already mine."
Unicron has finally arrived on the big screen, and he brings even more problems for Optimus Prime and the Autobots to deal with on top of their war against the Decepticons.- The new Big Bad of the film is Scourge, leader of the Terrorcons, and with his four digited claw and his demonic face, he definitely is nightmare fuel incarnate. Special points go out to his truck grill, which contains insignia "trophies" taken from his slain enemies, and his theme, a foreboding, dread-inducing piece replete with screeching emergency sirens that serve to highlight just how much of a threat Scourge is.
- Said context behind the faction badge trophies are chilling: Scourge’s collection includes Autobot, Decepticon, Maximal, Predacon, and even a badge from a slain Mercenary, unaligned Cybertronians working on both sides of the war for pay, and badges from members of the Autobot Wreckers and Elite Guard; those last two factions are the toughest and strongest Autobots out there.
- The reveal of Scourge’s face. Throughout the film, he wears a battle mask with only his mouth visible, which has what appears to be distorted, rotting teeth. It turns out this is only the tip of the iceberg, as Scourge's face is a rotting/rusting mess more akin to a zombie's skull than a Cybertronian's face, with his 'flesh' barely there and massive holes throughout his head. Unicron's dark energy might make him powerful, but it definitely comes at a cost...
- If you thought the toys for the Terrorcon Sweeps were creepy, take a look at their official animation models. YIKES. Not to mention that whenever they show, the film takes a turn for a slasher film.
- UNICRON, the giant planet-devouring god of chaos, FINALLY makes his cinematic debut after six years since Transformers: The Last Knight, and his appearance is arguably the definition of BLOODCURDLING, but one of the most terrifying parts about him are his gigantic eyes that appear when he meets with Scourge, displaying nothing but cold, detached indifference as he conducts his planet-destroying business. Even just listening to him can be a challenge of courage in theaters (and god forbid if you saw the film in a PLF on a big screen with a enhanced sound system like Dolby Atmos), as the audio mixing makes sure he has enough presence to rattle your chair with every syllable as could be expected of something just so enormous. Oh, and he's accompanied by a lower keyed version of his main theme that takes the ever-present menace the original had and amplifies it a thousandfold.
- While Scourge is an evil, genocidal monster, the film makes you remember that he’s under the thumb of a bigger evil, genocidal monster as well in the scene where Scourge gives Unicron half of the Transwarp key. Seeing that half of the key is missing, Unicron throws a fit and starts torturing Scourge, lifting him from the ground as Scourge pleads for mercy. The scariest part of this scene is that Unicron is trapped in the galaxy where he destroyed the Maximal’s homeworld, while Scourge and the Terrorcons are on Earth. It doesn't matter to him. No matter where in the universe you are, you can’t escape Unicron.
