Transformers (PG-13)
Scott:
Scott: Tonight I am reviewing Transformers
, the long awaited big-screen debut of the 80’s cartoon classic.
Mike was not able to attend this screening.
What did I think?
I liked it. I was ready to see some cheesy cartoony film with crappy effects, terrible acting, a ridiculous plot and dreadful Saturday morning cartoon music. I only got half of that. This movie is based on a cartoon, so it wasn’t going for an Oscar for Best Drama. It should be judged on action and effects, and it came through nicely. The acting wasn’t any better than I expected and Optimus Prime himself could drive through some of the plot holes. The sound was awesome and hearing Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime brought back childhood memories.
In Transformers, we learn that there has been a battle going on for many years between the Autobots (the good robots) and the Decepticons (the bad robots). They have waged war over of a cube called the Allspark that brings life to wherever it travels. Somehow this cube ends up on Earth. It doesn’t say if it is what causes life to appear on Earth or not, so that’s left up to us to discover. Both the Autobots and the Decepticons know the cube is on Earth and both are here to find it.
Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is a nerdy High School boy with a crush on Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox). He has some old stuff that his grandfather once owned. That same grandfather made a startling discovery in the Artic Circle, and that stuff and knowledge is sought after by both Transformer groups.
Sam and his Dad go to buy a vehicle and they end up with an old Camaro. That Camaro turns out to be the Autobot Bumblebee, sent to protect young Sam.
Meanwhile, the Decepticons have launched attacks on the U.S. military trying to gain knowledge of the location of the cube, and as we later learn, Megatron (Hugo Weaving). The military gets its butt kicked early in the movie and we learn they really can’t handle these attackers from another planet. The physical attacks by the Decepticons are really a cover for their mainframe hacking. Apparently, the Decepticons are so far advanced they can break through our encryption and firewalls in mere seconds.
The only person who recognizes how advanced these hackers are is Maggie Madsen (Rachael Taylor). She knows no one in the military will listen to her pleas, so she steals the Decepticon virus that’s trying to shutdown the U.S. military and takes it to her friend to figure out. Her friend is the best hacker in the world and he lives just around the corner from the Pentagon. Of course the hacker, Glen Whitmann (Anthony Anderson) breaks the code in seconds.
I don’t want to spoil the whole plot, so I won’t go into the story any more.
I have seen LaBeouf in Holes and on Even Stevens, and a couple other shows and liked him. I really liked him in this movie. He, and his interaction with movie newcomer Fox, really made the first half of the movie exciting and fun to watch. He has a great ‘geeky’ quality that really makes you think he is as goofy as they get. Fox, while being easy on the eyes, actually adds quality to her role beyond just looking nice. They made the movie for me. Every scene with them was fun to watch.
Counter that with the scenes with Taylor and Anderson. I understand why the scenes were in the movie, but they didn’t need that much screen time. The movie flowed well until it would stop to show them in action. They barely had enough reason to be in the movie and the filmmakers tried to stretch out what little they had. By the end of the movie even the director forgets about them.
What really set this movie apart are its effects. They are spectacular. Many movies try to get away with poor effects by ‘moving’ the camera around so you really can’t see what’s going on. That wasn’t the case in this movie. The camera would pan out and really let you soak up the action. And it was good action. The great effects were not just all CGI either. There were a couple really nice car chase scenes as well. But when the cars can change into robots and fight at the end of the chase, and it looks believable, then that takes car chases to a whole new level.
I guess I should mention the cars in the movie since I’m sure they paid a bunch to be in it. I don’t remember every car, but I know there was a Pontiac Solstice, a 2009 Chevy Camaro and a Hummer. The transformation effect was really cool no matter what vehicle they transformed from or to. It really made me want to get out my old toys… of course, my nephew is playing with them now.
This movie is rated PG-13 and it’s justified by the violence in the movie. There isn’t any blood to speak of, but there are some deaths and general mayhem.
Director Michael Bay is somewhat known for his big action sequences, so this movie was no surprise on that end. He seems to be a ‘King’ of summer movies, having directed Armageddon, Bad Boys, Bad Boys 2, Pearl Harbor and The Island. One camera shot in this movie seems to be taken directly from the beginning of Bad Boys 2.
The one big problem the movie had was how long it was. Halfway through, the movie really slowed down and almost lost all of the early momentum it had built up. At 2:24, it’s hard to maintain a good pace throughout. Long movies are the current trend, though.
The sound effects were great in this film. The Autobot Bumblebee has to use the radio to communicate and those are some of the funniest scenes in the movie.
How do I rate this?
I give this a 3.5 overall and a 4 for live action cartoon. I really thought it was good and the effects were incredible. I honestly thought it was going to suck and was glad when it didn’t. It’s nice to be pleasantly surprised.
