OK… I will take this Transformers review step by step and keep this mostly spoiler free (in case you haven’t seen this flick yet). Please keep in mind that I saw this in a DLP theater so it was essentially like watching a high definition version of the movie.
First off… This is NOT a kids movie. Yeah yeah yeah, I know that it’s based on the kids toys from the early 80’s but this is a serious action movie (or as serious as one can get basing a story on robots from another planet that transform into other objects).
This LOOKS like a Michael Bay movie from the beginning. For those of you that aren’t familiar with his work, he directed Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon & Pearl Harbor (among others). Also I’d like to point out that I’m SUPER excited the the sequel to this movie has already been approved and is in production scheduled to be released in 2009.
If you’re looking for the cartoon storyline you’re going to be disappointed. Gone is the story of the Matrix of Leadership and the Cybertronian Wars. While they do make reference to Cybertron the reason that they are on Earth to begin with is completely different from the cartoon story lines. I won’t go into it here, but suffice to say it’s pretty much just a macguffin.
The Transformers
Overall I think they looked great. There actually aren’t THAT many characters in the movie. Of course you’ve got Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron & Starscream but you’re missing some of my favorites including Soundwave (who I hear is going to be in the next flick). The transformation sequences are done REALLY well and you even get to hear the tell-tale “transform” noise a couple of times.
They brought back Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime which is SO FUCKING COOL ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY. Yes, I’m a geek and a fan boy, but it was so worth it.
The Humans
Shia LaBeouf plays an awesome character though it seems as if he’s talking in fucking warp speed for most of the movie. I’m guessing that his character is based on “Spike” from the cartoons, but the link is never clearly made.
Megan Fox is fucking SMOKING and gets hotter as the damn movie goes on. I would LOVE to be the dude that’s in charge of spraying her with water so it appears as if she’s sweating… are you fucking kidding me? HOT
Josh Duhamel was in there to get the teenie bopper girl fans. His particular story line was pretty overdone if you ask me – hence the reason we’ve got a 2.5 hour plus action movie – I was a big fan of Las Vegas before it went off the air so I was pulling for the character.
Rachael Taylor is in the movie as a super hacker pretty much just to be hot I think… nuff said.
Visuals
As I said before it looked like a Mike Bay flick and overall it looked awesome. The battle scenes were done really well, and there was nothing “toyish” about the Transformers themselves. The one BIG BITCH that I had about the movie was some of the camera angles. The last battle scene is about 30-40 minutes long – and it’s shot with the “shaky camera” (think the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan and you’ve got it). It was so bad that I actually had to look away at one point, but that MAY have been due to the theater I was in.
OK, I’ve rambled on long enough, but I’d give this flick a STRONG 4/5 stars. Well worth the $$$, especially if you were a fan of a the cartoon (though definitely not necessary).