Transformers

No, it is not a smart movie, or a well written one, but this movie certainly has it's goods, and one can hardly deny it is fairly entertaining.

The goods were pretty obvious. Stunning visuals, brilliant editing, mind-blowing set pieces, say about mister Bay what you will, he has always had an eye for the visual. And this is an absolute plus to all his work, basically. But we can also state that Bay's previous work, with a few exception, was nonetheless fairly disappointing. Transformers went further than just the visual shebang.

The movie had a good sense of humor too. It was clear that everyone knew that one can hardly take a few car robots seriously, and so no one didn't. Which is a good thing. It made the movie one hell of a lot funnier. The actor's were cool too. Shia LaBouf is a great lead role, John Turturro, John Voight, Anthony Anders and others had really cool side roles, and they made the movie worthwhile.

The only downs were the ridiculousness that often crawled onto the screen, of course fault to the slightly preposterous script. Usually I cringe with issues like these, but aforementioned points somehow made the movie awfully amusing. A great watch, especially in the cinemas, but maybe somewhat less entertaining to watch on a TV. be warned

This movie is ACTION. I say this first because if you think this movie will be anything more than this, you will be disappointed on some level (as I was). Frame for frame this movie screams Michael Bay.

Now that's out of the way, there's a lot of stuff here that works and a lot that doesn't. It's a good thing that the robots do work. Seeing autobots and decepticons in glorious photo-realistic CGI is enough to wring out any childhood fantasy from anybody (not just boys from the 80s). Watching these robots move is to realize a revelation to what is possible with modern movie effects. Whether it's transforming on the move, bashing the living daylights out of each other, or just standing and talking, these guys alone make the movie work. And unlike the other blockbusters that have came out this year, these effects have a sense of weight that adds so much to the visual satisfaction.

As for everything else, well... that's when things start to go downhill. In typical epic fashion, this movie contains a sprawling cast. Along with this however, are a large number of writing and acting issues. With such a large number of underdeveloped characters, names are pretty much luxury. Also, most of the human related humor gags miss badly, which makes it hurt more considering a lot of the characters were unnecessary. Jon Voight's Secretary of Defense character completely baffles me, which makes me think that audiences responded positively to the President in Independence Day doing aerial dogfights. Any positives from the supporting cast (including the strange yet entertaining overacting of John Turturro) are outweighed by the large set of negatives.

However, the cast has got it where it counts. Shia Lebeouf plays an important part in selling the reality of the robots as the lead character Sam, and also carries an easy likability factor. Megan Fox's acting does a reasonable job bringing some interest to her character to beyond her looks. The voice cast also does an overall superb job. Peter Cullen IS Prime, and although his dialogue does border on the ridiculous, he always has a sense of gravity to his lines. Hugo Weaving also does an equally commendable job as Megatron (His booming entrance will forever be embedded into the minds of little kids everywhere). The rest of the transformers don't say much, which is a shame because I wanted to see so much more interplay between them (The taunts that Optimus and Megatron yell as their fighting is great stuff).

Another major gripe I have is Bay's ADD editing. Although it does keep the movie constantly moving, it creates some issues with continuity and distracts from some of the action (probably the biggest crime committed in the movie).

I could go on and on about the good things (Bumblebee, Frenzy) and the bad things (Anthony Anderson and his family, forgotten Barricade) and the downright weird things (Dubya's cameo, Sam's friend climbing in a tree). Overall, the film delivers where it really matters. Although I was disappointed, the amount of potential for the sequel (which just got greenlighted) just gets me giddy (is it too much to ask for a tighter script and better acting?)

(Also, the Autobot Assemble scene is one of the coolest things I've seen in theaters in years.)

When I saw Transformers, I will admit I wasn't expecting much. And you know what I thought it was a good movie. It is far from the best movie ever made, but it is well worth watching for a number of reasons.

The best thing about the movie was the visual/special effects. They were absolutely mind-blowing, and the whole movie is worth the look just for them alone. And the robots especially Megatron were convincing enough, and the movements weren't jerky in any way. The sound is absolutely terrific, and the music is great. The storyline is original, fast-paced and gripping on the most part. There is some nice humour thrown into the mix, however the dialogue for me was a little too cheesy in places.

The performances are spirited and bring a sense of fun to the proceedings. Shia LeBoeuf brings some charisma and appeal to the title role of Sam, and Megan Fox is hot. John Tuturro has fun in his role, and Kevin Dunn and Julie White are both hilarious as Sam's parents. Hugo Weaving is superb as Megatron, and Peter Cullen makes the most of his character Optimus Prime. In fact, the only weak performance came from the talented Jon Voight, he just seemed out of place. And while there are plenty of visual thrills, I wasn't a massive fan of Michael Bay's direction, it just seemed as though the visuals, story and performances were doing the work and Bay was just there making sure it was all going to plan.

Overall, it is flawed but Transformers while not the best or worst of its genre is worth the look, especially if you are looking for terrific visuals, great sound and a good story. That way, if you overlook the flaws it does indeed have, you are in for a treat. 7/10 Bethany Cox

I was not a Transformers kid when I grew up in the 80's and I think that's why I wasn't so hard on Michael Bay's film when I caught it in the summer of 2007. Going into the film for the first time, the only characters I knew by name were Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Bumblebee (and I only knew of him through the mention of friends). So, without having the fanboy mentality, I was able to enjoy the movie as it was...and I did. I thought it was a fun action flick and one of the best popcorn movies from the year. Based on the Hasbro toyline and it's resulting animated series/comics, the film follows high-schooler Sam Witwicky who discovers his Camaro is a shape-shifting alien robot; he is soon brought into the middle of a war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, warring factions of a race of sentient robots.

Let's be honest. The only things that matter about this movie are the special effects and the action sequences. ILM did a fantastic job with the Transformers in this film. The robots look amazing and their transformations are seamless. I've heard that some classic fans aren't satisfied with their designs but I felt they did a good job adding what realism they could to giant fighting robots. The action sequences aren't as abundant as one would expect, but I'm not complaining. I felt there were enough action scenes without going overboard and drowning out story. The battles feel epic and they aren't heavily edited into quick jump cuts so you can still understand what is going on.

The cast does an adequate job and keep the movie from feeling B-grade. Shia LaBeouf was charismatic and had a good sense of comedic timing; John Turturro was a fun addition as the mental Sector 7 agent Simmons. Jon Voight seemed almost out of place in the film, though added a bit of class. I know there have been a lot of complaints about human characters in the movie, but it's a necessary element and I'm not complaining. The supporting cast did a great job; my favorites had to be Kevin Dunn and Julie White as Sam's eccentric parents. I felt the movie shouldn't have gone over 2 hours as it does begin to strain on the patience after a while but it still made for a fun ride.

I expected this to be an action movie only, but it also has a lot of hilarious jokes similar to American Pie, such as when the robots were making lots of noise, Sam's parents asked him something embarrassing. There is some action, but there is also drama. At least the action and drama aren't so bad. However, the characters weren't so likable. Megan Fox was just eye candy (yes, she was hot, at least) and Shia LaBeouf was not a likable character.

Pros:

• Really funny

• Good action

Cons:

• Characters aren't so likable

Review: 8