Transformers

By: Andrew Moran

3 ½ Stars out of 5 Stars

Starring (Alphabetical Order): Anthony Anderson, Josh Duhamel, Kevin Dunn, Megan Fox, Tyrese Gibson, Shia LaBeouf, Rachael Taylor, John Turturro & Jon Voight

A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it. The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasted off in search of it. He eventually tracked it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sent him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forced him into a paralyzed state. His body was later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, and before going into a comatose state Megatron used the last of his energy to engrave a map, showing the location of the Allspark, into the Captain's glasses, and send a transmission to Cybertron. He is then carted away by the Captain's ship. A century later, Sam Witwicky, nicknamed Spike by his friends, buys his first car. To his shock, he discovers it to be Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise who is to protect Spike, as he bears the Captain's glasses and the map carved on them. But Bumblebee is not the only Transformer to have arrived on Earth - in the desert of Qatar, the Decepticons Blackout and Scorponok attack a U.S. military base, causing the Pentagon to send their special Sector Seven agents to capture all "specimens of this alien race," and Spike and his girlfriend Mikaela find themselves in the middle of a grand battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, stretching from Hoover Dam all the way to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, within the depths of the Pentagon, the cryogenically stored form of Megatron awakens.

I will start off by saying I never watched the Transformers growing up as a child and didn’t really know much about what it was about or whom the characters were.  But I don’t think that really has much to do with the picture itself.  Michael Bay (Bad Boys & The Rock) really outdoes himself in Transformers because this is an explosive action packed thrill ride and really leaves you with your adrenaline pumping.  The Island, Michael Bay’s 2006 picture, was really good but for the first time it failed at the box office.  A lot of people have criticized Michael Bay for not giving a cohesive structured story but in all honesty you do not go to a Michael Bay picture for the dialogue or story you go for the action packed explosives, car chases, camera shake, guns, etc.  And you always get that no matter what.  I’ve never been bored at a Michael Bay picture.

A lot of the cast just do their jobs in the picture and get their characters thrown on the screen, even if it’s for 30 minutes but you get their presence known.  But it doesn’t really matter because, according to this screenplay, the only relationship that matters now is the one between Autobots and the human race.

One of the main problems with Transformers was that it was too commercial.  You’d have one Autobot going from a 1950s Camaro into an unreleased Camaro.  Plus when some of the cars were driving it was like a Chevrolet commercial.

Another problem was with the score.  It was too quiet and when there was a soundtrack on it was pretty bad.  The Island had a great score and it was in your face with the action, however this did not.

Overall this was an exciting picture, it really was.  Don’t go in expecting a deep meaningful insightful picture about robots and the human race.  Go in expecting to be thrilled in each explosive scene.