Movie Review:

Transformers

“No sacrifice, no victory”. That’s the motto of the Witwicky clan and it is carried out with gusto by every good guy in this popcorn blockbuster, including the very tall, robotic ones.

In Transformers, Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky, a teen who would love to be able to afford his first car. When one appears on the used car lot and practically insists that he buy it, Sam has no idea what he’s let himself in for. Seems that two giant robot factions from a war on a dying world are going to fight it out for and on Earth. You’ve got your Decepticons headed by Megatron (who has been on ice for a hundred years or something) and the Autobots captained by Optimus Prime, who want to both stop Megaton’s baddies and cooperate with humans. Sam and a hot girl he likes (Megan Fox) land right in the middle of this because of Sam’s ancestor’s involvement in discovering Megatron on Earth many years before.

Soooo, the movie’s action moves between Sam and his gal Mikaela trying to save Earth and the good robots and some ultra-trained soldiers headed by Tyrese and Josh Duhamel, the government types (played by Jon Voigt and John Turturro) and some tech geeks represented by Anthony Anderson and hot Aussie gal Rachel Taylor. All this dovetails together in a final mega-battle that includes sacrifice and trashing downtown L.A.!

Before our screening at the famed Chinese Theater in Hollywood, director Michael Bay stood up and said, ‘okay I told them to turn the sound up [bloody] loud!’ There were cheers from the fanboys. This movie does sound and look amazing. One of these giant Transformers even roller-skates for gosh sakes. I kinda wanted Bay to slow down the transforming action a bit so I could get a good look at a car morphing into a robot but hey, I guess that’s what the pause or “slow” button on your DVD player will be for.

Okay, maybe this movie is more aimed at 30-somethings who were kids in the 1980’s when these cool toys first came out or maybe it’s more for guys than gals but Shia has managed to infuse some real humor and humanity into his unlikely hero character and you root for him. There actually is some character development and we might credit the overseeing spirit of character and actor-friendly director Steven Spielberg there. He executive produces the movie.

This film could easily be entitled A Boy and His Car. Bumblebee, a transformer who can turn into a revved-up new yellow Camaro hero car, is the antithesis of the evil car from Stephen King’s classic Christine and you get kind of attached to him. There is a lot more humor in the film than you might expect. When Shia likes a girl who is walking away, the car blasts “Baby Come Back” from the radio. Transformers is loaded with cutesie, fun moments like this and, you know what? They work. Watching several fifty-foot-tall robots trying to hide in one suburban backyard is endearing. A mini-Transformer who turns into a boom box is kinda annoying but he gets his just desserts. Anthony Anderson is funny but a little over-the-top as a scared computer geek recruited to fight the bad guys. Wickedly hot chick Megan Fox will no doubt make male hearts pound but she’s no pushover and is involved in her own save-the-day action.. yay, girlpower!

So, go and have fun! The film is set up for a sequel.

 

This movie is rated PG-13

Official Movie Web Site - TRANSFORMERS

Pictures courtesy of and copyright Dreamworks/Paramount Pictures, 2007