'The Transformers Movie' or 'I hope you like to read...'

so i told Mohan that i'd post a review of the Transformers movie after i had some time to think about it… so here goes:

this tends to happen a lot with all movies that are based on franchises or topics that are close to my heart, in this case the transformers were such a big part of my childhood that it is hard for me to describe the franchise without getting a little nostalgic. as such the movie is inevitably held to an exceedingly high (and unfair) standard. if i were to reviewed it in this light then its rating would undoubtedly come out skewed to the lower end of the spectrum. however, i cannot simply ignore the main context of the movie for doing so would simply render the review (as it would, the movie) irrelevant. so here is what we are gonna do, we are gonna consider and rate the contextual element of the movie (i.e the transformers mythos) and the overall quality of movie experience (plot, direction, flow etc.) separately. we can then adjust the two scores to get the overall movie rating. lets get started.

The Michael Bay Experience: i liked ‘the rock’. it was a fast paced, action filled shoot-em-up that will definitely be remembered as one of Bay’s finest. hell, i even liked ‘armageddon’ so it would stand to reason that i would like it when mr. bay direct a movie about cool vehicles that change into robots and blowing shit up simply because he does that kinda job quite well. this theory is proved further in ‘transformers’. the action sequences and animation (rendered so sublimely by the good people at ILM) left me almost breathtaken. almost. there were a few sequences where the camera was panning around the action, while the action was taking place thus leaving me sorta lost for the details. the non animated actors all played their parts to an acceptable level though sometimes i felt like the robots emoted better. as in the star-wars prequels, there was some definite, low-brow or trailer trash humor that i could have done without but i can’t fault bay for pandering to the lowest common denominator. as noted above the animations were in a word: spectacular. the soundtrack on the whole was very complementary of the onscreen actions and not at all over powering. the overall plot was engaging so no complaints there. if this was a movie about a completely different topic and i was reviewing it, i would have no qualms about giving it a strong ‘-A’. so is the case here.

Transform and Roll Out: getting Peter Cullen to voice Optimus Prime was definitely a stride in the right direction. there could have been no one better to embody the archetype of the leader of the Autobots then Mr. Cullen. hearing the immortal “One shall Stand, One shall Fall” line alone was worth the price of admission. similarly, utilizing the talented Hugo Weaving as the voice of Megatron (due to reportedly being decided as unsuitable for the part by bay, Frank Welker, the original Megatron only lent his voice to the game version of the Decepticon leader.) was also inspired. on that note, use of the infamous and original ‘transformation sound’ whenever the robots transformed actually gave me goose bumps (yes, i realize i am a the quintessential transformers dork/nerd/geek/etc. well buddy, i wear these taunts as badges of honor. Honor dammit!). the actual transformation sequences were also (again, as noted above) well thought out and impeccably executed. these are the aspects that stayed true to the ethos of the original series and is what i really loved about this movie. there were also a couple other aspects that i didn’t take so kindly too, namely and in order of ascending importance: character design; don’t get me wrong, as cool as it was to see a giant freaking Optimus, i still winced at the sight of flames on him. i can see the need to have his vehicle form modernized, but flames?! seriously?! what is this?! monster garage or orange county choppers?! as for Megatron, where the hell his hand cannon? again, i can see the logic in changing his form to a spaceship instead of a gun but why the hell do you have to mess with perfection and nix the hand cannon? seriously, micheal, making him all spiky and shit was nice, the vampire fangs was a little much but if you really wanted a menacing baddie, how much more badass is a freaking cannon, semi-permanently mounted to his hand? not to be nitpicking but the hand cannon is prototypical Megatron!

but the thing that really bugged me was that the dialogue between the robots was lacking; one of the aspects of the transformers that was really great was that both leaders, Optimus and Megatron, truly believed in their respective causes and as such both constantly conveyed this passion to their troops, in albeit dissimilar methods. so much of what made the cartoon great was tightly entwined in the dialogue between and amongst the transformers. I mean what would Starscream, for instance, be without his constant backtalk and conniving inner monologues on overthrowing Megatron? also, Megatron wasn’t just a powerful brute destroying everything in is path, he was a brilliant, military strategist, as conveyed by his elaborations of his evil plans. i missed that. still, regardless of who directed it, the transformers in this flick stayed almost entirely true to the spirit of the cartoon garnering a resounding ‘A’ rating.

thus, all in all i must confess that bay and his team, much to my suprise, significantly exceeded my expectations and made a thoroughly enjoyable ‘transformers’ movie, one that appeals to both the hardcore transfan than the casual moviegoer alike. an almost perfect combination of hollywood blockbuster and 80’s nostalgia joyride that is without a doubt the best movie i have seen this year.

this however looks to challenge that title…


~out