Transformers – movie review
They are more than meets the eye.
Erin and I went to see the Transformers movie on Saturday evening. We bought tickets about an hour early, and then wandered over to a modest clothing store so Erin could check out dresses and t-shirts. I’d passed out sometime after noon, when I got back to the married apartment and planned to do some writing; and then woke up and still felt like I should be asleep. The result was that I was not really hip on standing in this store with weird smells (to me).
After the store we wandered around the mall for a bit, ended up in Radio Shack, which always makes me wonder why I ever bother going in there, and then down to Victoria’s Secret for their semi-annual sale – or something of the sort, before heading back to the movie theater. As we walked in, they were already in the process of seating people so we, pretty much, walked straight in to the show.
Then we got to wait. Thirty minutes. Which is where my gripe, about this theater, comes in: they play these little trivia things before the movie starts. One of them reads something like, “A family of rebel fighters trying to escape from the Nazi’s during WWII.” The answer is, “The Sound of Music.” Which is not about a family of freedom fighters. A family of singers? Yes. Rebel fighters? No. Not even close.
Beyond the annoyance of that trivia at the beginning of the movie, I have to say I liked the movie. It was a fun romp. Of course, before going, I read a few reviews and what the various reviewers had to say about the movie was pretty accurate. For example, it was a large car advertisement; the acting was wooden; Shia Lebouf carried the move. I think all of these are very accurate. The acting was wooden; the movie was a big advertisement; Shia Lebouf did carry the movie and, in all, I think that all three things worked together in a way that allowed the movie to really work.
Normally, given two of those three things, I’d’ve thought the movie just sucked. And, normally, it would have. But, really, 30 foot tall giant sentient robots landing on earth and looking for a giant cube is not about to be a super-serious movie that is meant to be taken seriously. I mean, come on, it is a property based off of two things: first, a series of toys that, in the 80’s, were made of metal and good quality and really were the coolest toys on the planet, at that time; and second, a cartoon series that (kind of) ended in a movie where you learn the origin of the Transformer characters and why they made it to earth.
With that in mind, and knowing that I REALLY liked the Transformer toys, cartoons, and the movie (that according to current reviewers really sucked), I thought this was an honest and sincere adaptation of the toys/cartoons and allowed the viewer in to a world that, you have to believe, will continue to exist and live. They will make more movies, we will see more of Shia Lebouf and the giant robots fighting for dominance of Earth and of each other.
That said, I think there were also problems with the movie, and reviews. First, one reviewer said there was a neat “B” story with the computer analyst and her hacker boyfriend. Granted, there may (at one point) been a “B” story there, but I didn’t see anything romantic between hot, blonde, South African chick and geeky, overweight, African-America hacker dude. They clearly had a relationship; that relationship was also, clearly, not romantic. They are what is presented to the audience, a couple of computer programmers, professionals, that get in over their heads and have a good relationship that is not, necessarily, a romantic relationship. These two offer some, though not all, comedic relief.
Second is the wooden nature of the robots. I mean, come on. When you can’t have facial expressions, and the robots have to do a lot of the carrying of the acting, come on. This isn’t a cartoon. I was, however, impressed with the transformations from vehicle to standing/fighting robot and especially loved, LOVED, the introduction of Bumblebee. I thought it was insightful in that robots character and in its mission with Sam (Shia Lebouf).
Third, the military aspect of the show brought your straight in to the action. Stuff is happening. Something wicked is taking charge, and the outcome is, literally, that the military gets their collective butts kicked; and, at the same time, a special forces team survives and ends up fighting all the way to the end. Favorite line, paraphrased, “Trust me son, these boys are not accustomed to losing.”
Fourth, Shia Lebouf (as Sam) does carry the movie. He appears to get the girl. He assists the Autobots in saving the world from Megatron (who, as I recall, used to look like a gun but ended up being some kind of a weird looking fighter plane) and ends up realizing that to save the world he had to sacrifice someone and Optimus Prime was not the candidate; Megatron was.
The thing that I am looking forward to, given the returns on this movie, is a second movie where the audience gets to explore more of the world, more of the Autobots and Decepticons and their battle, and see more of Shia Lebouf’s acting and his ability to carry a movie. I have to say, as a guilty pleasure, the best scene in the movie was when Sam’s parents come in to his room, the girl is hiding, the Autobots are outside trying to be inconspicuous, and his mom accuses him of doing something we don’t often talk about. It is, quite possibly, the best discussion on that subject I have heard hear/seen in my life – and was, quite possibly, the funniest scene in the movie and was handled very well.
This was a good, fun movie that doesn’t try to be more than it really is and, as such, succeeds in being exactly what it was meant to be – a live action version of Transformers for a modern audience.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Bond. James Bond