Rated PG-13 (Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi
Action Violence, Brief Sexual Humor, and Language)
Running Time: 2 Hours & 24 Minutes
Cast-
Shia LaBeouf-Sam Witwicky
Megan Fox-Mikaela Banes
Josh Duhamel-Captain William Lennox
Tyrese Gibson-Sergeant Robert Epps
Rachael Taylor-Maggie Madsen
Anthony Anderson-Glen Whitmann
John Turturro-Agent Reggie Simmons
Jon Voight-Defense Secretary John Keller
Michael O'Neill-Tom Banacheck
Kevin Dunn-Ron Witwicky
Julie White-Judy Witwicky
Amaury Nolasco-ACWO Jorge 'Fig' Figueroa
Zack Ward-First Sergeant Donnelly
Bernie Mac-Bobby Bolivia
Peter Cullen (voice)-Optimus Prime
Hugo Weaving (voice)-Megatron
Mark Ryan (voice)-Bumblebee
Darius McCrary (voice)-Jazz
Robert Foxworth (voice)-Ratchet
Jess Harnell (voice)-Ironhide/Barricade
Jimmie Wood (voice)-Bonecrusher
Reno Wilson (voice)-Frenzy
Charlie Adler (voice)-Starscream
Directed by Michael Bay
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| This picture is a commentary on the awesomeness of America. |
Summer movies have gained a reputation for
being heavily driven by special effects whose sole purpose is to make money,
regardless of what critics think of said movie. No other film epitomizes this
than 2007’s “Transformers,” with the sequel, “Revenge of the Fallen” opening in
theaters and IMAX tomorrow. Transformers are actually a series of toys created
in 1984 by a Japanese toy company called Takara Tomy. Hasbro originally handled
distribution in the United States but eventually, brought the entire toy line
after Takara gave them sole ownership of the series and copyrights. Takara retained
its right to produce and distribute the toys for the Japanese market.
Transformers quickly became popular, leading to the creation of various
television shows, video games and a full-length animated film but that
popularity began to wane until Michael Bay came along. While Bay’s films have
certainly raked in millions at the box office with the exception of 2005’s “The
Island,” his rather dubious reputation as a filmmaker invoked fears of
‘butchering’ the franchise among hardcore fans, and the radical redesign of
many characters didn’t exactly help matters. Available on Blu-Ray since last
year, “Transformers” certainly delivers on the spectacle that borders on
sensory overload but the story often feels trite with its disparate subplots
and the human characters aren’t that interesting to begin with. At the end of
the day, this is either a love-it or hate-it film but for me, “Transformers” is
merely just average.
After a short narration from Autobot
leader Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen) that explains how the war with the
Decepticons destroyed their homeworld Cybertron, the film switches to present
day Qatar in the Middle East where a U.S. SOCCENT base is tracking an unknown
helicopter. The helicopter turns out to be none other than the Decepticon
Blackout, who promptly begins to demolish the base in an attempt to hack into
the U.S. military network. Captain William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Sergeant
Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson) lead a group of survivors but Scorponok burrows
underground to follow them. Meanwhile, regular kid Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf)
is shopping for his first car with his father when he comes upon a faded yellow
Chevy Camaro. Sam promptly buys it in an attempt to woo his school crush,
Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) but discovers to his horror that the Camaro is
actually Autobot Bumblebee, who transmits a homing signal to his fellow
compatriots. Led by Optimus Prime, the group reveals that they are looking for
the ‘All-Spark’ and are at war with Megatron (voice of Hugo Weaving), leader of
the Decepticons. A map to the location of the All-Spark happens to be etched
into the glasses of Sam’s great-great grandfather, who discovered a giant ‘ice
man’ buried in the Arctic Circle in 1897. Sam agrees to help the Autobots in a
race against time with the Decepticons as the United States military prepare
for what seems to be a full-scale alien invasion.
For a movie that is called “Transformers,”
the actual Transformers are relegated to supporting characters that end up
doing very little until the final thirty minutes of the film. The main plot is
your typical coming-of-age story that we’ve seen thousands of times before but
Shia LaBeouf’s charismatic and sincere performance makes it work. It's not
particularly deep or emotionally involving and the only time that it comes
close to that is when Bumblebee is captured by the government. At times, the
film’s fragmented storytelling may frustrate viewers as they wonder how the
subplot involving the United States military fits into Sam’s predicament but
writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman manage to make it come together into a
satisfying whole…for the most part. There are a few lingering plot holes
involving the All-Spark, the picture’s MacGuffin, as we are led to believe that
whoever possesses it wields unlimited power but this idea is thrown out the
window when Sam shoves the cube into Megatron’s chest to destroy him. Of
course, a film like “Transformers” seems to follow its own logic and scenes
such as Frenzy walking nonchalantly through an airbase with Secret Service
crawling around or the Autobots milling about in Sam’s backyard begs the
question: shouldn’t someone outside the core cast notice giant anthropomorphic
robots running around? I mean, they’re pretty hard to miss! Sure, Bay doesn’t
want us to take the film too seriously but in reality, it just comes off as distracting.
Also, Lennox trying to hide the All-Spark in 'Mission City' (actually Los
Angeles) struck me as poor thinking since they know the Decepticons are coming
after it so why would they go to a heavily populated area with civilians? The
real reason is to have an epic battle but for all its effort to ground the film
in reality, this just borders on the absurd. “Transformers” is certainly Bay’s
best film to date as he spends a fair amount of time developing the characters,
though some only exist mainly to sprout exposition or provide comedy relief but
at the end of the day, it’s just an excuse for giant robots to pummel the metal
out of each other.
The acting is somewhat mixed but Shia
LaBeouf continues to prove that he has the effective screen presence to carry
an entire film. His character Sam is your normal, everyday kid who’s excited
about getting his first car because this is his ticket to winning the hot
girlfriend. It’s a tried-and-true formula for this type of story but Shia
manages to bring a maturity to Sam as the film progresses, thanks to his family
motto, ‘No sacrifice, no victory.’ Unfortunately, the rest of the cast aren’t
given much to do; Megan Fox serves as the obligatory eye candy and the rest of
the supporting cast, which includes Josh Duhamel, Rachael Taylor, and Jon
Voight, serve to provide exposition so audiences new to Transformers wouldn’t
get lost in the shuffle. However John Turturro is rather memorable as the
stereotypical, Area 51-like, government official. Turturro never ceases to
amaze me thanks to the wide range of different genre’s he’s been involved in,
being able to switch from serious to more comedic roles without any effort.
Of course, the real reason to watch “Transformers”
is the robots themselves and thanks to Industrial Light & Magic, you’ll see
every little gear move with life-like accuracy as they switch between bot and
vehicle modes. As actual characters they don’t fare as well and with the
exception of Optimus, all of them are just given a name, what their function is
and that’s it. As I mentioned before, the robots end up doing very little, with
the Decepticons being shortchanged the most as they just suddenly pop up for
the final battle! One thing I can say positively is that the special effects
are nothing short of astonishing and it was a letdown that they lost the Academy
Award to “The Golden Compass.” The action scenes are very much Michael Bay and
has his personal, over-the-top touch. Some of them border on sensory overload
as you’ll see so many robots shooting and pummeling each other that it all
starts to blur together. One of the primary complaints was that viewers had
trouble telling who was fighting whom or what faction they belonged to. It was
also disappointing that some of the later battles, like the one between Optimus
and Megatron, partially take place off-camera, making it feel like a bit of a
gyp.
“Transformers” was at the center of the
format war between HD DVD and Blu-Ray and was considered to push HD DVD to
victory as it was arguably the best looking high definition transfer at the
time. When HD DVD was finally phased out and the film arrived on the superior
Blu-Ray format in September 2008, the picture quality went beyond reference
material. The opening scenes of the film are absolutely breathtaking as we see
every drop of sweat on the soldiers gleaming off their pores but where the
Blu-Ray really shines is in revealing all the intricacies of the robots and the
hard work that was put into bringing them to life. Shadows are rich and inky
and all the primary colors of the Autobots leap off the screen. The battles
will leave your mouth hanging open as debris flies everywhere, windows shatter,
and spent shell casings scatter all over the ground. Audio quality is likewise
flawless, the highpoint being Peter Cullen’s booming and authoritative voice of
Optimus Prime. When the music swells, you will get chills, especially during
the scene when the Autobots crash-land to Earth. Sound effects are everywhere
as buildings crumble while machine gun fire splits the air with the robots
throwing each other around like rag dolls in the background, resulting in
room-shaking thuds. Special features are plentiful with an audio commentary
from Bay and three in-depth features on the making of the film, including a
history of the Transformers franchise and the special effects involved.
“Transformers” may be average but this Blu-Ray is certainly a must-buy as it is
an experience you’ll never forget.
Released on July 3, 2007, “Transformers” received
a mixed reception from critics, averaging a 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, citing the
lack of believable characters but praised that the ‘effects are staggering and
the action is exhilarating.’ Made on a surprisingly low budget of $150 million
(compared to the $258 million for “Spider-Man 3”), the film earned an
impressive $319 million domestic and $708 million worldwide, so a sequel was
already a given. For me, “Transformers” at times borders on being plain dumb or
absurd but I agree that it is one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen in
a while. The problem is that it never strives to amount to anything more than
just robots fighting and that’s a damn shame but what would you expect from a
Michael Bay film?
Final Rating: 3 out of 5
"Were we so different? They're a
young species. They have much to learn. But I've seen goodness in them. Freedom
is the right of all sentient beings."
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