Wow. Just, wow. I just got home from the new
Transformers flick directed by Michael Bay, and I can honestly say this more than makes up for any screw-ups Bay made in his previous films, which were basically just 90 minutes of explosions and gun fights. Don't get me wrong, that stuff is in
Transformers, but there's a bit more depth this time. It isn't just a great Sci-Fi/ Action movie- Its a great movie period. It isn't without its flaws, but it still kicks ass.
Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf,
Surf's Up,
Disturbia) has just gotten his first car. Only problem is, it turns out be a transforming robot from space named Bumblebee. See, a long, long, long frikkin' time ago, an object called the All Spark crash landed on Earth from the planet Cybertron, and now two factions of mechanical beings have come to retrieve it. One one side are the Autobots, who are the good guys, and the Decepticons, the villians who want to use the All Spark to create an army of their brethren from anything mechanical to take over the universe.
When I say anything, I mean the Decepticons will use the All Spark on ANYTHING to add to their numbers. Seriously, there's even a part where a vending machine comes to life and starts wrecking havoc.
Almost everything about the film works. Not everything, of course, this is still a Michael Bay film based on action figures, but
Transformers still surpassed by expectations by a longshot. The humor is more humorous than that is most comedies nowadays ("Stop lubricating the man, Bumblebee!"), the actions scenes really get the adrenaline pumping, and the serious parts are good, too.
Transformers is not a masterpiece, not at all, but it still succeeds where others fail.
Now for those couple of shortcomings I was talking about. A couple of the effects look a little phony, the sexual innuendo is kind of out of place in a film like this, the Decepticons are all just faceless drones (save for Megatron, who still only has very little depth) waiting to be killed off by the combined forces of the Autobots and the human military, and plus the Decepticons Frenzy (the little one) and Starscream (the jet) just kind of disappear from the movie after being in a couple of scenes. Same for the aforementioned vending machine monster. It just sort of vanishes.
Also, Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, sure is a jerk, despite being the heroic and courageous leader of the good and noble Autobots. When Bumblebee is captured by a secret organization called Sector Seven, Prime basically says "Leave him, Bumblebee would want to be prodded and electrocuted for years on end". (
SPOILER!) And when Jazz, the mandatory jive-talking rapper Autobot is killed by Megatron, Optimus is just like "What? Jazz is dead? Huh, that sucks. So what do you think of our new planet?". I'm not saying he was a total a***ole, I'm just saying these two parts made him seem like something of a jerk-off. And what was the point of Anthony Anderson's hacker character?
One last complaint: Its too frigging long. I mean, 144 minutes? Two and a half hours? That's kind of a long time to be watching
Transformers, don't you think? Thankfully, the film moves at a brisk pace.
Back to the good parts. The effects are excellent! There's good CGI. Then there's great CGI. Then there's
Transformers CGI. Other than a few moments of cheesiness, everything in this film looks real. Period. The acting is fairly good. LaBeouf has great comedic timing, and Bernie Mac's brief appearance is a hoot to watch. The script was, too my surprise, not the lowlight of the film, and Michael Bay proves he's not just good for blowing stuff up.
My advice? Unless you're a whiny G1 fanboy who isn't open to change, or someone with no sense of fun or imagination, roll out to see
Transformers ASAP! It isn't perfect, but its good fun anyway.
SCORE
1/2 out of five