The Transformers was great!
Written: Jul 29 '07
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Nice young cast, great CGI
Cons: The people parts weren't as good as the robot parts
The Bottom Line: It's worth seeing on the big screen.
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| phungus's Full Review: Transformers |
I was reluctant to see Transformers because I expected it to be another big dumb action movie filled with stupid one-liners and too much CGI. I say that because this has so far been a disappointing summer for me in terms of big budget movies. Turned out this was a very good movie, even if the human subplots were a little goofy compared to the main robot alien storyline. This is definitely worth seeing on the big screen.
The main story, which sort of borrows from Aliens vs. Predator and War of the Worlds, involves a group of highly intelligent beings that can take on mechanical forms such as cars and fighter jets, and they come to earth looking for a fight after a rivalry went too far on their home planet. Of course, there’s a little more to it than that, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. At the heart of it all is a young man played by Shia LaBeouf, and he’s about to find himself drawn into the world of the Transformers. There’s also some subplots involving the military also fighting these robots, and it’ll probably remind you a lot of Independence Day.
This movie works on two levels. The main level obviously involves two robot factions battling it out on planet Earth. That’s the part most people are familiar with and want to see. The other level involves the people caught up in the mess. To sum it up quickly, I’ll just tell you what my sister-in-law said, and I happen to agree – The robot parts were a lot better than the people parts. Not that there aren’t some decent performances and a few charming scenes from LaBeouf, but the people are mostly just there to help serve as transitional comedic breaks in between action scenes.
The action and special effects in this movie is incredibly well done. I often complain about CGI being used when it didn’t need to be, and this movie gets it right. Obviously, the giant robots are totally CGI, but when they start tossing cars around and smashing buildings, it is a great combination of real stunts with special effects. I thought it all looked really good, and director Michael Bay was good about occasionally pulling the camera back and letting us see what was going on, as opposed to shooting it all in close-up.
You gotta love Shia LaBeouf. This kid is the ‘next big thing’ and already has two big hit movies this year with this movie and Disturbia, and he’s really going to break out when he plays the son of Indiana Jones in the upcoming fourth part of that series. What I like about LaBeouf is that he comes off as a pretty clean cut guy. He doesn’t make news stories of DUI’s and drug possession charges that seem to be typical of the young actors today that get all the press. The guy has talent and a decent image to go along with it, and I suspect he’ll be making movies for a long time if he can stay out of trouble and politics.
Even though director Michael Bay recycled a couple of shots he’s used in previous movies, such as the revolving cameras from Bad Boys 2, I think his style of directing worked very well for this movie. Many of Bay’s previous films relied on his frenetic style just to take them out of the B-grade market, but the material here is well-established enough that he didn’t have to make another two hour long music video. There are still a few unnecessary montage scenes, but as a whole I think Bay has gotten better.
Most movies based on television shows are either campy parodies of the show, or just so stupid you wonder how the movie ever got the green light. Transformers ends up being a very enjoyable movie that delivers for both fans of the 80’s cartoon as well as people who just like good science fiction action movies. It’s not a highly intelligent film, but it’s not as stupid as a lot of others playing this summer, either.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Action Movie
Worst Part of this Film: Script
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