Introduction
I was looking for some of the good movies to watch over my Deepavali vacations and one of my friends suggested Transformers. So I decided to check out the movie.

The Plot
Cybertron, the world of Autobots, is destroyed in a war with Decepticons whose leader Megatron is trying to get his hands on All Spark. All Spark is a device that brings other electronic objects to life and with that Megatron wants to rule the Universe. As Cybertron is destroyed, All Spark gets ejected out into the space and finally lands up on earth. Megatron somehow manages to find that out and comes over to earth. Unfortunately, he crash lands and is frozen in ice. Captain Archibald Witwicky accidentally discovers Megatron and activates him and in the ensuing struggle somehow the coordinates of the All Spark get embedded in his glasses.

Years later Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), the grandson of Archibald, has put that same glasses up for sale on eBay and is trying to earn some pocket money out of it. A group of Decepticons in the shape of vehicles ranging from a police car to an army fighter plane are chasing behind Sam to get hold of the coordinates. Meanwhile Sam discovers that his new car is a special one and later finds out that it is an Autobot called Bumblebee and it is out there to protect him. Soon he finds out that there are more than one Autobot around as they are joined by Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet. Together they must stop Megatron from getting hold of All Spark.

Can they successfully foil Megatron? Does Megatron take over the Universe? Check out this action movie for the details.

Critic’s Viewpoint
The movie was different from the general alien movie where in usually an earth hero or a set of heroes take on a horde of aliens. Here the aliens themselves were fighting each other and humans just happened to be around. The key to the movie for me was the pace of the story, it seemed just right. The narration at the start made it clear what the story was and the story just seemed to flow since then. Director Michael Bay has ensured that the pace of the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Coming to the performances, I thought Shia LeBeouf was just perfect for the role as he stumbles into this secret and then comes to grips with it. His comic timing also seemed ok and the humor kept the movie alive during the dull moments. Of course, you do notice Megan Fox in the movie, always there in the background with nothing much to do. I did like John Turturro in his brief role as Agent Simmons going from ridiculous to sublime in matter of moments. At times he was very humorous and at times some of his antics were so slapstick, but overall I liked the moments he was on screen.

But, the key to the success of the movie had to be the special effects and some of them were really awesome. Especially the transformations from vehicles to Autobots and fight sequences were very well designed and orchestrated. The only glitch if any was the fact that at times during the fight it was very difficult to identify which is the Autobot and which is the Decepticon. Some type of coloring differentiation could have been very helpful for the viewers in this aspect. Overall, though I think the special effects were very good and were the highlight of the movie.

Summary
I liked this movie and would give it a high 4 star rating. I deduct one star because at times the movie seemed to go overboard in terms of both dialogs as well as sequences.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age