movie review monday: transformers the movie

Transformers: The Movie

The interstellar battle between the Autobots and Decepticons rains destruction down on planet Earth as director Michael Bay adapts Hasbro and Takara's popular Transformers franchise into a big-budget, live-action summer tentpole extravaganza in this ambitious sci-fi action feature starring Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Bernie Mac, John Turturro, John Voight, and, of course, Optimus Prime and Megatron. Long ago, on the planet of Cybertron, a massive, powerful alien race divided into two factions, the noble Autobots, and the devious Deceptacons. They fought for the sole access to a talisman known as the Allspark, a cube with the capacity to grant infinite power, and eventually the Autobots smuggled it off the planet's surface, hiding it in an unknown location on Earth. Now, hundreds of years later, the Deceptacons have come looking for it, and if the Autobots don't find it first, the Earth will be enslaved or destroyed by the evil aliens' use of its massive power. The Autobots don't know where the cube was hidden, but the information may be stored in the most unlikely of sources, as a gangly young earthling named Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) who's just picked up his first car, has a strange connection to the Allspark's history, making him the unlikely ally of these enormous creatures, as they fight for mankind's survival and the chance to return home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide



This movie was released on Wednesday and I've already seen it twice in the theater. That, ladies and gentlemen, is because my boyfriend LOVES Transformers. When we were first dating, he was quite dismayed to find out I couldn't remember seeing the original animated movie as a child. It's one of the first movies he remembers going to see in the theater. I was too young. He's two years older, and with things like pop culture, the age difference really comes to light. Heh. Anyway, he brought it over and we watched it in it's eighties music animated glory. When it ended, I wanted to make out for awhile and he wanted to talk about how awesome Transformers are. For at least an hour.

My mom called me last week, sure I already knew the theaters in San Antonio were doing a preview screening and we could buy tickets online to see the movie on Monday instead of waiting until Wednesday. I did, we went, and it was great. All the showings in Monday ended up being sold out and it's always more fun to see a movie like that with a theater of people who really want to be there. Me and K took his sister this weekend for her birthday. She couldn't make it on Monday. I think K would go see it again every day this week if he could.

The movie is worth about 80% of the hype. The robots are truly impressive and it's very cool seeing them transform. The original voice of Optimus Prime is there even though they use a different car for Bumblebee than they did in the original series. Shia LeBouff did a great job. There's a lot of buzz about that actor right now and I see why. It will be interesting to see him continue on to do different films. The story line was good but it took a pretty long time to get everything set up. There is a big battle where it is a little hard to keep all the robots straight. When I saw it the second time, it was much easier to tell them apart and also understand what they were all saying.

So basically, if you remember Transfomers as a child, go and see the movie. It's entertaining and action packed. If you are looking for a summer blockbuster kind of movie though, I'd reccomend Live Free or Die Hard over Transformers. It was a bit more intelligent and just generally more my kind of movie. Don't tell K though. :)

Rating: 3 of 4 stars