Transformers: The Movie
More than meets the eye, indeed. When I first heard of the Transformers movie, I was really excited. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be a complete trashing of the childhood cartoon I loved. Once the original cartoon went off the air, Transformers pretty much vanished for a few years before they returned with the popularity of CGI animation. Then, Beast Wars came around. This was a complete departure from the original cartoon, now with the Autobots and Decepticons (called the Maximals & Predacons) fighing off some kind of virus that turns them into Animals. After that series, pretty much every cartoon started from scratch. One cartoon had the transformers in hiding, searching for "Energon", while another cartoon had them widely known and accepted as the saviors of mankind. Each cartoon was a pretty significant departure, and it was pretty unknown which one they would go with.
Then word came out that Micheal Bay was directing it. Micheal Bay has a.. Spotty career. He’s directed movies I love, like The Rock, and movies I didn’t, like Pearl Harbor. He’s also directed some oddball films like Playboy Video Centerfold, so with a Micheal Bay movie you never know what to expect.
I was pleasantly surprised by the movie, however. This films takes bits and pieces from several cartoons and conglomerates a pretty good story. This time the Autobots & Decepticons (Only 3-5 of each) are searching for "The Cube", also known as the "All-Spark", the artifact that alone holds the power to create new Transformers and rebuild their home planet of Cybertron (now destroyed). Starting with Bumblebee, several of the classic characters are introduced, each with a decidedly 2007 sports-car twist. There’s alot of humor involved, and the film has some pretty good jokes involving "lubricant".
It’s a good movie, and the effects are really impressive. The action scenes are frantic and frequent, but the camerawork leaves alot to be desired as the action is frequently so close-up that you can’t tell which transformer’s giant metal hand is flying across the screen in a blur. Nonetheless, it’s a great movie. Peter Cullen returns to voice Optimus Prime, which was a real treat for someone familiar with the original series. There are also rumors of a Transformers 2, which would fit well with the ending of the film. WIth the sequel, tho, they would need a much stronger plot as I think most of this film is being carried on the "Wow" factor of seeing the transformers on the big screen.
Gotta give this one a 5/5.
[tag:Transformers][tag:movie][tag:review]
