If you're a 20-something and male (for the most part) you know about the Transformers. I have very fond memories of coming home from school during my elementary years and plopping down on the couch with my older brother and watching Transformers on TV. It was on at 3:30 everyday, right after G.I. Joe. And it was awesome! Perhaps there was never a cartoon developed more with the toys in mind than this franchise (or was it the other way around, I can't recall)... all I know is that I loved the show and the toys. LOVED THEM!
That said, I am nowhere nears the level of "fanboy" as many of my contemporaries, who also grew up sitting on their own couches day after day watching the Decepti-creeps take over Hoover Dam or some such locale to make an endless supply of energon cubes and destroying everything in their path while doing so. Now, 20 years removed Transformers have fallen out of popular culture for the most part ... that is until this summer. Yes, Transformers are back and not without their fair share of worries. In a post-Phantom Menace world caution and skepticism are the operative words and fans of many a franchise anticipate their upcoming films with worry and dread that justice will not be done and the re-imaginings will land with a *thud*. Michael Bay's Transformers is no different.
Perhaps more than anything, the name Michael Bay was what really worried fans. Yes, he has a talent for EPIC ACTION (Armageddon, The Rock), but his resume carries such suspect titles as Pearl Harbor and to a less extent The Island. The fans watched and waited nervously wondering if Bay would botch their childhood dream re-imagined or if with Steven Spielberg on the the team he would get it right? The wait is over.
I went into this film very cautious and pretty darn skeptical to be honest. I figured that the action would be satisfactory but that the rest would just plain suck (he did PEARL HARBOR!!). However, it wasn't long until I realized that I was having a really good time at the theater and so was the rest of audience, comprised of very vocal fanboys. It was a hit!
Transformers awed with its visuals and drew many positive laughs with its jokes. The plot? It wasn't perfect, but it was so much better than what I or any of us were anticipating that it scored bonus points just for delivering. It was a movie done right in my opinion. Yes, it was a re-imagining and didn't have everything I wanted (Soundwave, a discernible and recognizable Transformers theme), but it entertained through and through. The action was great, the dialogue wasn't bad and the plot was competent, even if a bit overdrawn.
I also credit the film for few very nice touches. It dropped the slogan "more than meets the eye" at just the right moments and in the right way so as to please the crowd and draw cheers. I also felt that it poked fun at itself in the right ways appropriately lightening the mood. Heck, even Michael Bay poked fun at himself, so you have to give him props.
As far as the Autobots were concerned, I thought they were kept more or less true to form from the original cartoon. I really liked Ironhide and thought he translated very well, best out of the bunch. Should BumbleBee have had a voice earlier on? Probably. Did I like Optimus Prime with lips? No. But none of it was a disaster - not by a LONG shot. If there was one blatant deficiency of this film it was that there wasn't enough focus on the Transformers themselves. Megatron made a very late appearance, Starscream was hardly in the movie and there were only a handful of Transformers in all. There were, however, teen aged human computer hackers that no one gave a crap about but it wasn't enough to pull the film down. I think what happened here was that the theater audience was given the Director's Cut right up front. The film certainly was long enough.
The final complaint that I have heard from everyone who has seen the film is that there was way too much product placement (GM vehicles, eBay, Mountain Dew, cell phones, the Air Force, etc). Call me oblivious, but beyond the GM stuff and the Mountain Dew I really didn't notice it. I guess I just didn't care and I make a bad test audience for advertisers.
My verdict is that Transformers more or less lived up to the hype it generated. THANK GOD! I haven't spoken with anyone who really didn't like it. Yes, there have been plenty of nit-picks and beefs voiced, but the overall consensus among fans is that Transformers was a good flick that beat expectations. It was visual eye-candy with lots of flare. True, it wasn't the original animated feature but it most certainly wasn't a Phantom Menace. And that's a very good thing. *Bonus points for not meeting low expectations* 9/10
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