"I bought a car. It turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?"

Rating: 9/10 (4 July 2011)

At the release of this film, 21 years have passed since the animated film came out. In all that time, we've seen two decades worth of cheesy action films, spirited adventures, imaginative sci-fi, and immense special-effects development. And with director Michael Bay fine-tuning his larger-than-life work style and sense of grandeur, it seems that cinematic fate has cumulated in the creation of this epic film. For fans of the classic cartoons or modern action junkies, the film delivers all the way; the action starts off strong and intense, and hardly lets up. Some scenes are quite awe-inspiring; the opening base attack, the highway chase, the city battle are among the best action scenes in any film. The scope and scale is impressive. The pacing is relentlessly fast. The humor is genuinely amusing and helps keep things light and fresh. It's every bit as big, original, and entertaining as some of the best blockbusters out there, and I think one would be hard-pressed to be bored by it.
The story for this could probably be picked apart easily by the most critical viewers (it's especially odd seeing a number of scenes turning from day to night in a matter of seconds). But if you're able and willing to forgive the film for its faults, it is a decently-structured plot with a fine cast of characters. It's pretty fun watching the film kick off with the relationship between a boy and his car; but heck, intergalactic robot war is pretty fun too.
The film has awesome photography; there must be thousands of gorgeous postcard-worthy shots throughout. Some scenes are a little shaky and editing is pretty darn fast; it might be a major turn-off for some folks, and I do believe it does make the actual transformers harder to see. But it is still mostly coherent, and helps keep the pacing up. Acting iswhat it is. Shia LaBeouf borders on being annoying, but for his character it's fitting. Megan Fox is a little iffy in this role, but she is a looker. I enjoy Josh Duhamel in his role; Tyrese Gibson and Zack Ward are pretty fun in their parts. I didn't like John Turturro at first, but he grew on me. And of course, the voice-acting (including the talents of Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving) is great. Production value is insanely high, featuring top-notch sets, props, costumes, and special effects; it's also noteworthy for implementing a huge amount of authentic military hardware and real soldiers in action. Music is pretty darn cool too.
Recommended! 4.5/5 (entertainment: 5/5, story: 4/5, film: 4/5)