A good setup for the inevitable sequel

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2007)

Let me start out by saying that I taped every episode of the Transformers cartoon back when I was a kid. I owned every single Transformer that my parents would buy for me. When I heard there was going to be a movie adaptation with real life actors, I was taken aback a little. How could the Transformers effectively translate to CGI images and move amongst real life objects while retaining the personalities that made me love the cartoon? The answer is...okay at best. They spent more time setting up the story line than actually developing the characters of the Transformers. Once they did get around to showing their personalities, it was clear that the movie-makers were trying to stay true to the cartoon of two decades ago. They even got the guy who did Optimus Prime's voice from the cartoon to be his voice in the movie. Excellent touch. If you come into the movie with little or no Transformer knowledge, you might feel left out a bit, especially considering they don't develop the Decepticons much. The rivalry between Megatron and Starscream is old hat for me, but it will go over the head of the casual viewer. Plus, the personalities of Bumblebee, Jazz, and Ironhide are only hinted at.
The problem here is that the Transformer storyline is too big to capture in a two-and-a-half hour film. Especially one that tries to start near the beginning and explain everything to uninitiated viewers. With the inevitable sequel, I expect a much more powerful plot to emerge since they won't have to spend 1.5 hours setting up the situation. Still, given the difficulty of what they were attempting here, they still come out looking pretty good. The special effects were ground-breaking and the attempts at humor were occasionally successful. You will leave the theater wanting more, since much of the emotional wallop was seemingly left for the sequel(s).