Sweet Mary! Mother of Prime!

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2007)

How does one maintain objectivity when writing a review of what can only be called one of the raddest movies ever? Ah, who cares! I'm just going to pour on the praise and hope that the Transformers don't get too swell-headed. When one coughs up close to ten dollars to see a movie these days, they expect something special, and though I figured I'd be disappointed, this was probably the best Summer Action movie I have seen since the original Spider-Man. Sure it was a two and a half hour toy commercial, but that's okay. It didn't pretend to be anything more than it was; a fun movie that had its huge budget spent on action sequences and special effects. The film starts with a little exposition on the origin of the Transformers and the loss of their home world, then cuts to "Present Day", first at a military base in the Middle East, that is attacked by Decepticons who want to know the location of their leader who crashed to Earth. There are barely any survivors of the first attack. Then they try to raid the computers of Air Force One, gaining valuable information. The government thinks that a foreign power is behind the apparent attacks, but a select handful either begin to know, or already know otherwise. Enter Sam Witwicky, great-grandson of the man who discovered the frozen body of Megatron in the Artic decades earlier. Sam makes contact with Bumblebee (now an absolutely sweet Chevy Camaro), and through him develops a relationship with the totally hot Mikaela, who is quite tough in her own right. They make contact with the other Auntobots and learn the importance of Sam's ancestor's discovery, and that the fate of the world hangs in the balance as the Autobots race the Decepticons in search of the All Spark, a cube that is full of life-giving energy. I won't give away the ending, but I didn't think it was possible for a movie like that to create such an adrenaline rush anymore. Sure I loved the series and toys when I was younger, but this film holds up in its own right. In a great nod to the original series, Peter Cullen returns as the voice of Optimus Prime, but sadly, Frank Welker does not return for the voice of Megatron (worry not dear friends, there will definitely be a sequel and this minor wrong could be righted). All in all, for a mid-summer action flick, this movie was perfect. I don't expect it to sweep the Oscars, but I do think that it works for the entire audience; it's action packed, the SFX are stunning, there is a fair share of humor, and parents won't be bored while watching it with their kids.