"Transforming" the summer at the movies

Rating: 10/10 (16 October 2007)

The overwhelming response to "Transformers," a live-action film version of the line of Hasbro action figures and animated series from the 1980s, proves that the days of genuine, brain-dead popcorn entertainment at the movies during the summer months are not yet gone. "Transformers" is summer-movie popcorn entertainment of the first degree, seamlessly blending human actors and state-of-the-art CGI into a concept that's virtually out-of-this-world, and bringing it to life.
Michael Bay ("The Rock," "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor") directed this breathtaking action/sci-fi adventure epic, from a dynamite, intelligently written script by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman that places its key source material, the '80s animated series, under a finely tuned microscope, casts off the dead weight (possible Cold War subtext), adds Bay's trademark music video-style over-direction and you get what is very easily one of the most groundbreaking summer movies in a long time.
Like most people, I grew up watching "Transformers" early in the morning during my youth. I was one of many young boys who went through the bang-bang-BOOM! phase as an adolescent and looked to "Transformers" with a kind of gosh-wow, child-like innocence. I didn't collect the action figures, unfortunately, and although I watched the series whenever I could it was a rare occurrence toward the mid '90s when many cable network channels were rearranging their line-ups. Fast-forward to 2007, now I'm an adult, and I did look with skepticism to Transformers in live-action. And while I've liked Bay's movies in the past, I questioned his abilities to handle something so delicate for a brain-dead 2007 audience.
Well...
It's his best movie yet, despite his tendency for over-direction. For the most part, he flies on the straight & narrow, with few screw-ups. Perhaps it's because one of his main producers was Steven Spielberg and effects studio Industrial Light & Magic was responsible for the special effects. In the past, Bay's usually worked with super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who's gone for now and he seems to be showing signs of maturity as a filmmaker (did I just write that?).
For those of us accustomed to the lore, "Transformers" revolves around the centuries-old battle between the heroic Autobots and the malevolent Decepticons, massive shape-changing robots of extraterrestrial origin who mistakenly bring their war from home planet Cybertron to Earth. The Autobots find unlikely allies in humans, who join the fray in attempting to banish the Decepticons from our planet. In this big-budget blockbuster, high school loser Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and his crush Mikaela (relative newcomer Megan Fox) are thrust head-first into the action when Sam discovers that his great-great-grandfather had accidentally discovered the frozen remains of Decepticon leader Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving) in the Arctic Circle. As such, he also discovered an alien power source called the "All Spark" that Megatron wants so that he can use Earth's technology to conquer the universe.
Well, the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (voiced by the only regular from the original series, Peter Cullen), aren't having it. And along with an elite Special Forces unit led by Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) that also includes Tech Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson), and Defense Secretary John Heller (Jon Voight), Sector Seven agent Simmons (a scene-stealing John Turturro), and hackers Maggie Madsen (Rachael Taylor) and Glen Whitmann (Anthony Anderson), it leads to a special effects-laden, no-holds-barred showdown in Los Angeles, where these forces collide head-on in an epic, 30-minute battle that's sure to please those hardcore "Transformers" fans and those who might not even know why the hell these giant robots are fighting each other.
The film opens with an action sequence in the Qatar desert where one of the Decepticons attacks an American military base there. This scene sets the pace for the rest of the film: a roller coaster ride that is pretty much non-stop for the 143-minute running time. There's never a slow moment for you to capture your breath! With explosions, car chases and machines waging epic war on each other, you can bet it's worth your $8. And there you go thinking that the blockbuster was long dead.
What didn't escape my attention was that the film is driven not so much by the special effects, really, but by the actions of the human characters (not that the robots themselves are at all a boring sight). The actors, especially unsung Everyman Shia LaBeouf, are not short-changed and resolved to remain background to the action. The screenplay provides these characters with plenty of moments to shine, with some smart and witty dialogue combined with enthusiastic performances. These are people you come to know and like, not cardboard cut-outs, and likewise they grow on you. (OK, OK, so what about the Autobots/Decepticons?) The special effects are what's most accomplished in "Transformers." The actual "transforming" scenes really bring the 'bots to life breathlessly, so that when they shift, you're in awe by their forms morphing and reconfiguring, and metal clanking together like living machinery. That first moment when Sam buys his new car - oh, a boy and his new car (a Camaro!) - that transforms into sweet-natured Autobot Bumblebee (voiced by Mark Ryan), it leaves you breathless and wanting more, which you get x10 later on. And you thought this was just another summer movie.
"Transformers" - It's a step up from the cartoon, definitely.
10/10