A Complete Package: Writing, Cinematography, CGI, and More

Rating: 10/10 (2 July 2007)

I would like to start by saying, that I usually do not review movies in a positive light. I am typically the "warn others" kind of person, because I know what false expectations can do to an otherwise good movie. However, I am also an advocate of voting with your wallet. And with great movies, I am glad to do a little campaign work.
As for my review, I would like to begin by giving two thumbs up to Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for creating such a great screenplay. Transformers contained enough sophisticated dialog to keep me interested in what people had to say, and an occasional one liner to keep the attention impaired laughing. But, lets face it, this was not a movie centered on banter, this was an action movie centered on CGI. In that department Dreamworks did not let us down. The action was enough to keep everyone on the edge of their seats, with some amazing live-action/CGI hybrid shots to blur the edge of classic cinematography and 3D animation.
All of this, however, would not have earned a review from me. The icing on the cake, was the nostalgia that the production team included into the story. I must say that I felt like a child again, waking up to a bowl of cereal and the Saturday morning cartoons. That is not to say that the style of movie-making or character development mimicked the old cartoon; I mean I have grown up and my sensibilities have matured. Instead, the movie had just enough old school elements to spark connections in the deepest recesses of my brain that haven't fired since the mid-80's, bringing back those childhood memories. Case in point: they even got the cartoon Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) to resurrect his role as the the leader of the Autobots.
I am going to digress for a second, because what is a movie review that does not address the negative. Because I could not identify anything markedly wrong with Transformers, I am going to be forced to argue nostalgic semantics. Bumble-Bee is a yellow and black (VW) Bug, there is a little irony in that, which is lost on a yellow and black Camaro. I understand that there might have been some marketing issues that made VW look bad, but it was a missed element. You can tell the original story had a Bug, so the writers can't be blamed (Who calls a 75 Camaro junk?).
Once again, I am writing this not to seek a career as a writer, but to inform other movie fans, that this is a great movie, in my opinion the best so far this year. For those of you who feel jaded by a plethora of bad trilogies, go see this movie and vote with your wallet for a blockbuster. At least it will negate the votes that you may have already cast on the other movies that you were disappointed in. With that regard, I have to vote for it at the theater a couple more times.
--Daniel