Lots of Good Stuff, Lots of Bad Stuff

Rating: 5/10 (16 August 2007)

I thought the new Transformers movie was sub par. I am confused as to how close to 80,000 people could have voted it a 7.9 when it clearly had many serious flaws:
1. Soundwave (aka Frenzy) was as bad as Jar Jar Binks. Instead of making him a cool spy, like he was in the television show, the makers of the film decided to make a crazy "Soundwave" spy. Why? For cheap laughs from tots.
2. The plot could have stretched over 2 to 3 movies, easily. Instead of developing a complex plot and strong characters, the directors relied on action-plot and special effects.
3. Excepting Optimus Prime and perhaps Bumblebee, the other Autobots and all the Decepticons were horribly void of their television personalities. Megatron, Starscream, Ironhide, Jazz (Jazz died! LOL), Ratchet, Barricade and Bonecrusher all came off more as personalityless soldiers who happened to be caught on film while fighting a war. YOu know, those faceless soldiers of WWI and II. Moreover, Megatron and Starscream, two of my favorite characters from the television show, came off as a couple monsters. In the television they were much, much more than that.
4. The mechanics of the transformers were too visual. Just like in the new Star Wars movies (metachlorian), Transformers The Movie showed me too much. I didn't want to see every mechanical connection, thanks! Granted, the actual transforming scenes were quite amazing, especially when Bumblebee transformed from robot to a car, but it doesn't make up for the fact that the movie lost a significant portion of the mystique that was present in the cartoon.
5. More annoying comedic relief: specifically the secretary of state and government agents.
6. Although I consider the "autobots hiding on Sam's house from his parents" a high-point of the film, I also consider it a low point. For five minutes before the autobots hide on Sam's house they are made to look like a bunch of buffoons. This was especially distressing in relation to Optimus Prime, who is suppose to be the wise leader of the autobots. Instead, he looks like a complete idiot. Optimus Prime, the wise leader of the Autobots, is not smart enough to understand Sam when he says "hide! my parents will see you!".
Overall, I think this movie is similar to AI. It has many good points that make it watchable, but its bad points prevent it from being a classic.
5/10