Great Sci-Fi Movie with Little Soul

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2007)

I'll admit it- this Transformers review is more than a month overdue. Certain details will not be discussed here due to my memory simply forgetting about them. But then again, is it humanly possible to forget the experience you had after watching Transformers? The movie featured everything- giant robots duking it out, a Secretary of Defense who can wield a gun well, the obnoxious Anthony Anderson, and a funny cheap shot at the President. What's not to love? Well, the lead characters for one. Shia LaBeouf plays Sam, a semi-geeky teenager who is just like everyone else- he wants a car, gets moderately good grades, and wants to get a girlfriend (the way he tries to get a GF, however, is not like everyone else). After getting good enough grades to warrant him a used car of his choosing, Sam and his dad go to a car dealership to pick out a ride. Sam feels a connection between himself and a heavily-used Chevy Comero, which turns out to be a robot in disguise. Soon thereafter, Sam meets a hot girl named Mikaela (Fox), a name that's more sophisticated than her character. She is, however, a brunette, so something's gone array. Sam and Mikaela have the stereotypical relationship where the guy tries all he can for the girl, who eventually falls for him.
Now it's not like any of that really matters. The movie is all about the giant robots, even though the Sam:robot on screen ratio is nearly equal. The major draw for the movie is the Transformers, and they sure as hell deliver. Michael Bay, in typical good fashion, wastes little time in introducing the main players. After the Decepticons (the evil robots) attack an American base over in Iraq, Secretary of Defense John Keller (played magnificently by Jon Voight) alerts the nation on the problem and the bizarre situation at hand. Working under Keller are many people, including a blonde woman, to whom I ironically forget the name of. Anyways, she takes the invasion seriously, and investigates is illegally with her adviser Anthony Anderson! Meanwhile, to sum things up, Sam's car morphs into Bumblebee, an Autobot (the good robots). Not soon after, the rest of the Autobots come down to earth, led by Optimus Prime, a kick-ass version of Arnold Schwarzenegger, only in robot form. From here on, the Autobots and Decepticons wage war on each other. Both "races" of robots are trying to locate a cube, which holds the power to their world. Be warned: the fights feature some of the most incredible special effects you have likely ever seen. The showdown at the end of the movie is pure mastery.
Transformers has been in release now for more than seven weeks, and it's domestic gross is over $300 million to date. That puts it on an elite list with Spider-man 3, Shrek the Third, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End as being the movies of 2007 that have reached that mark. Inflation, you may say? Correct, yet $300 mil is still something to brag about. That money can be drawn to the great effects in the movie and the mostly spot-on sense of humor the movie has (Sam ain't funny, everyone else is). I highly recommend seeing this blockbuster.
Good) Ridiculous effects, amazing robot on robot fight scenes Bad) Lead humans: not necessary & annoying, sometimes poor script Anthony Anderson) Is he not in every movie out there?