Could have been so much better...

Rating: Null/10 (10 July 2007)

In my books, it's never a good thing when the special effects (or a teaser trailer not set to release for another half a year) are a movie's strongest point. Still, I found it hard not be in awe of how realistically the Transformers were realized by the CGI team. Aesthetics have to count for something, right?
Outside of that, 'Transformers' mainly struggles to intrigue. The basic story is a race of alien robots search for a powerful relic that landed on Earth years ago, which culminates in Optimus Prime and the Autobots fighting the evil Decepticons to save mankind with the help of a teenage boy and a small assortment of other humans.
What failed the most? The script was so atrocious that it's as if the screenwriters knew the only way to keep the audience's attention was with shtick rather than engaging dialog. A movie doesn't have to be funny to be fun, which an action/adventure flick should be. Yet most of the humor was inappropriate for the mood of the scene and lent little to nothing to story or character development or an all around fun time.
And the director, well his name is Michael Bay. Enough said there.
Unfortunately, Bay's best talent, action, was a mixed bag. At times it was great popcorn fare, complete with explosions of epic proportions, lots of guns, and of course the impressive Transformers themselves. At other times though, the pacing was odd, destroying any tension that had built up. I also found it hard to tell exactly who was who and what was what when the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting, a sentiment I've seen echoed by other users, which is not a good thing for a movie that so clearly defines good and evil.
All in all, I would have liked to see a new script, a new director (come on Spielberg), and more development dedicated to Transformers not named Optimus Prime or Bumblebee (this movie is called 'Transformers' right?) and less to Sam and Mikaela's blasé relationship. Yes still, this is a huge summer blockbuster, so I suppose expectations can only be so high. It's just disappointing that Hollywood feels it must water down something that could have been so cool.
6.3/10