The humor is essential for us to embark on such a fanciful story and the end result could not be better, having been one of the best adventures of last years

Rating: 7/10 (24 May 2020)

Known for directing some of the greatest classics such as The Bad Boys (1995), A Rocha (1996), Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001) and A Ilha (2005), Michael Bay started here the franchise from which he would sediment once and for all name as one of the great directors of action cinema bringing the fictional alien robots from a popular Hasbro franchise, capable of transforming their bodies into innocuous objects like vehicles, to the cinema screens and still counting on the production of Dreamworks by Steven Spielberg. Director Michael Bay, in charge of the direction, was another who did not believe in the potential of the project, but was convinced by Spielberg's vision. This is not a robot film, it is a film of a young man and his first car - inadvertently involved in the middle of a space invasion.
For years the Autobots and the Decepticons, two robotic alien races, fought in Cybertron, their home planet. This war caused the planet to be destroyed, resulting in the robots spreading throughout the universe. Megatron (Hugo Weaving), the leader of the Decepticons, comes to Earth in search of Allspark, a Cybertron cube that allows any electronic device to be transformed into a robot with its own intelligence. Megatron finds Allspark, but is frozen in the Arctic. Decades later, other Decepticons arrive on Earth, in an attempt to find Allspark. Its emergence soon alerts the main countries, in particular the United States, which has an attacked military base in Qatar. While Defense Secretary John Keller (Jon Voight) tries to find out what's going on, gathering all possible strength and information, young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has simpler concerns: getting a good grade in school, which will guarantee him Your first car. But what he did not expect was that the chosen vehicle, an old Camaro, had a life of its own.
But anyone who thinks "Transformers" is just nonstop action is wrong. The great merit in the script by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman is to perfectly blend the comedy in the midst of the action and a main cast that is the soul of the film. It is not easy to act in front of a green screen that will be replaced later by robots ten meters high in practically all the action scenes of the film, but the cast does very well, especially Shia LaBeouf, who plays the main character, Sam Witwicky . The actor "reacts" to nothing like nobody before him. The young man screams, feels fear, feels sympathy, runs and interacts with the absent robots with total surrender. Were it not for him, the film would lose half its strength. Not only in the scenes with the robots, but also when interacting with his parents, with Mikaela and even with the military, the actor is the great highlight of the production in his lines and reactions of enormous naturalness.
Despite some cinematographic habits worthy of a wedding photo album - can anyone take one more backlit kiss, sunset in the background, in life? - Bay hates blue screens so fashionable in Hollywood. And he hates studio settings even more. His business is to go out on the street with his team, blow up real things - and this predilection for realistic pyrotechnics is a decisive element in the success of "Transformers". The beating and chase scenes are extremely exciting, with the right camera in hand - war movie style - and interspersed with absolutely hilarious moments.
The comic part is present at all times. The action and comedic moments go hand in hand and support the entire script. The scene of the robots hiding in the garden, while Sam's parents discuss what he was doing locked in the room, is pure Spielberg. And the scene only improves with the knowledge that all the dialogues there were improvised by the trio of actors. We also have the hilarious Kevin Dunn and Julie White as Sam's parents in several scenes, which in addition to the already commented scene in the bedroom, we have the garden scene in the house, the car purchase scene and even in a post-credit scene with double. To top it off, we still have Bernie Mac, as car salesman Bobby Bolivia and Anthony Anderson, as a super-hacker, putting on a show - the impression (probably correct) is that all the scenes in which he appears are improvised. There is even a hilarious reference to "Armageddon" - also directed by Bay - when the Autobots start arriving on Earth.
Another source of laughter is the United States government itself, something very curious, considering that the production had immense support from the country's Armed Forces. George W. Bush and his administration have once again become a joke on more than one occasion - and even lead to acid criticism when the United States mobilizes against North Korea and China before even knowing whether the attack came from them or otherwise. source. But the military should not be too concerned, after all, soldiers receive that glamor that only Michael Bay can give - slow motion cameras, silhouettes carrying weapons in the distance, emotional acts of courage, etc. Everything that works undeniably like military propaganda. Among the most hilarious are those in which the military is being attacked by a Decepticon in the middle of the desert in a real war climate while Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson) try to contact the Pentagon and are delayed by bureaucracy by, apparently Indian, in a call center unrelated to the emergency situation that happened on the other end of the line. Even Defense Secretary John Keller (Jon Voight) takes part in some comedy scenes amid suspicions of an attack by some other American enemy and John Turturro (Agent Simmons), responsible for the government's top secret Sector 7, surprising other good guys moments.
But who cares about the military, when we have Optimus Prime and Megatron pulling the screws on the big screen? The robots are absolutely sensational, winning thousands of moving parts at the hands of George Lucas' ILM team. As a result, some fans wrinkled their noses, complaining that they look little like their lively counterparts. Nonsense. The result borders on the shocking, with robots changing shape in mid-flight to attack opponents, or even semi-transformed, razing a motorway in mind-boggling pursuits. The level of realism of the robots is practically perfect. We can feel the weight and size of their "bodies" when they walk or when they are in combat helped by the fantastic editing and mixing of sounds indicated to Oscar for the work. As if it were not enough to feel the clash of robots as if we were in the middle of battle, the metallic and electronic sounds in communion with the actions of the robots are magnificent.
In addition to all this, we have the electrifying soundtrack of Steve Jablonsky (The Island, The Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) that knows how to increase, decrease, leaving only the sounds of the fighting machines, becoming more urgent or epic depending on the situation. The musical soundtrack including "What I've Done" by Linkin Park, "Before It's Too Late" by Goo Goo Dolls, "Doomsday Clock" by Smashing Pumpkins among others make up the vibrant soundtrack, especially when they were the medium of communication of Bumblebee with humans.
While credible characters are hard to come by in "Transformers", the effects are staggering and the action is thrilling. And for fans, the writers have reserved numerous surprises, such as classic phrases and hidden clues. Overall, Michael Bay never seems to have had as much fun this time. Unlike other projects where humor is present on a much smaller scale, here the element is essential for us to embark on such a fanciful story and the end result could not be better, having been one of the best adventures of its launch year. Of course, the ending is open, setting the stage for future continuations of one of the most profitable and fun franchises in recent years.