Just like Old Times

Rating: 8/10 (29 July 2007)

I saw this in Orange on a digital screen on one of the early screenings and kept going back.
OK I'm 27 and long ago boxed up my transformers from childhood. But I had to see this movie. If you're like me, you remember Optimus Prime, the hero of heroes. Since Star Wars has come and gone, there are few articles of childhood left to see again on the big screen. Transformers is one of those toy marketing schemes that actually made interesting characters, and of course, sold a lot of toys.
I am highly skeptical of Michael Bay. Not only does he make crappy movies, but he has to destroy a nice car in the middle of it all. But here, I give the guy a pass.
I like to see my home state on the silver screen too. They filmed the "Qatar" scenes in Alamogordo, New Mexico. So about this movie...
I was entranced from beginning to end. The dialog was sometimes a little to rapid fire and nervous, poor megan fox had almost nothing to do, some characters were out of place and plotting weird, but in the end, the film is a winner.
The effects really do sell the film in every scene. Bumble Bee, Optimus, all of them are extremely well "acted" by the talented computer animators. There needs to be some kind of acting award besides special effects for this thing.
Yeah, megatron comes up out of nowhere. Lots of the plot make little sense, but hey I sat down and watched some old episodes on Youtube and found that i couldn't even follow what the hell was going on in the cartoon. I would say in the movie, they made an improvement with plotting.
The Decepticons are effectively menacing, especially when Barricade confronts Sam on the hood of a car. That one was actually pretty startling. I've had nightmares as a kid being chased by giant killer robots and yeah, this one got a little close. Enough of my freudian fears.
This movie delivered, it was superbly entertaining and very very well done. I don't quite acquit Michael bay for Pearl Harbor or destroying the Ferrari 355 in The ROCK, but here, he gets a pass. Can't wait for the multi disc DVD. Bring on the sequels.