Transformers fan or not...this movie is astounding.

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2007)

I've always been somewhat of a fan of Transformers, manly Beast Wars and Beast Machines. G1 was a few years too old for my age group. (However, at around age 12 I began watching G1 episodes online) Anyway, I had been pretty excited for this movie from the get-go. It began when I saw the teaser trailer. Months later, I walked into the theater praying that this wouldn't be a 3.5 hour CGI induced headache. It wasn't. It actually had a very good plot line, excellent foreshadowing, AMAZING visuals, and pretty good acting. First: the plot line. When I first heard that there was going to be a Transformers movie, I thought, how would they do that? Well, they did it. The very first shot after the opening titles pulls you in to the main tone of the movie. I've explained that to the best of my abilities. Second: Foreshadowing. They pulled this off with impressive set design and fantastic locations that really gave the fantastic illusion to the audience that we are really facing an alien invasion with BA giant alien robots. Third: the visuals. Every shot had it's own art form. From the MH-53 Helicopter flying away from the Qatari sunset, from Megatron's gigantic Cryo-Prison. Along with that, they made the Transformations look real. You could see where every single part of the car was going whenever it turned into a robot. Fourth and Finally: the acting. When I saw this movie, I took note of the lines. I'm a stage actor, so I like to picture what the lines look like on paper. On paper, they look pretty dry. It takes a really good actor to take dry lines and make them serious, comical, and emotionally engaging. That's exactly what they did, especially on Shia LeBeouf's part. What he did with that script was just fantastic.
Overall, you really don't need to be a Transformers fan to thoroughly enjoy this film. Although Transformers fans get more of a kick out of it by seeing they're favorite Autobots and Decepticons on the silver screen, (I got goosebumps every time I saw Starscream and Ratchet) it's still an extremely fun thrill ride for everyone else.