Great Dumb Fun!

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2007)

Autobots (nice humane robots) and Decepticons (cruel psycho robots) battle to protect/massacre mankind. That's all the plot summary you need.
After an insane prologue where a US base is wiped out by a crazed robot - that sneaked in in the guise of a military helicopter - Bay proceeds with the unexpectedly touching story of young Sam (Shia LaBouf, one of the film's greatest assets) getting his first car (Autobot Bumblebee in disguise), unaware that both robot factions are monitoring him, his family having ties to a mystical lost cube they are searching for. A bit of time is spent exploring Sam's life and tentative romance with school hottie Michaela (Megan Fox, generic model-actress) before everything turns increasingly violent as the Autobots show up and make their purpose known and the Decepticons give up "the subtle approach" in favor of total carnage.
Anyone showing up to see this film is in it for the spectacle and "Transformers" delivers. That ILM have accomplished miracles is an understatement: the character design and animation is bewildering, giving us something we've never seen before while seamlessly blending it with non-CGI elements. Each revamped robots is both amazing and affecting (particularly the touching Bumblebee and a gleefully bad-ass Megatron). Bay has his faults but when it comes to lightheaded entertainment and action, he is hard to beat, and here he outdoes himself it what could well be his finest film. The funny moments work thanks to Bay's breezy direction and Shia LaBouf's astounding likability, making the dramatic and epic bits all the more effective.
That the film's ending seems a bit rushed and leaves you wanting more is a testament to how gripping the preceding 140 minutes have been, and you will leave the theater thinking of indelible scenes like Sam "hiding" Optimus Prime and company in his parents' backyard (a wonderfully absurd moment), the almost poetic arrival of the Autobots, and of course the final smack-down.
The only similar event movie that comes to mind is the original Jurassic Park. You don't often hear yourself wishing for this, but "Roll on the sequels, please!"