Better Then Most Of Bay's Other Work.

Rating: 8/10 (27 October 2007)

To make this story short, good alien robots and bad alien robots crash on earth to find a cube. One wants to destroy it, the other wants total domination.
When you go into a Michael Bay film you can expect 2 things to happen. One, balls to the wall action, involving car chases, shoot outs and explosions. Two, characters that have no arc what so ever and we don't really seem to care about them. Such is the case with Transformers. The only difference is, this film is based on a television/toy from the same name, so it's fan base knows the characters and feels attached to them anyway. You can now add Transformers to the list of films that have been transfered from either: Television show, video game, toy, and comic. Unlike 80 percent of films based on these things, Transformers is actually good. This is a big statement, this is the same guy that took a historic moment in American history and turned it into some sappy bad love story. He's back on his game, when he did The Rock.
The die hard fans of Transformers will point out it's flaws from the get go, these so called flaws do not affect the film one bit. In fact it helps, the fact that they changed it to fit any kind of reality in film. Do we really want to see Megatron transform into a giant gun, and do the colours of Optimus Prime really matter on the semi? Fans complained that there was no white spider on the suit of Black Spiderman and there's no exception here either.
Don't be afraid to see the film if you have no idea about the characters previously. It's simple, blue eyes are good, red eyes are bad. They look like normal machines, but transform into giant robots. I myself never watched the show, I did watch Beast Wars though, a spin off series in which they would transform into pre-historic animal on earth, instead of cars. The main reason to be seeing this film, is to watch some badass robots blowing stuff up trying to kill each other, while destroying the city we live in. This is accomplished, but we also have to be sidetracked through boring non-important sub-plot involving humans.
There are two characters that could have been completely cut out, or transformed, no pun intended, into one character. This could have saved time, time that could have been added to what the people want to see, giant robots. The two characters in question are Anthony Anderson and Rachael Taylor. Here are two people, for other then some comic relief and tech mumbo-jumbo serve no purpose to the advancement of the story. Does she really need a guy whose better at the stuff then she is? Why can she simply be the best and do whatever it is he does? Secondly, there is another subplot the is mentioned but never explored. Megan Fox's characters father has a record and this is used against her...for 2 minutes, then it gets cleared, one scene of drama between two characters, then it's pushed away never to be seen again. These things fall under the one of the two expected things to happen at a BAY film.
The other, the action, is in full swing. You'll get goose bumps when you first see them transform, then again when they are in action, destroying the city around them. Everything is so well created that one can actually believe this is happening in the city. I can see some awards thrown this way for special effects. In a time when people have seen spidermen swings through cities, pirates sailing the seas and hobbits roaming to a mountain, it takes something special to be able to make the audience drop their jaws in awe. This film does that.
Even though there are plot holes, such as where did Barricade go after he led the other Decepticons into battle in the city? What happened to the x-box, steering wheel and pop machine after they transformed? How does someone as hot as Megan Fox end up with the kid from Even Stevens? Things we will never know. The film has a few surprising faces that pop up. The voice of Agent Smith makes an appearance as the head bad guy, John Turturro, John Voight, Bernie Mac, Zack Ward pop up here and there. I was expecting to see Steve Buscemi be some kind of comic relief guy, but to my disappointment.
Transformers has a few steps it misses on that ladder to greatness. A long running time, missing plot holes and character we couldn't care for round up the most of it. I'm sure there are other things, but we go to see this film for one thing. Giant Robots In Action. That my friend is what it delivers, it a breathtaking final scene within the city. Jets fly through buildings, tanks fire left right and centre, crazy is not even a way to describe it. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to have a popcorn movie, that is really really loud.