Best entertainment of the summer: Light on the brain, but all in good fun

Rating: 7/10 (19 July 2007)

Is anything in this movie "more than meets the eye"? Certainly not. If there's one thing Bay is good at it is delivering the goods up, front-and-center, with no subtleties but also no restraints. Is this necessarily a good thing? Not when he's trying to direct something that is supposed to have any sense of seriousness, such as Pearl Harbour. But on a movie like this, anything goes: I mean, it's about giant alien robots from outer space who have come to do battle on Earth. That pretty much opens almost endless array of doors to Bay's disposal, and of course doesn't leave much room for subtleties. This film's characters are flat but believable; the plot is implausible but not ridiculous. Somehow it all comes together and works in the long run.
I give credit to Spielberg, though, for setting the overall tone of the film and ultimately restraining Bay. Quite unlike his previous "epics" such as Armageddon and The Island, Transformers unfolds with an always-vigorous sense of light-hearted fun and adventure. The film has many cheesy moments, but never does it get preachy nor kitschy, and for Bay to have avoided such obvious opportunities to sneak in that kind of nonsense, I salute the picture and the producers involved that prevented a moment such as Bruce Willis' sacrifice at the climax of Armageddon. This never-serious tone comes across also in the sly and razor-sharp sense of humour, which I thought was absolutely hilarious and worked wonderfully.
The acting, quite surprisingly, also worked. Sure, actors like John Turturro and Jon Voight pretty much play caricatures, but the true shocker is Shia LaBeouf, the young up-and-rising star who was too annoying in I Robot and Constantine but who delivers a sharp, witty and very human and believable performance as the young protagonist. His turn in this film quite reassures me of his potential in the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie. I expect good things.
But this movie has one main central purpose, and I salute it for never once trying to hide it: to entertain and deliver mind-blowing visuals. And it more than exceeds in both of these fields. From the earliest, relentlessly thrilling car chases and all through the final showdown in downtown L.A., this film is a wild, wild ride that grabs you by the collar and never lets you go once. Its speed and pace is impeccable and relentless, and it always keeps you engaged with even more bombastic, even grander, even more insane set pieces and action sequences as it progresses. Bay has of course by now perfected the art of the high-octane action sequence, and with such a broad palette of flashy cars, giant robots, unlimited advanced weapons and the broad, sprawling wide spaces of the American West, Bay, quite unlike some of his counterparts and, dare I say, imitators, knows exactly when to film with intense chaos and when to treat us with a wide, slow-motion long-shot to let us take it all in. In terms of the cinematography and visual style, every shot is flawlessly constructed and gorgeously stylized in terms of lighting, composition, angles and movement. The computer graphic work by ILM is utterly stupefying and probably more convincing than most any other CGI work I've seen lately, as is the excellent sound design by Eric Aadahl, and I wouldn't be surprised if this film nabs an Oscar or two in these categories. And with imagery like a fighter jet flying at full speed only to transform into Starscream in mid-air, grab onto the bottom of a bridge and flip around, landing on his feet on top of it, or a slow-motion shot of Optimus Prime and Megatron literally flying through a high-rise office building, one cant help but sit back and grin.
While watching this film, one also can't help but sit back and wonder: what would it be like had Steven Spielberg done more than produce, and perhaps filled in the director's chair as well. What's for sure is that his mark is more than felt on the movie with Bay at the helm: the whole bond between Sam and Bumblebee is strongly present, and scenes such as the one where Sam goes to his house to fetch the glasses while the Autobots wait impatiently in his backyard are pure Spielberg. Would the film necessarily be better? Perhaps, although perhaps Bay was the perfect man for this project with his loud, over-produced and over-the-top approach. But what's for sure is that it would have been very different. I can imagine the family aspect, especially Sam's relationship with his father, far more emphasized, as well as his friendship with Bumblebee, who as the silent visitor from outer space who forms a bond with the protagonist, is an extremely Spielberg-esquire character as it is. Perhaps the military aspect would have also been far less emphasized. It is definitely an interesting thought, but maybe considering the already-ridiculous nature of the plot to begin with, Bay's easy-on-the-brain-feast-for-the-eyes approach is exactly what it needed.
It's loud, it's over-done, it's exaggerated and populated with caricatures and flat characters. It lacks any value in plot and characters. But it is irresistibly entertaining and undeniably well-made, far more so than the other big event films prior to it this summer. And its overall light, all-in-the-fun tone really allows one to just sit back and enjoy the ride. And what a thrilling, relentless and fantastic ride it is. Ultimately, Spielberg's production along with Bay's visuals match perfectly to create the ultimate brainless summer entertainment.