Humanity not Lost in Transformers

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2007)

As a non-Transformer fan...a non-viewer of the cartoons, a non-reader of the comics, and a non-collector of the toys...I wasn't planning to see the movie until recently. The stylish trailer shots of giant robots in battle got me interested. I also had an inkling that Michael Bay would give this one his all, because after The Island he would know his career couldn't afford another flop. And after seeing Pirates 3 and Spidey 3 not live up to expectations, I figured the law of averages was in favor of Transformers being the best sci-fi action epic of the year.
I was not disappointed. In fact I was pleasantly surprised at how successful the movie was with its human characters and how much humor it found at all levels of its story. It is so, so difficult for a sci-fi film like this to pull off real genuine, gut-busting humor without descending into camp or disrespect. Part of that is because the filmmakers have to be really brave to try for laughs when they're already afraid the audience will laugh at unconvincing effects or unbelievable story lines. This movie goes on a short list with Superman, Ghostbusters, and Men in Black as one of the funniest sci-fi action films ever made. Shia LaBeouf in both comedic and dramatic scenes was a wonderful asset here. My faith in Spielberg having made the right choice casting him in Indy 4 was given real credence here.
If the movie had one major weakness it was that the villains don't get the development the humans and heroes do. Aside from Scorponok's awesome desert battle and perhaps a bit too much of the little Gremlin-bot's antics we don't get to see the villains display much personality. I think Megatron had less screen time than the Gremlin-bot. That weakens the drama of the final battle because it seems like the Autobots are just fighting mindless machines, ones that we don't quite understand the full capabilities and motivations of. I think we needed more scenes of the Decepticons planning and plotting together to parallel the scenes of the Autobots meeting and introducing each other. And we needed at least one scene where Megatron demonstrates a seriously bad-ass show of force BEFORE he starts fighting the good guys, a la Magneto's bridge attack in X3 or just about everything General Zod does in Superman 2 before the Metropolis battle. Speaking of missed opportunities, I'm not sure why you take us to a major national landmark in a movie like this unless you intend to blow it up.
Other than the whole enterprise sort of unraveling in a final battle that is more dramatically and visually choppy than anything that came before it, this movie was full of pure entertainment. I loved the Herbie-esquire chemistry between Bumblebee and the kids. I had fun with the Christine-esquire suspense when the cars began showing their threatening side and all of the zippy car chases that followed. I enjoyed Optimus Prime's heroic Jor-el-esquire speeches about the good in humanity. I thought Voight as the Rumsfeld character and Turturro as the shadow government guy added solid acting presence and weight to the movie. I liked the human comedy of Shia's romantic and family problems, the geeky in-joke computer references, and the giant robot-slapstick comedy, which I still think was perhaps the movie's most impressive and unlikely achievement. And I thought the transformation effects had all the necessary cool factor. One bad moment, I didn't like the explanation for the origin of earth's technology. That was unnecessary plot overkill and too Terminator-esquire. And Bernie Mac's cameo only served to illustrate how much better the movie's subtler and more unexpected attempts at comedy were.
I think this movie will deservedly earn its place as the #1 box-office smash of the year, besting Spider-Man 3's $335 million gross. It may also have earned a special place in cinema history for crediting both a "Product Placement Coordinator" and a "Military Adviser," in that order. Now I look forward to a sequel where I hope the robots, especially the villains, earn more screen time, dialogue, and character development. I think we're ready for that now that we humans have made a successful transition into the robot world by virtue of this introductory movie. For now, I'll be eyeing up those Transformers movie toys a lot closer while contemplating the potential of a post-Christmas clearance sale...and I'll keep watching the skis, uh, skies, uh, highways....