Still the best of the series

Rating: 6/10 (5 July 2015)

This is where it all started: where big-budget blockbusters started to dumb down at a higher rate, and where Michael Bay's career started to coalesce into the cynical (but very profitable) mess it is today. That being said, TRANSFORMERS is still rather entertaining if you take if for what it is. The plot is as convoluted as expected, yet probably the simplest one in the series. The Autobots must find the Allspark before the Decepticons do, and Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) is an integral part in helping them. Aside from that, you have Michael Bay's usual fixation with military hardware, hot models, cool cars, and 'splosions. He really does have a distinct style in his body of work, for better or worse. Watching it for the second or third time, all I could really think about was how unfunny the humor was, and how the camera-work was headache-inducing. Yet, this first Transformers movie remains watchable if for no other reason than that I know the quality is all downhill from here. The acting is decent, for the most part. The visual effects still hold up really well, even if most of the robot action is obfuscated with clever camera angles and "shaky cam." Slow motion is really the only time the viewer is given the opportunity to take in some of the best visual moments. The score is also decent and doesn't really get in the way. When it comes down to it, I don't like this as much as I may have the first time, but it still entertained me. Occasionally, something that speaks to one's inner 12-year-old can be fun, and that's basically what TRANSFORMERS is.