Too many rose-tinted spectacles here

Rating: 6/10 (22 July 2007)

When I heard that a live action adaptation of Transformers was being made I was beside myself. And as the release date drew nearer i couldn't wait. I was much the same about Alien v Predator, and likewise I knew that both films were likely to be utter pap but at the same time, lots of fun. I mean let's be honest, Transformers was never going to be the Citizen Kane of the 2007 summer blockbusters but it failed in so many ways I left the cinema feeling disappointed.
Bad points:
* Bad characters - what was the point of the Australian 'analyst' and her hacker friend? She was clearly just some eye-candy and he was ham-fisted unfunny comic relief. * Bad editing - too many pointless set pieces. What was the point of the interrogation of the Aussie woman and the hacker? None except for a unfunny comedic set piece. * The best comic book adaptation ones have been the ones which focused on the darker side to the main characters (ie Batman Begins, Spiderman). Obviously with the Autobots (esp Optimus) being such goody two-shoes this wasn't going to be an option. However making so many of the characters out to be comic side-shows took away so much of the gravitas that the characters had from the comics. Megatron was a bad dude not as much because he looked bad, but because he was utterly ruthless, not just with his victims but with his own followers. and we didn't really get a sense of this in the film. * Little dramatic weight - the sequence where Bumblebee is captured drew no empathy from the audience as we simply hadn't got to care about the character that much at that point. * John Turturo - why was such a great actor given such a pansy ass role? * Action sequences - too confusing. When there were hand-to-hand combat fights it was hard to tell who was who, is that a Decepticon or an Autobot? Too hard to tell! * Bumblebee was a VW Beetle!!!
Good points:
* errmmm... the CGI was impressive
Seriously that is the best i can really say about it. The most I can give Transformers realistically is 6/10, and it pains me to do so. Mind you when you look at Michael Bay's filmography is it any real surprise?