OK entertainment, horrible film

Rating: 5/10 (17 January 2009)

I respect how much time and effort it would have taken to create this film. The special effects are spectacular and the locations are wonderful, you can tell it took a lot of work.
Shame it sucks as a piece of film-making on so many levels.
The plot is clichéd and unconvincing. Every few minutes there was another moment where I had to tut with bemusement. Many scenes are completely unnecessary, such as the house scene, which in the end he finds the glasses in the kitchen. I think we could have done without that 5 minutes of hideousness thank you very much. 5 minutes we could have been seeing a longer car chase. If you look, the "chase" goes by in an instant and nothing actually happens. The cars skid a few times and then its over. There are numerous instances of set-pieces which lack punch. The desert scene, one of them. The word is lacklustre.
Bay obviously thinks a still shot is murder and audiences are going to fall asleep if there's isn't a dolly being used for every clip. The constant movement of the camera grates on me. But maybe that's just because I analyse it closely. Stick with the special effects Michael and get someone who know how to make films.
Oh yeah and whats-her-name who's with Shia. What the Hell is the point of her? (Other than eye-candy) I have come to the conclusion that this is the ultimate popcorn film. By which I mean something to just watch and not have to think about it. This is because it just doesn't work as anything else.
On the whole, it's OK entertainment but a horrible film.