Surprisingly deep despite subject matter

Rating: 6/10 (29 June 2007)

The biggest surprise I received upon viewing the newest Dreamworks release, "Transformers," was how mature the script was, especially coming from a concept deeply rooted in Saturday morning cartoon origins.
Running from 1984-87, the animated TV series competed with the likes of "He Man, Master of the Universe" and "Thundercats" for the macho affections of young boys growing up in that decade. Now, thanks to the efforts of producer Steven Spielberg and director Michael Bay ("The Rock," "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor," "The Island"), a live-action version that combines the adventure and violence that is Bay's trademark, with some crisp writing and fairly humorous situations (thanks to screenwriters Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, ""Legend of Zorro," "The Island").
A little known fact amongst those not as familiar with the cartoon or comic book is that this live-action version was not the first feature film. In 1986, the animated "Transformers: The Movie" appeared. It jumped the action forward in time 20 years to the then-future of 2005 and pitted both the Autobots and Decepticons against the menace of the giant planet-eating robot, Unicron.
Well, except for joining together and the the Unicron part, this new version features pretty much the same plot. Now, though, the story is helped along with the inclusion of young stars, Shai LeBeouf ("Holes," "Disturbia") and Megan Fox (TV series "Hope and Faith," "Two And A-Half Men") and some seasoned veterans, Jon Voight, Bernie Mac and John Tuturro, this is one (dare I say?) fairly funny and complex film.
Okay, it isn't "Hamlet," (in fact, it's not even "In the Line of Fire"), but it is still enjoyable and exciting at the same time. Another interesting concept is the three simultaneous plot lines, including a high school nerd, Sam Witwickey (LeBeouf) trying to impress a girl, Mikaela (Fox) and get his first automobile; an attack on a group of soldiers (led by Josh Duhamel) in Qatar by a renegade helicopter/robot; and the hacking of the United States defense computer system. In this latter story, Voight plays the Secretary of Defense John Keller, sort of a more compassionate Donald Rumsfeld.
Taking the forms of cars, trucks, aircraft and even a radio (for comic relief), the Autobots, led by Prime (voice of Peter Cullen), and the Decepticons, under the rule of Megatron (Hugo Weaving, "The Matrix," "Lord of the Rings"), are fighting a thousand-year conflict over a cube of ultimate power. The poor dopes on Earth are simply pawns in this galactic struggle and, more often than not, caught in the middle.
Still, the humans are not entirely helpless, as the soldiers, Sam, Mikaela and even Keller (who wields a shotgun like Dick Cheney on steroids), help to battle the baddies in the streets of New York at the end.
The graphics are nicely done, with the rather difficult illusion of switching from an innocent looking vehicle to a huge, deadly robotic monster appearing quite realistic. The acting gets a bit hammy now and then, but nothing like Bay's earlier efforts. And, as previously mentioned, the scribbling is clever enough to keep the older set in their seats during some of the more redundant battle sequences.
Not a perfect summer movie by any means (it's extremely loud, it goes on for about 15 minutes too long and in some cases, it's difficult to tell the good automatons from the bad ones), but, overall, not bad.
Not bad at all.