Mostly something really good meets the eye!

Rating: 8/10 (5 July 2007)

I'm fresh from the cinema after the Transformers, and mind you, I'm one of the fan boys that hoped to see the traditional forms, Optimus with the gray trailer and so on... And I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed at an early point to find out it wasn't to be.
I didn't like seeing a remotely humanoid robot with Optimus Prime's head... and I wasn't too thrilled to find out Megatron was once again something thrown together and someone said "This is Megatron"... the only reference to him being Megatron was that someone called him that - which was the case with the rest of the characters. How come Optimus Prime is the only one you can always recognize, no matter what the storyline is? Well, I haven't really bothered with the cartoons after the legendary Generation 1, which spawned, what, nearly 400 characters (of which I remember 300 - 350 depending on the day). Having been born in 1979 and being 27 at the time of writing this must have something to do with it.
But live action Transformers? I wouldn't miss this for the world! Alright, so Optimus Prime is only remotely recognizable and the other characters even less so... but maybe... maybe the infamous Michael Bay could hit instead of missing.
Now I've seen the movie, and I must say... no bullseye, but quite near the center of the point blank anyway.
It took them a little too long to get into the damn point. For me a highlight is meeting the Autobots in person. After that, the movie soared, but not without turbulence. The movie captured the atmosphere of huger robots beating the nuts and bolts out of each other above your head. Definitely a place you DON'T want to be in.
This was done well, but the new design of the robots didn't work in favor of the view, unfortunately. The shape and movement of the robots was a little too erratic, and it was difficult to see what was going on in the fighting scene. Just polygons flying back and forth. Not good.
Then there's the AllSpark. Whatever happened to Matrix? They could've kept the name Matrix. The concept of the Matrix has changed in the different story lines... from a physical object to intangible something. AllSpark could well have been called the Matrix. That's okay, the AllSpark worked very well, at any rate.
As I said above, it took them to get to the point, but when they did... maaaaaan. One thing that caused chills to go through this little fan boy was hearing Peter Cullen's voice. The true voice of Optimus Prime. I was gleeing when Optimus Prime introduced himself the first time. I couldn't help whispering: "Good to see you, old buddy." Optimus Prime is Optimus Prime, and Peter Cullen does have a lot to do with that. Optimus didn't act out of character, but we get to see that even he is just human... well, you get the point...
But when things get tough, Optimus Prime shows his true self again... that's exactly the Optimus Prime us little fan boys want to see.
Yeah, I'm talking like Optimus Prime is the Transformers... well, he and Megatron. Fortunately that part worked out as well.
Despite the downfalls of the movie - and some of the more adult humor they put in, I didn't like that - I was thoroughly entertained, and I felt I had been served at least a decent Transformers movie. Despite the looks of the robots, this thing worked! Very good!