Wow, this was truly....

Rating: 10/10 (3 July 2007)

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE. I am a nerd and was a child in the 80's, so I am a little biased towards this movie. I love comics and superhero movies. Last night I had a chance to see a LIVE-ACTION movie of my favorite cartoon of my youth. TRANSFORMERS came to the big screen, and I waited with eager anticipation to catch a glimpse of OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE since I heard about the movie a couple years ago.
This is my thoughts on the flick. This movie absolutely blew me away. Being a fan of the original series and toyline, I wasn't looking forward to some of the changes that were bound to take place. Changes in the names and modes of some of the characters wasn't setting with me too well, but I could look over that as long as the story was there. Trust me the story was definitely there! There is action and there is heart in this movie. Action and heart are something that's sometimes difficult for a filmmaker to incorporate in together. It's also difficult to make a giant robot into a character that you can care for. Michael Bay managed all of this very well IMO.
One thing on Bay real fast... I was really hoping he wouldn't screw this up. I think that about every director who tries to do a movie based on characters that I know and love. Sam Raimi with Spider-Man, Mark Steven Johnson with Daredevil and Ghost Rider, Chris Nolan with Batman Begins, and so on. I think Bay truly stood up to the test of adapting without changing much. I commend him for that.
So back to the movie. Shia LeBeouf was good as the protagonist Sam Witwicky. Despite what you think about him from being in Disney movies and the such, he's turning out to be a pretty good young actor. You see him change and mature in the movie. From a 16 year old who just wants a car and the girl, to a young man who is willing to go up against a psychopathic robot.
Megan Fox... Well she's the love interest to young Sam Witwicky (LeBeouf) and serves two purposes. Purpose one: Eye candy. having a beautiful young lady as one of the leads of a movie for 10-30 year old males is seldom a bad thing for a film. Purpose two: She helps the Sam character grow from a bumbling hormonal teenager to the young man who is willing to go up against a psychopathic robot.
So enough about the human characters, and on to the thing that is really selling this movie. GIANT FREAKIN' ROBOTS! The AUTOBOT characters are very true to their characters that I grew up watching. IRONHIDE was a bit of a hot head with a good heart. JAZZ was the perfect second in command. He did his job, watched over the other AUTOBOTS, and fought valiantly. RATCHET we didn't get to see a whole lot of, but he was caring and the voice of reason. BUMBLEEBEE was always my second favorite robot. He was a lot like Rudy Ruettieger in being a small guy with the heart of a true hero. You root for him to overcome obstacles and be the hero he is. Last but certainly not least OPTIMUS PRIME! PRIME was always kind of a mythical figure to me. He was a strong and moral leader. As a kid hearing him tell MEGATRON, in the 1986 cartoon movie, "One shall stand, one shall fall." was iconic! Seeing him in this movie, and having the voice of Peter Cullen, the original voice of PRIME in the series, was amazing. He lived up to any expectations a TRANSFORMERS fan should have.
Since I spent so much time on the good guys, I won't bore you much with the DECEPTICONS. Some of the characters names were changed, and not what they originally were in the series, but that's fine by me. I understand that to change from the median of comic books/cartoons into a live-action movie, that things have to change. The highlight of the DECEPTICONS came when MEGATRON tells his number 1 "You have failed me yet again STARSCREAM!" Classic MEGATRON/STARSCREAM relationship.
It's hard to put my personal feelings aside in this movie as a fan. However one of the people that went with me to the movie had not been a fan and came in expecting an action movie, and she really enjoyed it. So if you are a fan, or not a fan, it's enjoyable. I give it an enthusiastic 2 thumbs up!