THE action movie of the year, hands down.

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2007)

This was exactly the Transformers movie I wanted to see and every geek fanboy like myself was desperate to have made. There was a fantastic mix of action and humour, with the Autobots actually retaining some of the personality quirks that I remember from when I was a kid. (And from re-watching the G1 cartoons in a desperate bid for Transformers of any kind in anticipation of this film) I felt a lot of trepidation when I heard that Michael Bay would be directing this film, but I can't think of anyone else who could have got the action set pieces to come out like they did, yet he still did a great job on the slower paced sections of the film. The romance between Spike and Mikaela was always signposted, but not in a Pearl Harbour kind of way. There were also some moments of laughter in the cinema, but all intentional, not a typical Bay ridiculing laughter. (And that may sound harsh, but I'm actually a big fan of Bay's work) The change in vehicle forms actually works within the bounds of the script, with each of the Autobots being quite faithful to their G1 roots, but updated to 2007 and beyond.
The only complaint I have, and it's not even a complaint, so much as an observation, that the two greatest Decepticons (Megatron and Starscream, obviously...) didn't share a lot of screen time, nor did they actually get a lot to do. The CGI required to get these two character models on screen would be a huge task, but well worth it to see them go toe to toe. Hopefully the second film will see Starscream get some more screen time (and hopefully some behind the scenes as well).
All up, this is a fantastic movie, brilliantly paced and exactly what it's meant to be, an action movie with giant robots who transform into cars and helicopters and trucks, who look and behave like they're actually real. Trust me, after seeing this, you will never look at a Hummer or Peterbilt truck in the same way again!! You will walk out of the cinema counting the days until the next one is released.