Oscar nominee? Nope. Fun? Hell, yes!!

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2007)

Okay, let's get things straight here: 1) this is a film based on a cartoon, which in turn was based on a range of toys. 2) It's being directed by Michael Bay. If a thoughtful, well-written movie with much character development, suspense, and understated but gripping action sequences are what you want, save your money and go and see "The Bourne Ultimatum".
Right, now that's out of the way, let's focus on Transformers - it's by no means an award winner (except possibly for the CGI - more on this later). It's not going to join the ranks of the classics. But it is quite simply the most genuinely FUN film to hit screens this summer. It's plain, simple, crazy enjoyment.
After the mild disappointments of Spider-man 3, Shrek 3, the near ship-wreck of Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and the much improved but still rather lacklustre Fantastic Four 2, things were looking a bit dire on the blockbuster front in this summer's cinema, with only Bruce Willis managing to come up triumphant in Die Hard 4.0. That was, until this film came out. I never thought a Michael Bay film would prove the best surprise of the season, but hey, I've been wrong before.
As I mentioned earlier, Transformers is quite simply the most fun I've had in a cinema this summer so far. The plot's non-existent (it's tied to the hero's explorer great-grandfather who found a giant robot in the Artic and got the co-ordinates to a special weapon printed on his ... oh, never mind. Goodie robots fight baddie robots, humans get in the way. Finis.) The script veers between quite sharp and bombastic clunkiness. The acting (particularly among the older actors) is supremely hammy for the most part, though there are some exceptions. Quite a few secondary characters simply fall by the wayside as the film progresses. And it's terribly hokey in places (the heroic solider Captain Lennox has a baby daughter he's dying to hold for the first time - ought to be sweet but in fact prompts much eye-rolling).
So why is it so much fun? First and foremost, Shia LeBeouf, in a stroke of casting genius. He really is like a young Tom Hanks on screen - smart, effortlessly likable, and filled with boundless energy. In his hands, the character of Sam Witwicky, which could easily have descended into corniness or geek-turned-macho stereotype, becomes the lynchpin of the film. Then there's Sam's character - our hero is a plucky nerd who has an aptitude for talking himself out of a tight spot. He's a not quite ordinary young man who gets thrust into the most outrageous of situations and somehow manages to deal with it.
Then there are the Transformers. Words very nearly fail me - they are spectacular. The CGI is faultless - they look 100% real. You believe in them completely. And it's with them that Bay comes into his own. His forte is action, and this film has it in spadefuls. The on screen battles and action are just fabulous. End of.
The film's third main asset is a rich vein of humour and a little knowingness (it even manages to get in a few sly digs about Dubya's government). Sam Witwicky is the main proponent of this (LeBeouf proving a natural at comic timing) but it runs throughout the film. My only criticism is that it is perhaps a bit overdone at times.
Mix these together and the film somehow works. I'm not terribly sure how - apart from in the case of Sam Witwicky character development is minimal, although there's a nice little aside about the heroine Mikaela's criminal record. Plus despite the obvious fact she's there to add sex appeal, she does get down and dirty (ahem) in the fight scenes, going on the run with Sam and aiding good robot Bumblebee in the final battle. The only other character to fair nearly as well is Captain Lennox, played with aplomb by Josh Duhamel, who is basically there to kick the crap out of the bad robots and to look super-sexy doing it. He succeeds admirably, but manages to add a little more depth as he does it.
But in the end the film comes back to Sam Witwicky and his precious first car, which happens to turn into an alien robot. This is what we're most interested in - not what's happening in the Pentagon, or cracking codes, or government secrets. If anything, the film needed more of Sam and Bumblebee. What there was of these two was great, with Bumblebee functioning as Sam's protector and taking big risks to do it, and Sam becoming friends with and remaining loyal to his robot/car/new best friend. This plot strand could have been so much more - it's every little and not-so-little boy's dream. And probably that of a fair few girls as well. That something ordinary turns out to be extraordinary. And I'm not just talking about the car here.
So Michael Bay, if you're reading this, congratulations, you somehow made a great film with room to spare. And for the sequel that is sure to be in the works, forget the government, forget the military, just give us the robots and their humans. They're not only fun, they might just tug a heartstring or two.