brilliant CGI and action let down by an uneven script

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2007)

Transformers, based on the toys of the same name, has a very simple plot. The Autobots led by Optimus Prime square off with the Decepticons led by Megatron. Both are searching for something called the Cube. Their search and war brings them to earth, causing massive destruction. Earth's hope lies in a teen called Sam Witwicky, whose great-grandfather found something buried years earlier.....
Directed by Micheal Bay, this has everything you expect from one of his movies: camera's continually on the move, quick-fire editing, and LOUD action sequences. Probably the most surprising thing about it though is that apart from a couple of performances, it's very well acted. The cast, led by Shia LeBouf as Sam are pretty good. The only one who lets the acting side down is John Turturro, as a member of a secret operation known as Sector Seven. But Turturro's performance may be as a result of the script, which has an uneven tone through-out.
Let me explain. The movie opens with an attack on a US base in Quatar. It's a well shot and impressive opening, with Bay showing you the CGI transformers in action right from the start. The attack itself is brutal and kills just about everyone. Things calm down for awhile after that as various characters are introduced as the plot evolves. However at times during these moments there is some humour that is at odds with the intensity of the action. Don't get me wrong. Humour in an action movie is always a good thing, but here it's the wrong type of humour. The sequence at Sam's house as he searches for an item that the Autobots need, while they wait outside is the case in point. This is more slapstick humour than, say the humour of a movie like The Rock (another Bay movie), where the dialogue was funny . This brings me back to Turturro. His performance as the agent of Sector Seven tries to be comedic, but it feels like it should be in another movie. A Men In Black approach to Sector Seven would have been better, and funnier than what we get here.
The action when it explodes on screen is spectacular. Be it the opening sequence at the airbase in Quatar, to the final battles in the city they are all very impressive, as is the visual CGI by Industrial Light and Magic. The way the human actors blend in with the CGI is stunning, putting them right in the middle of the transformer battles raging round them.
The faults with the movie, which as I said lie with the script, are not fatal. For it's running time it's enjoyable, never dull and like all Micheal Bay movies looks stunning, even during the scenes of destruction! The ending leaves the way open for potential sequels. If they can get the tone of the script right, they could have a brilliant follow-up to what is a good summer blockbuster.