Flawed but excellent nonetheless..........

Rating: 6/10 (22 July 2007)

I so badly wanted to give this film a ten. How could a story about huge transforming robots fighting be anything but cool. I know that sounds geeky but it's true.
Well the answer is that the transformers are, as expected, bit parts to the humans. Of course the human side needs to be told, it is easier to relate to humans than robots after all. Unfortunately there is little characterisation of either Autobots or Decepticons. Minor side plots for unimportant characters take up more time than the 'bots which in my mind weakened the story. On the plot side of things, the story is pretty weak and contrived but I wasn't expecting anything special.
Most summer blockbusters feel the need to cover all bases, action, love story etc. and Transformers falls into the same trap of adding poor childish and inappropriate humour. Making comedy characters out of Jazz and even Optimus at times doesn't work and had me shaking my head in disbelief.
Now you may be wondering why I scored this film eight out of ten as I keep slating it. The answer is simple, the subject matter is so good that it would have been hard to mess up. The grin that appears every time a 'bot transforms stays for ages. Every fight scene looks great if a little bit shaky. I'm not one to be wowed by fancy cgi and explosions but Bay has done well this time. There is a sense of size, bulk and power behind each Transformer that helps you feel every blow.
In spite of all the negative comments, I really enjoyed the film and I recommend it to every one. If you see it, see it in the cinema.
Now all we can hope is that the sequel concentrates on the title characters a bit more. After all that is what we all want to see the film for isn't it?