Best Blockbuster of the Year

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2007)

The expectations to the movie were not that many, which probably was a good thing. The story is well somewhat 2 dimensional and shallow. Well, it is transformers so of course how much can you expect? However, the result of trying to squeeze as much contents into the movie as possible without that much background information, actually leaves you with too many loose ends and makes the story somewhat boring. The characters are also somewhat two dimensional. Some better than others but generally not developed well enough to give them credibility and sympathy. And those army guys are mighty easy to persuade even by a teenage high school student. Even the bad guys are not given enough time to really show their evil. Actually for my taste the villains are too scattered, and give the good guys to much room to manoeuvre. A better storyline would make the movie a classic. Unfortunately to some extent I think that Michael Bay glorifies war, probably not intensionally but never the less... Raging war, for my taste, is not a glorious thing, it is a last resort. However, war scenes are pinkly sparkling in Michael Bays universe.
Given all this, I still firmly endorse the film and award it the best blockbuster movie out this year. Why? Simply because when the movie finished I already couldn't wait for a sequel. The CGI probably plays a big role. It is the best CGI I have seen (ever?). The story is basically funny enough and hair raising enough (but just barely enough) to make you want more. The pirates franchise is nice and the cast is exceptional, Spider-man is able to thrill (a bit) and Mary Stuart well she is a fox. But, Although these movies are OK I wouldn't mind if there wasn't a Spiderman 4 and another pirates tale. However, given all the flaws Transformers still thrilled me and I want to see the next episode. So for me a success.
It was actually interesting to hear comments from the production team that it was a low budget blockbuster of only $150mill. Only 10 years ago a $150mill production was huge. I think this development is unfortunate. Its all about the money. Well it has actually always been about the money, but these days look at the story line. What do you actually learn from Pirates, Spider-man, and Transformers. Nothing, you get entertained for a couple of hours and that is it. Pretty boring in the long run actually. I am of the generation who likes to see a story folding out. Starswars, Lord of the Rings great story lines? In the case of the Lord of the rings YES, Starwars little yes. But with Starwars there is a message. A good message, which like it or not we all can learn from if we want to. The desire to tell a great story has been replaced by the big bucks, this is a shame.
Conclusion: a better storyline and more in-depth characters, and the 10 would be given. But still looking forward to the next movie.