What was the story again?

Rating: 3/10 (4 December 2007)

Granted, this is supposed to be an action film based on a range of toys. On that level I suppose it delivers the goods. However, for a budget of some $145 million, it shouldn't have been the be all and end all. There ought to have been at least some semblance of plot to go with it.
In the right place and well-executed, action sequences are no bad thing, but by the final act of this film I was yawning. The relentless onslaught of one battle after another is simply mind-numbing. The CG Transformers, while realised proficiently, are nothing new: there's a car ad by Citroen that's been running in the UK for ages now, which features a transforming/dancing/skating car. It was easily on a par with anything this film had to offer, so there was hardly a 'Wow!' factor.
Michael Bay seems content with his limitations as a maker of overblown, plot-lite action spectaculars. If he wishes to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, he needs to work out what elicits genuine emotion from an audience, and start substituting some story for his stunts.