The saga continues

Rating: 8/10 (27 June 2009)

To write a review in appreciation or attempted criticism which is always easier by the way of a movie such as Transformers wouldn't be fair at all if you haven't read the comics or followed the animated series. That the movie lacks depth of a story and of characters would also be the most often used remarks by critics. As I have neither read the comic nor watched the anime I will stick on to the first impressions of the movie that held me enraptured for a good length of time. I had watched the first transformers movie at home and was blown away by the unimaginable action content. I had wondered then how compelling the giant screen experience with surround sound would have been. I had immensely regretted having missed watching it in the theatre. It was with this two year long eager anticipation that I stepped into the theatre yesterday to catch in all the action. The theatre was packed with eager eyed impatient fans like me. The sonic transmission of the autobots through the opening titles was spine tingling. I couldn't have imagined a more exciting presentation than that. The movie follows through with Sam Witwicky heading off to college. He finds a shard of the AllSpark which leads to an essential part of the plot and the justification for all the nonstop, high flying, hair raising, breathtaking, jaw dropping action. The shard triggers Sam's mind and he starts seeing symbols which by the way are directions to the location of the Matrix, a powerful source of energy for transformers of all kinds- good ( autobots) and evil( Decepticons). It is a race to finding the Matrix before it falls into the wrong hands heralding the doom of Planet Earth. I must admit the plot was thick and in every bit riveting till the final cut. That each of the transformers has a background, and that forms various subplots in the movie was a revelation to me upon perusing the wikipages for the summary of the comics. It was an enlightening read and this is the point perhaps the movie fails at. Bay should have established the Decepticons well or perhaps shown us a little history to make us understand how they fit into the plot. The Decepticons looked all similar to the slow and unfocused eye only because there were two many of them on the same frame and the camera kept swinging back and forth in a hurry. Perhaps, Bay should have slowed down the action a bit for us to tell which was which. That said I can't stop raving about the sand sucking Devastator( upon a little researching on wiki to know which Decepticon this was- or is it a constructicon?) Which imaginative mind could have conceived such a scene? I am apparently still in a daze. Bay has carved a niche for himself with his unique storytelling through action and careful editing. Not one scene stretches longer than a minute. You need to take it all in as quickly as you can and if you can't keep up then stick to watching dramas. This is an Action movie and Bay does it best his way. I have some complaints though. Not to take anything away from the movie as remarkable as it seemed. But only wish Bay addresses them in the sequel to the sequel. 1) Why isn't there droolworthy content for the ladies? Shia is plain as paper we need a hotter replacement. 2) There was too much forced humor and that didn't go very well especially the Agent Simmons (Turturro) and Leo Spitz(Ramon Rodriguez) bits, the dogs and the tripping mom. 3) Why was Bumble Bee sidelined? He deserved more action. 4) Fox's heavily botoxed lips are scary to watch. 5) Could the Decepticons be made more discernible?
Transformers, has for me been the best answer to an explosive sci- fiction/ action flick and deserves a thunderous applause.