Great visuals but little depth

Rating: 5/10 (22 August 2010)

I have to admit I saw this at the cinema when it came out. It was the first film I had seen on the big screen for a long time and I'll admit to having been slightly (very much) blown away by it at the time. Now, just over a year later I have given it a second viewing and, having seen a lot more films in between, I have somewhat changed my opinion. Man can do that right? Change their minds? Just thought I'd check.
Optimus Prime and the Autobots, with some new members, are seeking out Decepticon agents around the Earth. They are helped by an international military force called NEST. Sam Witwicky has found a shard of the 'AllSpark', a device which was destroyed in the first Transformers movie, which he accidentally touches. He is preparing to go to college, leaving his girlfriend Mikaela Barnes and Bumblebee, his Autobot guardian, behind. Having arrived at college, he finds himself blacking out and seeing mysterious symbols. A worried Mikaela flies out to join him and Bumblebee also makes his way there to protect his ward. The Decepticons know what these symbols mean and they want Sam I think that's enough about the plot.
First of all, the CGI work on this film is excellent, some really cool effects and some excellent stunt work combine to make it visually quite stunning. Unfortunately I found I didn't warm to any of the characters, they had no depth and so it ended up being quite a hollow experience. So with no stand-out performances, honourable mentions go to Shia LaBeouf as Sam and Megan Fox as Mikaela; Josh Duhamel returned as Captain Lennox and John Turturro also returned as Agent Simmons / Jetfire. Kevin Dunn and Julie White also return as Sam's parents Ron and Judy Witwicky. The Transformers were voiced by Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Hugo Weaving (Megatron) and Tony Todd (The Fallen).
Over all a visually exciting and even, at times, an entertaining film that unfortunately has little depth. The running time is far too long, which also doesn't help. I guess if you're a fourteen year old boy then you'll enjoy this, but ultimately you'll only remember the funny bit on the pyramid and some of the robot fight scenes. So, not really recommended if you're a serious movie lover, but if you're young at heart and want to switch your brain off for a while, go for it!
My score: 5.4/10