Transformers
“One Shall Stand…One Shall Fall”. I was a big fan of the Transformer television series back in the early 80s and had a few of the toys. I had Perceptor – he was terrible…transformed into a microscope. What use is that in a battle? “Look out! The Decepticons are coming!...Quick! Perceptor! transform into a microscope and look at something magnified!”. But despite my history with Perceptor, I loved the Transformers and was more than excited when I heard that a live-action movie was being made. There is sooooo much that they could do with a movie franchise like this and the first instalment (assuming there will be more) is heavy on effects, light on plot, but is damn enjoyable. There is a HUGE fanboy uprising about the minute details of this movie. Flames on Optimus, lips on Optimus, the look of Megatron etc. But guaranteed, each of those fanboys are producing just a little bit of extra B.O. over this movie.
The transformations were very well done (a bit complicated at times) and the use of the classic transformation noise “cho ch chi chi cht” was ultimate. In addition, the blending of CGI and practical effects was fantastic. There was not one time during the entire movie where you can identify which is which.
As for the plot, the Transformers story line has always been relatively thin….Giant alien robots that transform into everyday objects fighting one another over energon cubes, the matrix of leadership, or the Allspark. I have read a number of reviews for this movie and a big criticism is that the plot is thin…..big observation people! In my opinion, this movie is an extremely accurate translation of what the transformers are all about minus one thing…..the Decepticons! First of all, they got Optimus Prime perfect – the fact that they used the same voice actor as the cartoon was fantastic. He was the no-nonsence, selfless, hero, fighting for the rights of all sentient beings. The remaining autobots were also well characterized. However, the Decepticons were only lightly touched on other than they were there to fight. I liked the story line behind Megatron, however I was REALLY hoping for some interaction between the decepticons that portrayed things like – the loyalty of Barricade, the deception of Starscream etc. I think the movie was really lacking in that department. It seemed as if the only reason there was dececpticons was to have cool robot fighting scenes….which of course were what dreams are made of.
Micheal Bay was the perfect choice to make this movie. He is a man of slick camera work (with no idea when to use them) and car chases – perfectly matched to the transformers, despite the fact that he admittedly had no idea about what they were before directing this movie. Micheal Bay is kind of hit and miss, maybe more miss. Miss Bay has made some enjoyable movies though, despite the over-use of slow-motion and cheesy characters. Sometimes it works (Armageddon, The Island), sometimes it doesn’t (Pearl Harbour, Bad Boys II). Well, this time it worked. Miss Bay was born to make a movie like this, even if he didn’t know it. No body else could pull a car chase off where trucks smash into one another, transform into crazy robots, punch, kick, sword fight, and transform back into trucks. Miss Bay…..”You’ve got the touch”…..
8 out of 10
Why not 9? John Tutoro as Sector Seven’s “Man in Black”…..Terrible.
Why not 10? More decepticon interaction was desperately needed
“One Shall Stand…One Shall Fall”. I was a big fan of the Transformer television series back in the early 80s and had a few of the toys. I had Perceptor – he was terrible…transformed into a microscope. What use is that in a battle? “Look out! The Decepticons are coming!...Quick! Perceptor! transform into a microscope and look at something magnified!”. But despite my history with Perceptor, I loved the Transformers and was more than excited when I heard that a live-action movie was being made. There is sooooo much that they could do with a movie franchise like this and the first instalment (assuming there will be more) is heavy on effects, light on plot, but is damn enjoyable. There is a HUGE fanboy uprising about the minute details of this movie. Flames on Optimus, lips on Optimus, the look of Megatron etc. But guaranteed, each of those fanboys are producing just a little bit of extra B.O. over this movie.
The transformations were very well done (a bit complicated at times) and the use of the classic transformation noise “cho ch chi chi cht” was ultimate. In addition, the blending of CGI and practical effects was fantastic. There was not one time during the entire movie where you can identify which is which.
As for the plot, the Transformers story line has always been relatively thin….Giant alien robots that transform into everyday objects fighting one another over energon cubes, the matrix of leadership, or the Allspark. I have read a number of reviews for this movie and a big criticism is that the plot is thin…..big observation people! In my opinion, this movie is an extremely accurate translation of what the transformers are all about minus one thing…..the Decepticons! First of all, they got Optimus Prime perfect – the fact that they used the same voice actor as the cartoon was fantastic. He was the no-nonsence, selfless, hero, fighting for the rights of all sentient beings. The remaining autobots were also well characterized. However, the Decepticons were only lightly touched on other than they were there to fight. I liked the story line behind Megatron, however I was REALLY hoping for some interaction between the decepticons that portrayed things like – the loyalty of Barricade, the deception of Starscream etc. I think the movie was really lacking in that department. It seemed as if the only reason there was dececpticons was to have cool robot fighting scenes….which of course were what dreams are made of.
Micheal Bay was the perfect choice to make this movie. He is a man of slick camera work (with no idea when to use them) and car chases – perfectly matched to the transformers, despite the fact that he admittedly had no idea about what they were before directing this movie. Micheal Bay is kind of hit and miss, maybe more miss. Miss Bay has made some enjoyable movies though, despite the over-use of slow-motion and cheesy characters. Sometimes it works (Armageddon, The Island), sometimes it doesn’t (Pearl Harbour, Bad Boys II). Well, this time it worked. Miss Bay was born to make a movie like this, even if he didn’t know it. No body else could pull a car chase off where trucks smash into one another, transform into crazy robots, punch, kick, sword fight, and transform back into trucks. Miss Bay…..”You’ve got the touch”…..
8 out of 10
Why not 9? John Tutoro as Sector Seven’s “Man in Black”…..Terrible.
Why not 10? More decepticon interaction was desperately needed
1 comment:
Great review Phil. Good points about the missig decepticon interaction and more information on the characters. John Turturo's character I think was the only antagonist the film had until the decepticons started to really attack so maybe that is why that character is frustrating and why he had a beret. I am glad I haven't heard too many people thinking the story was too simple. I actually think it was a bit on the complicated side but more so just questions I have. Like why the cube was creating evil robots such as the nokia phone, bmw and mountain dew machine which all started attacking (albeit the latter with cans of evil mountain dew). Hey I just looked into it and you can play as it at http://www.mountaindew.com/capturethecube/
At first I thought they could have explained more about the cube but then I remembered the monoliths in 2001 and 2010 and the alien probe in Star Trek IV and how it is cool to have things they are only partially understood.
I liked that Barricade reports in but doesn't make it to the battle on time. Made it feel a bit more like a real situation. Also that Jazz got killed, too bad but it was an intense fight. Frenzy was okay, but I was impressed with how nasty all the decepticons were and that this was a cool movie about power, aliens and the mysteries of the universe.
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