Transformers - The Autobots and Decepticons Arrive on Earth
by dragonfire88 - Written: Jul 30 '07
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Entertaining action movie with good effects and good cast.
Cons: Jerky camera work. Hard to tell who was who at times.
The Bottom Line: Transformers was a very entertaining action movie that is worth seeing at least once.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: Transformers |
When I was growing up, I watched the Transformer cartoons all the time after school. If I remember right, most of the cartoons on at that time on the stations I was able to get that time were aimed more at boys than girls, but I still watched them. I thought the first trailer I saw for Transformers looked cool and I thought it could make an interesting movie. It took me longer to go see it than I had originally planned, but I did see it.
Teenager Sam Witwicky was looking forward to getting his first car and hoped it would help him gain the attention of Mikaela Banes, a girl from his school that he had a crush on. He ended up with an older yellow Camaro and was shocked when he saw his car change into a large robot.
In the middle east, a large robot that was able to transform attacked a military base. Only a few of the soldiers, including Captain Lennox and USAF Tech Sergeant Epps, survived the attack. Defense Secretary John Keller called in people that were good at breaking codes to help figure out a signal. Maggie Madsen, one of the code breakers, believed the signal had come from some sort of living electronic device and she went to Glenn to help her find proof.
Sam and Mikaela learned that Sam’s car was actually a robot from outer space and soon after that, they met more of the robots. Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, explained that their planet Cybertron had been destroyed in a way with the Decepticons and a powerful cube they called the all spark had been lost in space. They believed that the all spark was on earth and Sam could help them find it. The Deceptions were also looking for the all spark. If they found it, they, and their leader Megatron, would use it to take over earth and destroy humanity. Agent Simmons, from a top secret agency, got into the mix as well.
I can’t remember much from the cartoons since it has been so long since I last saw it. Really all I remembered was that Optimus Prime was the leader of the Autobots and Megatron was the leader of the Decepticons. I honestly couldn’t remember the names of any of the other robots. Because of that, I didn’t know if the other robots in the movie had been in the cartoons and if they were portrayed correctly in the movie. Optimus Prime looked basically the same as I remembered him, though there were a few small differences. I really can’t remember how Megatron looked or even what he transformed into. I don’t’ remember why the robots had come to earth in the cartoon or if anything like the all spark had ever been mentioned in it. Even though I’m not sure on exactly what all was changed for this movie, I did enjoy it. I think everything was introduced well enough so that people with no prior knowledge of the characters can follow and enjoy the movie. The Transformers have also been featured in three different comic book series.
The plot for Transformers was fairly straightforward. I think the main focus of the movie was how both groups of robots were looking for the all spark. The Autobots and the Decepticons wanted it for different reasons and they were willing to fight to get it. In addition to that main plot, there were also a few subplots that popped up throughout the movie that ended up connecting back to the main plot in some way. The first dealt with Sam getting his first car and hoping to get Mikaela to notice him. Another subplot dealt with the survivors from the attack on the military base. Yet another subplot dealt with the code breakers working in Washington, D.C. with Keller. The movie jumped between the subplot until they all sort of merged later in the movie. The transitions between the different scenes didn’t always flow as well as they could have which made the pace a little erratic at times. There was never a lot of time spent on any of the subplots so those aspects of the movie weren’t as strong as they could have been.
Transformers was full of action, something that I expected before seeing the movie. The action started early in the movie with the attack on the military base. More action was added throughout the movie, usually connected to at least one robot. Later in the movie, the Autobots and Decepticons were battling each other, destroying part of a city. There were several explosions and a bit of violence added in as well. I did think the action scenes were well done overall. Director Michael Bay used his trademark jerky camera work, especially during the action scenes, making it hard to tell exactly what was going on. Later in the movie when the Autobots and Decepticons were fighting, it was very hard to tell who was who. I could pick out Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Megatron and that was it. I knew the other robots with bright colors were Autobots, but I couldn’t remember who was who. Special effects were used throughout the movie, including creating all the robot characters. The effects were very well done and I did like the look of the robots. I just wish more had been done to make it easier to tell the robots apart.
The movie featured several human characters, none of which were featured or developed much. Most of them, even ones that were supposed to be doing important things, just sort of seemed to be there. It would have been nice if the human characters had seemed more important, but I didn’t really expect anything different. Unfortunately, the human characters ended up with really bad lines a few times. Sam and Mikaela were probably featured more than the other characters and more developed. They were likable characters and Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox were good in the parts. Sam’s parents, Ron and Judy, turned up in a couple of scenes.
Captain Lennox and Sergeant Epps were very flat characters since they were pretty much only involved in fights. Lennox had a wife and baby at home and that was really all that was shared about him. Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson did fine with what they had to work with. Gibson had bigger parts in Flight of the Phoenix and Four Brothers. A few of the other military characters, like First Sergeant Donnelly, were also briefly shown. Agent Simmons was rather arrogant when he turned up and seemed to enjoy throwing his weight around. John Turturro did seem to go a bit over board with the part.
Defense Secretary John Keller was trying to figure out what was going on and how to deal with it. He was around issuing orders in most of his scenes. Jon Voight handled the part fine even though he did get the dumbest, more redundant line in the movie. Maggie was really the only code breaker featured that much and she was a very flat character. It was almost like she was added in as another pretty woman. Her friend Glen did even less. Anthony Anderson just seemed to panic and yell when he was around. I’m guessing that was supposed to be funny. Bernie Mac had a small part as Bobby Bolivia, a used car salesman.
Optimus Prime wanted to find the all spark for good reasons. He was very concerned with the safety earth and he wanted to protect humans from Megatron and the Decepticons. Optimus Prime was very intelligent and determined to do what was right. Peter Cullen provided the voice for the character. He had done the voice for Optimus Prime in the cartoon. Megatron was the complete opposite of Optimus Prime. Megatron wanted the all spark to use to take over earth and he didn’t care who was hurt or killed. Hugo Weaving provided the voice for Megatron. I really didn’t recognize his voice. It did sound more mechanical than human. Some of the other robots also spoke. I don’t think any of them talked as much as Optimus Prime did.
Main Cast
Charles Adler - Voice of Starscream
Anthony Anderson - Glen
Peter Cullen - Voice of Optimus Prime
Josh Duhamel - Captain Lennox
Kevin Dunn - Ron Witwicky
Megan Fox - Mikaela Banes
Robert Foxworth - Voice of Ratchett
Tyrese Gibson - USAF Tech Sergeant Epps
Jess Harnell - Voice of Ironhide
Shia LaBeouf - Sam Witwicky
Darius McCrary - Voice of Jazz
Bernie Mac - Bobby Bolivia
Rizwan Manji - Akram
Mark Ryan - Voice of Bumblee
Rachael Taylor - Maggie Madsen
John Turturro - Agent Simmons
Jon Voight - Defense Secretary John Keller
Zack Ward - Staff Sergeant Donnelly
Hugo Weaving - Voice of Megatron
Julie White - Judy Witwicky
Reno Wilson - Voice of Frenzy
Jimmie Wood - Voice of Bonecrusher
Michael Bay - Director
Transformers was a very entertaining action movie. Certain aspects of the plot could have been stronger and there could have been more character development, but I still enjoyed the movie overall. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if a sequel is made. People who enjoyed the Transformers cartoon may also like this movie.
This review is part of elvisdo’s 2007 Canadiania Write-off. Peter Cullen, voice of Optimus Prime, was from Quebec. Zack Ward, Staff Sergeant Donnelly, and Rizwan Manji, Akram, were originally from Toronto.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Action Movie
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