More than meets the eye: Anticipating the release of the Transformers movie – Part 4

My excitement at the pending release of a CGI Transformers movie is tampered by my trepidation – I am chanting to myself, “Please don’t mess it up, please don’t mess it up”.

While the loss of Frank Welken (Megatron’s original voice) is a serious blow, I think Hugo Weaving (of Elrond and Agent Smith fame) will make an exceptional substitute. His highbrow, snooty, I’m-better-than-you-are villainy is perfect for the part. And Peter Cullen reprising his role as Optimus is essential.

Other changes seem a bit extreme. Bumblebee is now a Camaro, rather than a VW Bug? Tough to swallow, but I suppose the movie must go where the sponsors pay it to go. And rather than pick more from an already established pool of characters, the movie has opted to bring in some totally new ‘bots, and I question the necessity of such a move. There are dozens upon dozens to choose from, why make more?

The trailers make the special effects look magnificent. Hopefully the quality of the rest of the movie matches the brief glimpses we’re being given. Often we are given the choice cuts in a trailer to bring us in, only to find the best part of the movie is one we’ve seen twenty times on TV without paying for a ticket. “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” comes to mind…

Already the fan blogs are filled with wails and howls of indignation – “How dare they do (this, that, t’other) to my favorite character!” But keep in mind, this is a twenty-year old franchise, and it has been in sore need of a face-lift ever since the Headmasters debacle. This is one change that needed to happen, and while it won’t look like the Transformers we’re used to (the robot forms of both sides are much more spidery and articulated than in the cartoon), this particular bow to the demand for “realistic” fantasy will probably turn out to be quite nice.

All in all, I will be going to opening night no matter what I hear. I simply can’t pass it up. But I do have some slight reservations…