Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 3

The Transformers was, far and away, the best movie of 2007. In fact, The Transformers may very well be the best science fiction movie in the last decade. What is it that made Transformers so great? Simply put, it had the three elements that a science fiction movie needs to have in order to be great: high-quality special effects, a great script and amazing acting. Add to all of this the nostalgia factor, and you will wind up with a runaway blockbuster that is guaranteed to entertain for years to come.

Let’s take a look, first and foremost, at the special effects in The Transformers. The CGI in The Transformers is entirely believable. When you watch this movie, you don’t think you’re looking at an animated picture of a car that changes into a robot; you think you’re looking at the real thing. Take, for example, the scene where the Autobots are sneaking around out in the yard. You really believe that there is a three-story tall robot peeking into a window, and you really believe that the people inside aren’t going to notice him because he is being so stealthy. THAT is quality CGI at its best.

In terms of the script, The Transformers couldn’t have been any better. From the beginning, you actually care about the characters. You sympathize with them, and you want them to succeed. The plot holes in The Transformers are so small as to be insignificant. The action steadily builds until the end, when you’ve got a full-on, nonstop, in-your-face Autobot vs. Decepticon donnybrook.

Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox shine as protagonists. Fox manages to be sexy yet tasteful, and keeps the guys’ interest piqued through the film. The presence of veteran actors Jon Voight as Defense Secretary John Keller and John Turturro as Agent Simmons is a bonus to The Transformers, albeit an unnecessary one; LaBeouf and Fox (along with the voices of Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving as Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively) carry this film along.

Topping things off are all of the references to the old Transformers cartoons. When LaBeouf says, “more than meets the eye,” the theater burst into cheers.

The Transformers earns 11 1/2 stars out of 10.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 7

Transformers

Action/sci-fi

Runtime: 144 min

stars 2.5/4

The Transformers franchise was an eighties cult phenomenon, and a big part of my childhood. it was a great cartoon series and a line of action figures that were, looking back, some of my favourite toys as a kid. I have a good decade between now and the last time i ever even touched a transformer though i have seen the original ‘86 film on TV since then (man that takes me back) and the time has given me some perspective on the series though i have to admit I’m still gonna be a little biased in favour my childhood memories.

The Basic plot of the film is not much different then that of the original series, that being a war has raged for a really long time on a planet known as cybertron between the Autobots and the Decepticons. This time round, as Optimus Prime explains voiced by Peter Cullen of the original show, the war has ravaged the Transformers planet to the extent that it is incapable of supporting life anymore (weird place for an environmental message I thought) and the only thing that can possibly save cybertron is a powerful cube called the AllSpark (reminiscent of the Energon cubes of the show) unfortunately the decepticon head honcho Megatron is also seeking the AllSpark for it’s power to boost his diminished rooster of Decepti-Creeps (didn’t get that reference? search youtube for IronHide) Megatron has been looking the AllSpark for a while but gets trapped in the Arctic and freezes where, in the eighteen hundreds he is happened upon by an American explorer who also happens to the ancestor of our (human) protagonist Sam “Spike Witwicky (though i can’t remember anybody ever calling him Spike to the nod the G1 fans kinda falls flat) who has a map that Megatron burned into the glasses (and retina) of his great-great granpappy.

the map of course leads to the AllSpark, which the newly arrived Decepticons are looking for.

The second plot line involves a group of Special Forces soldiers in Qatar who are on their way back home and can’t wait to get reacquainted with their various foodstuffs, Women, Children and the like when they are attacked by the decepticon scorpinock. and this is where we can forget all about the plot, Who needs it? not this movie apparently seeing how it kicks it into high gear fairly early into the film and doesn’t stop until the lights go back on. this film is as action packed as they come and certainly the movie Micheal Bay was born to direct.

The