Scott Bush

Bear in mind I grew up in the 80s, so of course I had both He-Men and Transformers. Until some director steps forward to put muscle-bound men with swords fighting mythical enemies (Oh, wait: Zack Snyder already did that; it was called 300), I’ll have to content myself with Michael Bay’s Transformers.

And content I am! I’ve just seen an early showing and I am very impressed. I knew nothing of the storyline and fully expected a special-effect bore of a film staggering under the weight of its own hype (cough, cough, Pirates 3, cough). Instead I, along with a theatre full of my 30-something peers, were treated to a truly excellent film. Here’s what I thought:

Story

There really are two threads here: the human element, distilled into an awkward teenager’s crush on a (impossibly-hot-unlike-any-real-high-school) girl. That, and his need for a car to impress said girl. The second thread, of course, is the battle between the Autobots (the good guys) and Decepticons (the bad guys). To sum it up very succinctly, there’s an important thing both the Autobots and Decipticons want that the US government has; once its location is known, there’s an all-out race/fight to obtain it.

Special effects and filming

How the digital effects team pulled of this masterpiece is beyond me. Many scenes suffer from excessive camera movement and overly-close zoom (what I derisively call the Bourne Effect after terrible fight-scene camera work in those movies). Bay’s unique approach to filming, though, gives credence to how these fights and action are portrayed. It’s hard to describe, but when you see the action from the ground, sweeping from behind, above, and in front of a human character, you’ll see what I mean. Besides, there are plenty of excellently detailed, slow-motion scenes to counter balance. I had goosebumps watching Jazz, an Autobot, cartwheeling over missiles in slow-mo to jump atop Devastator (a tank) and twist his barrel.

Comedy and dialog

Now, here’s something I wouldn’t have expected from this film: great humor. Make no mistake, this is an action flick. But you’ll find yourself laughing quite often–and really laughing. John Turturro and Anthony Anderson are both hilarious and perform excellently in their roles. Surprisingly, the Autobots bring an element of understated physical humor; when they’re not blasting and fighting, that is.

There’s also a few excellent lines that deserve mention. The female heroine, Mikaela, is introduced with the line “Her? She’s an evil jock concubine, man.” Classic. Another good one is “I bought a car. Turn out to be an alien robot… who knew?” Corny, but Shia LaBeouf’s delivery makes up for it.

Nods to the Transformers legacy

Anytime a movie is translated from a cartoon, comic, or video game, there needs to be some sort of connection that speaks to the original fanbase; a little something for the people for whom the movie is an event, not just a movie. Transformers has some good ones.

1. Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime. He’s the voice actor from the original cartoon and, I’m told, some of the later incarnations. (Strangely, Frank Welker doesn’t voice Megatron in the film, but does in an upcoming video game.) It’s great the first time he says “Autobots, roll out!”
2. Sam tells Mikaela that “there’s more to you than meets the eye.”
3. The scene I describe above where an Autobot (don’t recall which one) collars Devastator’s tank barrel is lifted right from the 1986 animated Transformers movie. (Thanks Sean for explaining this one to me.)
4. During Optimus’s fight with Megatron, he intones: “One shall stand, one shall fall,” a classic line from the original movie.
5. The subtle, yet unmistakable sound of the transformation. It’s more electric sounding than the original, but it’s there.

GMC, anyone?

Not only are Transformers interstellar soldiers, they apparently are quite selective about the forms they take and prefer American-made vehicles. This movie is a veritable showroom floor for GMC cars and trucks. Let’s see what I can remember off the top of my head: Chevy Camaro and Suburban, Pontiac Sunfire, Cadillac Escalade and CTS. Advertising is moving toward product placement and this movie is the poster child. Apple products feature prominently, as does a Nokia phone, an xbox360, eBay, and others that are probably too subtle for me to recall, but I’m sure I want to buy one. Oh, and one other ad: the military. If watching this film didn’t make you want to sign up, nothing will.

Overall

In a word, this film is superb. You don’t need Transformer knowledge to enjoy it. It has the perfect mix of comedy, intense action, special effects, and characters that are developed just enough for you to care about them. I understand there’s a sequel planned in 2009 (hmmm… let me guess: Unicron rejuvenates Megatron to become Galvatron?). I hope this franchise doesn’t suffer from the same fate that X-Men and Pirates do, which is too much crap piled into sequels just to sell more tickets and action figures.