For those who are skeptical of Michael Bay, he doesn’t knock it out of the park, but he does deliver.
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I grew up loving Hasbro´s "Transformers" line of toys. I owned a number of them and collected the comic books. My personal favorites were the Dinobots, but I had a soft spot for Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and a few of the other original robots. The 1986 animated movie was among one of my favorite films growing up. As I grew older, I became further detached from the toys and stories and felt the franchise had lost its luster as Hasbro continually tried to reinvent the toyline to sell with today´s kids. The original robots and its beginnings still remained a little sacred. You can understand my original giddiness when I heard rumors that Steven Spielberg intended to create a live action film of the robots. This was an utterly amazing possibility. Spielberg. Industrial Light and Magic. The Transformers. This was simply too good to be true.
When the rumors turned out to indeed be true, the news was delivered with a degree of sadness. Michael Bay was attached as a director. After suffering through "Pearl Harbor," "Bad Boys II" and "The Island," it seemed Bay was spiraling downward quickly and I imagined he would completely tarnish the "Robots in Disguise" with a wretched film of overproduced action and less than stellar dialogue. This was like a bad nightmare. I couldn´t believe that Steven Spielberg would bring the Transformers to the big screen and attach Michael Bay as the director of his project. A small glint of hope existed in that Spielberg would guide Bay into making a decent film and perhaps save "The Transformers" from joining Bay´s growing bin of trash. Bay had an opportunity for redemption or a chance at joining Uwe Boll in the annals of the world´s worst all-time directors.
After seeing "The Transformers," I still would have preferred somebody else at the reins, but "The Transformers" is among one of Bay´s better films. The action was definitely hot and heavy and watching the massive robots transform from vehicle to robot and visa versa, I was awestruck. Industrial Light and Magic and Bay outdid themselves in the special effects department. The robots certainly looked amazing and their interaction with the environment and with each other looked very genuine. The dialogue and story wasn´t overly impressive, but the exchanges between the actors could match the stench spewed by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in "Pearl Harbor." "The Transformers" entertained me with its action and awe-struck me with its special effects, but Bay still proved that he isn´t great with dialogue and story takes a definitive backseat to the incredible visuals. The man has a way with action, but his talents stop there.
The Allspark has made its way to the planet Earth and brought with it the ability to create the robotic life forms that we know as the Transformers. The kind and good Autobots are in pursuit of the Allspark and have sent Bumblebee to protect Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and a pair of ancient spectacles that contains a map to the location of the Allspark. Bumblebee has taken the guise of a 1976 Camaro, but he is unable to converse after a previous battle has left him with damaged vocal chords. Bumblebee works himself into being Sam´s first car and helps Sam earn the attention of the beautiful Mikeaela (Megan Fox). He uses his radio to set the mood and give Sam hints about giving Mikeaela a ride and then stages a mechanical breakdown to give Sam an opportunity to be closer to the girl. Eventually, Sam realizes there is more than meets the eye to his car and starts to believe the old yellow Camaro to be potentially evil.
Bumblebee is not the evil that is looking to collect the Allspark. The Decepticons, an evil band of robots that have been involved in a long war with the Autobots, have sent a group of robots to Earth to find their leader Megatron and the Allspark. Barricade, who has taken the identity of a police car stalks Sam and eventually attacks him in an attempt to regain the pair of spectacles that Barricade saw during a data collection spree on eBay. When Barricade transforms and shows Sam that he is not a police car, but a super advanced robot of foreign origin (Sam believes that Japan may be the robots origin), Bumblebee transforms and engages in a battle with the evil robot. After defeating Barricade, Bumblebee collects Sam and Mikeaela and takes them to safety. Along the way, Bumblebee is insulted for taking the identity of a beat up old Chevy Camaro and transforms into the jawdropping 2009 Camaro.
With the Decepticons discovering that Sam has the key to the Allspark and Megatron´s location, Bumblebee is joined by four more Autobots. Their leader Optimus Prime (again voiced by Peter Cullen) leads Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet into protecting Sam and keeping the Decepticons away from the Allspark. Barricade is also not alone and Frenzy, Starscream, Scorponak, Bonecrusher and Devastator are also hot on the trail of finding their leader and the Allspark, which will allow them to create a larger army of evil robots. A United States agency, Sector 7, is looking for Bumblebee and more of the Transformers. They are led by Agent Simmons (John Turturro) and Sector 7 is the agency that controls the Allspark and the frozen form of Megatron. With Sector 7 interfering in the operation, the Decepticons and the Autobots clash near the Hoover Dam, where Megatron and the Allspark are kept by Sector 7.
The following battle is massive and Megatron and Optimus Prime are pitted against each other. Casualties mount on both sides of the clash and Sam finds himself having to keep the Allspark from falling into the hands of Megatron. Prime tells Sam that the Allspark can be destroyed by placing it into Prime´s own matrix and self destructing the Autobot´s leader and the Allspark. Of course, Sam does not want to destroy his new friend and protector and falls into the dangerous grip of Megatron. In the end, the Decepticons take heavy losses and a few of the Autobots are left functional with Megatron defeated. Bumblebee has taken heavy damage and after deciding to stay at Sam´s side, Optimus Prime and the remaining Autobots decide to make Earth their new home. Starscream escapes the Autobots and leaves Earth, potentially to regroup with more Decepticons and reclaim the remaining Allspark matter. The film ends with the stage set for a sequel.
There is no doubt that Michael Bay did an amazing job with the action scenes in the film. Regardless of how many times the Transformers transform, it is exciting to watch and although I didn´t particularly like Jazz´s breakdancing transformation, the animation is smooth and impressive. When these gigantic robots engage in hand-to-hand combat, the fight feels and looks heavy. You can easily believe there is a tremendous amount of mass behind each metallic punch and dented body panel. Buildings crumble during the climactic final battle and I thoroughly enjoyed the action sequences in the film. Bay certainly has the ability with effects and "Pearl Harbor" shined during the large battle sequence. "Transformers" is another movie that is among the best in delivering action and effects and watching these legendary robots transform is the stuff legends are made of.
The film does begin to break down some when it comes to plot and story. The interaction between Megan Fox and Shia LaBeouf is painful to watch. Their dialogue is cliché-ridden and cheesy. Yes, we understand that Sam is a big nerd, but his character is so weighted by stereotypes and is almost more animated than the robots. Bay is a director that prides himself on allowing his actors to improvise and the words spewed by the talent in "The Transformers" is not something for the director to be proud of. Jazz is extremely annoying and not having Scatman Crothers give Jazz a funky appeal makes this new-age Jazz more irritating than cool. There is arrogance to a Michael Bay film that attempts to force a viewer into buying into his dialogue and storyline, but instead of letting the chemistry flow, "The Transformers" feels too forced. All I´m going to say is "Are you eye-balling my piece Fitty Cent?"
The story could easily have been improved, but it is not necessarily bad. I have always felt that Bay would have been better off focusing on a boy and his mysterious old Camaro. Watching the relationship grow between the two and having Bumblebee and Sam as the major focal point of the film would have resulted in something tighter and even. The Middle Eastern conflict and the hacking attempts by Frenzy are major plotpoints that way down the film with being unnecessary and instead of adding to the experience, they only create distractions. Bay tries to make "The Transformers" larger than it needed to be. The opening attack on the Saudi Arabia base could have been enough to establish that the Decepticons knew the location of the Allspark. Scorponak and Frenzy could have been eliminated to allow for another large encounter between the Autobots and the Decepticons. "The Transformers" is a perfect example that too much story can be a bad thing and there is just too much going on in the film to remain coherent and smooth in flow. The story is entertaining and it works, but it is clunky and unfocused.
In the end, I have argued that "The Transformers" is a lot of fun with those that feel Michael Bay is just as bad as Uwe Boll. I´m not a fan of Michael Bay, but I won´t completely avoid a movie because he the director. There are plenty of people out there that will. This is a fun movie with amazing sights and action sequences. Bay isn´t the world´s best director. He certainly is not James Cameron or Steven Spielberg. George Lucas isn´t terribly impressive in storytelling or dialogue either. Both directors can make a fun film and like "Armageddon," "The Transformers" is a riot to watch and the special effects and giant robotic fights are easily worth the price of admission. Seeing the various Chevrolet Camaros in the film was an added bonus for this three time Camaro owner, but I found a lot more to like than a little yellow car.
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"The Transformers" is a movie where its strongest points lie in what can be seen onscreen. The visuals are the film´s selling point and watching the computer generated robots move across the screen can blow anybody away. Michael Bay will be the first person to tell you that he is the best in the business when it comes to lifelike and impressive visuals. He goes as far as saying this in the commentary and stating how he is superior to George Lucas. The robots have over ten thousand polygons in their animations and the robots are definitely impressive. The robots are so detailed, Hasbro isn´t going to be able to produce accurate toys, but they have an organic yet technical look that works beyond belief. I was worried as to how he would portray these childhood icons of mine, but he nailed it. If there was one movie in 2007 that looked better than anything else, it was "The Transformers."
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