Saturday, July 7, 2007

I Am TRANSFORMED!

Transformers was one of the most defining TV shows of my young life back in the 80s. It spawned the beginning of my imagination (those wars against Astroboy and GI Joe who where brainwashed by the Decepticons and Cobra Commander to battle the undermanned Autobots kept me in my room for hours of fun.) It was the first show that was so important to me that if this movie tainted that in anyway, I'd have to give the movie a biased review.

Luckily, it didn't destroy my childhood with a half-assed attempt to capitalize on the twenty/thirty-something male market (along with the new kids growing up now just discovering them). Instead, they pulled out a kick-ass slugfest with some of the most amazing special effects I've ever seen.

Let me put this in perspective: the CGI for the Transformers was so good, I'd put it above the effects in creating the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Not once was I thinking that Optimus was a detailed animation character superimposed in the real movie world. He was a full fledged character that meshed seamlessly with the rest of the story.

The action is second to none to anything else I've seen this summer...but how can you out-do giant battling robots (Sorry John McLean). But some of the fighting scenes are a blur as there's too much happening at once. Yet, these situations were few and far between.

I've got two major critiques for this movie: 1. the human characters in Transformers were flat and stereotypical (the best characters were the Autobots who were all hilarious in they're own cliche way delivery cheesy over the top lines just like in the cartoon...but I LOVED it!!!). 2. For those harcore fans of the original Transformers (I.E. me), separate yourself from the original storyline and look at this as a brand new story. They address some of the original plot points but take new liberties for the movie. For those who've never seen the original Transformers, you're in for a car-crashing rip-roaring ride.

Other than that...this is the BEST action movie I've witnessed this summer. What it suffers in character development (except the Autobots), and in plot (as there's TONS of plot holes), it more than makes up in explosions and humour. But what else do you want in a great summer movie?

8.8 Energon Cubes out of 10.

PS There's a preview for an untitled movie from JJ Abrams coming out in January that is unlike anything ever seen. It's code named Cloverfield. Check it out at my profile for the preview. That movie is going to be the talk of the rest of the summer, fall, and winter.

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