More than Meets the Eye Indeed: My Review of "Transformers."

I am a true child of the 80s. Although I was born in the 70s, all of my formative years (from 4^th grade until high school graduation) were spent in the 1980s. As part of that generation, my childhood was spent with the products of Hasbro toys, the G.I. Joe and Transformers series. Now, my parents never purchased GI Joes for me due to their understandable aversion to tiny figures being underfoot on the carpet. The Transformers, however, were a different story. I still remember getting my first Transformer. My parents took me to Best Products Company, a now-defunct retail chain that had an outlet in Norfolk, Virginia. Early on in their run, Transformers were difficult to find (much like Nintendo’s Wii today). Imagine my surprise one day when, during an average trip to Best, I found myself face to face with every single toy from the first series of Transformers figures. Even though it was not a special occasion, my parents allowed me to choose one figure. I chose Sideswipe, a Lamborghini Countach that looked awesome in both robot and vehicle form. I remember, even at my young age, being impressed with the fact that ½ of the figure was made of die-cast metal. I was excited to get the packed-in catalogue that showed the remaining figures in the assortment. I loved watching the animated show and seeing my figure on TV. This was my introduction into the world of figure collecting. Over the ensuing years, I continued to collect the Transformers. I had all of the jets from the first series (Skywarp. Starscream and Thundercracker), Soundwave (to this day, my favorite figure ever), Optimus Prime, Megatron, Blaster, Trypticon, Omega Supreme, Ultra Magnus, Metroplex, Dirge, Kup. Wheeljack, Devastator, Superion, Hot Rod, Perceptor, Astrotrain, and more. I watched the cartoon, I saw the movie in the theaters and I played with my toys. Most of all, I loved watching Optimus Prime. Optimus was the leader of the Autobots, the “good” robots who waged their “battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons.” The Transformers were (and are) a happy..even cherished…memory from my childhood. I still have most of those Transformers to this day.

When I first heard of Tom DeSanto’s (the person responsible for bringing X-Men to the big screen) efforts to make a “Transformers” live action movie, I was excited. One of the things that I always wanted to see was a “Transformers” film, but the technology of 1980s filmmaking was so limited as to make such a film impossible. The technological leaps of films such as “Jurassic Park,” the second “Star Wars Trilogy”, and “the Lord of the Rings” made me believe that such a film was possible. All the film needed was a filmmaker who understood the mythology of the previous series, a filmmaker who could please both fanboys and the general public. Suddenly, a light appeared. Steven Spielberg had agreed to produce the film. Maybe he would direct as well? That would have been great! Spielberg, however, decided to chose a filmmaker whose resume was, umm, a bit suspect to say the least.

Michael Bay.

Now, I have nothing personal against Bay; it is just that he is a “movie maker”, not a filmmaker. Bay’s films are loud, full of quick edits, headache inducing, melodramatic, maudlin, sappy, bombastic, senses-assaulting popcorn entertainment. Let us now look at his filmography.

1. Bad Boys: the film that put Will Smith on the map as a bona fide action star. Would Smith have been given projects such as “Independence Day”, “I, Robot,” or “I Am Legend” without this? Probably not. The film was not subtle in ANY way, and the plotline was laughable. Still, it was a noble first effort.

2. The Rock: Sean Connery and Nick Cage’s action extravaganza set in Alcatraz with ludicrous plot points galore. Boy did this film give me a headache!

3. Armageddon: Ugh. ‘Nuff said (except that Bay would mimic the melodrama in many of his later films).

4. Pearl Harbor: Great trailer, AWFUL FILM. What was Bay thinking?

5. Bad Boys II: a truly awful film, but a guilty pleasure for no other reason than the action set pieces. The freeway chase with the boats and the Ferrari is still fun to watch.

6. The Island: Skipped it (as did most of America).

This was the man who was to give life to “Transformers”? Had Spielberg lost his instincts? This looked to be a slap in the face to fans everywhere. Word started coming out from the set that Bay was changing the “Transformers” that we fanboys had grown up with. He made Bumblebee, the robot everyman, a Camaro instead of a Beetle and took away his voice. He put FLAMES on Optimus Prime! All of the Autobots were now products of GM. What the heck was Bay thinking?

And then…other things started to leak out of the production. Peter Cullen, the actor who voiced Optimus Prime (the bastion of good and leader of the Autobots) for the animated series was back as the voice of Optimus Prime. Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith and Elrond!!!!) was to be the voice of the villainous Megatron. The battle scenes were supposedly off the hook. Gradually, the tidings of dismay started to turn into hope. What was I hoping for? Well, I knew that there would be changes, but so long as I still recognized my Transformers, I would have no problems with the film. Truth be told, the original series and the original animated film were not all that great to begin with. Their sole purpose was to sell the newest models of Transformers. If the film paid homage to the original series, that would be enough.

So on July 3^rd, my friends Jeff, Mike and I made our way to the River East 21 in Chicago. We made our way to Theater 10 and witnessed the latest Bay “movie.” Would Bay deliver? Would it be a fun popcorn film ideal for the summer? The answer is a resounding YES! First of all, let me discuss the bad. Bay cannot for the life of him stay away from EVERY SINGLE movie cliché there is (the soldier with the wife and baby back home, the bad girl, the nerdy guy who gets the girl, the clueless parents, the slo-mo for action scenes, the forced patriotism, Jon Turturro, sappy pop songs to sell soundtracks, and a lack of basic storytelling techniques). Now, although that may seem like quite the list, the film was still awesome. Why did I enjoy myself? By all accounts, this film should have left me feeling like I had watched a marathon of “Spider-Man III” interspersed with moments of “Shrek the Third.” Why did I enjoy it? Quite simply, it’s because I have never watched a film like this before. The premise of the film is quite simple: giant robots beat up on each other and cause mass destruction in some awesome action sequences. This is the prototypical “check your brain at the door” summer movie, and it does its job exceedingly well. Optimus Prime was great, and the battles among the Transformers were awe inspiring. The entire audience was quiet during the battles –not because of confusion or boredom with the CGI (as Roger Ebert would have us believe) but because of bated breath waiting to see what would happen next. Just when I thought the action in the final battle could not be any cooler, enter Starscream against a squadron of F-22 Raptors. I will not describe the scene any further other than to say that this one 2 minute sequence alone was worth the price of admission.

The biggest surprise (for me), was the believable performance of Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky. LaBeouf, rumored to be playing Indiana Jones’ son in the next Indy film, succeeded where so many better actors before him had failed. We as the audience believe it when he is talking to the Autobots because LaBeouf knows how to act in front of a blue screen. I maintain that the best actors are those who can convincingly act in front of a blue screen because, at that point in production, everything is in their imagination. With a lesser actor (Hayden Christiansen in the last 2 “Star Wars” films, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow in Gerry Conran’s “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”), the audience ends up getting pulled out of the film because the actors do not believably convey that they are interacting with the fantasy world. This was not the case here. I forgot all about CGI (even with the knowledge that some scenes utilized full scale robot models) because of LaBeouf’s work. If he is careful with his script choices, I hope to see him develop into quite an actor. This is a wonderful step in the right direction.

If you are looking for a “film,” this is not the movie for you. If you want to see the best of the summer spectacles thus far, I recommend this film. It is pure, unadulterated fun that just may succeed in rekindling your memories of childhood (whatever they may be).

Suresh’s scale: guilty pleasure action film that is better than “Point Break”, but not as good as “Lethal Weapon.”