“Transformers”
Director Michael Bay
Paramount Pictures
(Out Of 5)
Yet again this summer, aliens are threatening to annihilate the human race at a theater near you. They respond to the names Autobots and Decepticons ““ and there is more to them than meets the eye.
“Transformers,” the highly-anticipated movie based on the Hasbro toy with the same name, does not fail to disappoint fans and newcomers to the franchise alike.
While the live-action movie does not follow the highly popular television cartoons and spin-offs due to continuity errors within the different series, “Transformers” sticks to the spirit of the toy and the concepts maintained within the shows.
The movie revolves around the battle for the Allspark, a powerful source of energy that can be used to transform ordinary machinery into machines with consciousness. Megatron and his Decepticons, a group of evil robot Transformers, intend to harness the power of the Allspark against humanity with the intention of clearing out Earth so the Decepticons can live on it.
However, their efforts are countered by Optimus Prime and his crew of Autobots, Transformers that change into various automobiles, who intend to simply destroy the Allspark in order to prevent future dangerous battles over this special energy source. With the aid of some willing humans such as Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf), an high school outcast whose ancestors prove to be more historically important than they originally seem, and Captain William Lennox (Josh Duhamel), an Iraq War veteran who is called to use his combat skills to fight the Decepticons, “Transformers” is entertaining and gripping, carefully balancing action and comedy.
Die-hard fans of the series will be slightly disappointed due to the several key elements of the television shows that have been altered, such as the removal of the Ark, a machine that brought the Transformers to Earth, as well as the change of car for Bumblebee, who had been a Volkswagen Beetle in the original series but appears as a Chevrolet Camaro in the movie. However, Peter Cullen, the original voice of Optimus Prime, returns to his role after a 20-year hiatus, and the Transformers themselves undergo a modern-day transformation, providing an updated spin on the outdated look.
And, although the Decepticons do not all transform into planes as they did originally, they change into more modern fighting technology, keeping in tune with the machinery these days and providing for more action-packed scenes. Those who have never seen the show or toys won’t be lost due to the sufficient backstory and new plot; but at the same time, those who do remember will be highly satisfied due to the fact that the movie keeps in tune with a lot of the important elements.
Although the acting is a slightly overdone at times and several characters disappear with no explanation, overall “Transformers” avoids the cheesy overtones that the film could have taken. LeBeouf actually shines as a loser, who comically tries to get the girl while attempting to save the world with his sidekick Bumblebee, a robot fighter/Camaro with a witty sense of humor. Even though there is a cast of talented actors, including Jon Voight, the movie still revolves around the battles between Transformers.
“Transformers” proves to be more than your average blockbuster and can be enjoyed by the inner child in all of us.