transformers

i was never much of a transformers fan; the toys came too late for me to get hooked on. not that i was allowed to escape them as the ex’s kid was a fan, so we had some toys, comics and books and there were times i had to do the voices (ah the joys of being a parent…)
the job i do has meant that transformers have been a constant in my working life, well not including the time i did filing for tower hamlets council.

tonight i went to see the live action transformers movie. michael bay, director, has been a bit hit and miss with his movies, on the one hand he has directed one of my favourite films, armageddon, and on the other he has directed the folly that is pearl harbour. no matter what the quality of the films you know they are going to look good.

transformers does indeed look great.

there are two types of transformers: autobots (goodies) and decepticons (baddies), their world is toast and now they are on our world. both groups are looking for the allspark, a cube that can create life.
first to strike are the decepticons who attack a usa army base in the middle east. their target is the base computer. they are searching for information. although they are prevented in their quest they destroy most of the base.
meanwhile sam witwicky gets to buy a second hand car, he gets a yellow camaro. although his first drive in the car ends up with some peculiar goings on, it does mean he gets to ride with the girl, mikaela, he has a crush on.
seeking more information the decepticons infiltrate air force and once again downloads information. we discover “project iceman”, and we find out that captain witwicky (sam’s grandfather) has something to do with all that is going on. now they have a new target: sam.
meanwhile sam gets to see his new car transform. the autobot is sending a signal into space.
the decepticon’s strike at sam and are only thwarted by the heroic efforts of his camaro, the autobot bumblebee.
form then on the plot gets thicker and thicker.
sam and mikaela meet the rest of the autobots and their leader, optimus prime. they learn why the transformers are on earth and why sam is so important, his grandfather not only found the frozen body of the decepticon leader, megatron, but his glasses also have the engraved map of the location of the allspark.
sam has the glasses.
all back to sam’s place to get the glasses. a bit of slapstick ensues as sam tries to find the glasses while trying to persuade the autobots to remain in disguise. it doesn’t work. sam’s parents get involved in what he is doing.
over at the pentagon they are trying to discover what attacked the base. all they have to go on is a signal. all attempts to decode it haven’t worked. one of the analysts decided to copy the signal and take it to a hacker friend. just as they find out about sector 7 and project iceman they are raided by the fbi.
with glasses in hand sam and mikaela are about to go to the autobots when they are apprehended by the mysterious agents of sector 7. first they are rescued by the autobots and then they are recaptured by sector 7.
now that sector 7 have them they are involved in attempting to solve what is going on. they are brought face to face not only with a frozen megatron but also the allspark. naturally the decepticons turn up and megatron is free.
sam, mikaela, bumblebee and some soldiers have to get the allspark somewhere safe while autobots and decepticons fight.
big fight.
we win.
sam and mikaela get to make out while being watched by the autobots who are going to hang around and protect the earth.
close curtains.

there is a lot to like in the movie. the special effects are top notch, the transformers look awesome and when they are in action it is spectacular. shia lebeouf gives a terrific performance as sam. the action is well done and is fast and furious.
personally i liked the fact that there were lots of helicopter scenes (i am a sucker for helicopters). i liked the fact that the soundtrack was mostly bereft of urban sounds and was mainly rock there was even a quasi-military march tune at one point (another thing that presses the right buttons with me). i also liked the idea of sector 7, but that is because all secret divisions of the government or secret societies are entertaining film fodder. there are some funny moments.

there is a lot to not like about the movie as well. it is a shouty movie with anthony andersen (normally very watchable) being one of the main culprits; he is closely followed by john turturro, in a role he will soon hope to forget.
much of the comedy in the film seems forced, especially the scene where the autobots “hide” from sam’s parents, at this point you didn’t hold out much hope for their chances against the decepticons. the humour and tension were poorly balanced and sometimes seemed to trip each other up.
the film runs just shy of two and half hours and there is sufficient padding in the movie that you wonder why they were not more vicious with the editing.
the only character in the film you care about is sam. his relationship with mikaela has little spark (megan fox being an identikit cutie) while his friendship with bumblebee is well done. because of this lack of connection with the other characters you don’t really cares who wins or loses you just want to go wow when the big stunt happens.
there are plot holes galore, but lets be fair we don’t go to see films like this to make sense – just that they get from the start to the finish while entertaining us. but if i had to choose one plot point that left me confused it would be: why didn’t the autobots just contact the relevant powers that be and alert them to what was going on.

all in all an entertaining movie, but to misquote, in the end “less than meets the eye”.