Transformers 2007
If you know me at all, then you know going in that I'm a huge nerd. You are probably aware that I'm a very enthusiastic Transformers fan. That said, it should come as no surprise that the following review of the recently released Transformers movie is not exactly an unbiased evaluation.
A lot of Transformers fanboys (read: dudes my age that take their fandom a bit too seriously) were outraged when it was announced that Michael Bay was selected to direct a new, live-action Transformers movie. This diverted their rage over the fact that the movie was going to be live-action, rather than hand-drawn by the reanimated corpses of the original Japanese anime studio. Then the robot designs were revealed and the fanboys nearly had an anurism. There was much sound and fury accross the intarwebs, violently protesting the radical changes to the original 1984 designs. Michael Bay was roundly accused of raping the fandom's collective childhood.
Throughout all of this, I, who consider myself an oldschool fan of the franchise, took a wait-and-see approach. Personally, I was ecstatic that Bay was selected to direct. I mean, really, name a better director for a summer epic focusing on fast cars, military hardware and giant explosions. Bay is not an auteur, and I'm not going to defend him as some kind of cinematic messiah, but he's pretty damn good at what he does. I reasoned that Bay would deliver an entertaining experience.
I was a bit more reserved about the robot designs. They were definitely... different. The initial leaked images bore very little resemblance to the Transformers I grew up with. I was especially non-plussed with the treatment of Starscream, my favorite Transformer. Still, I withheld judgment.
Flash forward to the full cinematic trailer which debuted in the Spring. Seeing Optimus Prime transform sold me. Seeing Starscream rampaging down a street full of cars blew me away. At that moment I was damned. I knew that if this movie ended up sucking, I was going to cry bitter tears of fanboy rage, despite all of my attempts to distance myself from the hype. You see, the trailer was, quite simply, one of the most amazing, exciting preview I had ever seen. Guess what the last movie I felt that way about was... Yep, Star Wars Episode One. And we all know how that turned out. Since that debacle, my pet theory has been that the better the trailer is, the worse the actual movie will be. It's sad how often this turns out to be true.
The toys were released in early June. I managed to snag a few of them ahead of the official street-date and was suitably impressed. By this point, I was super-stoked for the movie.
July Second, I attended the 8PM coast-to-coast public premiere with my brother, a coworker and assorted friends. I tried to keep my expectations neutral, but it was futile. The theater went dark, the preview ran, and then...
Optimus Prime spoke.
Now usually, I consider voice-over introductions to be pretty lame, second only to voice-over endings. I vastly prefer that the set-up and denoument be handled within the film proper, rather than tacked on. This worked for me though. First of all, it was Optimus Prime. I mean THE Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen, the voice actor from the original cartoon show. Moreover, in any incarnation, Transformers tend to have somewhat convoluted reasons for ending up on Earth - summarizing this version into a two-minute opening monologue enabled a quicker jump into action.
And holee shiite, Bay wasted no time. Blackout, a Decepticon who turns into an army helicopter, starts wrecking shop right out of the gate. The opening scene has to be seen to be believed. Bay utilizes every inch of the screen showing us the action, striking a masterful balance of showing enough of the monster to make us go "ooooh!" and obscuring it just enough for it to retain menace.
It only gets better from there.
There were a lot of little touches that enhanced my enjoyment of the movie; the presence of the original Transforming sound, the fact that one of the soldiers was named Figueroa, a nod to the prominent comic book artist, Decepticon Frenzy essentially being an evil, robotic Borat (he makes sexy-time with the P.O.T.U.S. Mainframe on Airforce One - yes, really), the incorporation of classic lines from previous incarnations ("Leakin' lubricant!" "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings")... all in all the movie had a lot of fan-service in it, much more than I was expecting.
The movie even has a proper ending. Yes, there's room for a sequel, and I'm delighted that two have already been greenlit, but it's satisfying that there's real resolution after the climax. It's a self-contained experience, complete unto itself.
So yeah. The movie pwns. The audience laughed, gasped and cheered in all the right places. I've seen it three times now (I told you I was a huge nerd) and the reaction has been the same all three times - packed theaters clapping as the credits roll. Color me a happy fanboy.
This morning I caught an early showing at the Arc-light in Hollywood. The Autobots were outside, guarding the theater. Checkitout:
Bumblebee, a bitchin' Camaro.
Ironhide, a GMC Topkick. This truck is ginormous.
Ratchet, Hummer H2.
Optimus Prime.
Me and my homie.
A lot of Transformers fanboys (read: dudes my age that take their fandom a bit too seriously) were outraged when it was announced that Michael Bay was selected to direct a new, live-action Transformers movie. This diverted their rage over the fact that the movie was going to be live-action, rather than hand-drawn by the reanimated corpses of the original Japanese anime studio. Then the robot designs were revealed and the fanboys nearly had an anurism. There was much sound and fury accross the intarwebs, violently protesting the radical changes to the original 1984 designs. Michael Bay was roundly accused of raping the fandom's collective childhood.
Throughout all of this, I, who consider myself an oldschool fan of the franchise, took a wait-and-see approach. Personally, I was ecstatic that Bay was selected to direct. I mean, really, name a better director for a summer epic focusing on fast cars, military hardware and giant explosions. Bay is not an auteur, and I'm not going to defend him as some kind of cinematic messiah, but he's pretty damn good at what he does. I reasoned that Bay would deliver an entertaining experience.
I was a bit more reserved about the robot designs. They were definitely... different. The initial leaked images bore very little resemblance to the Transformers I grew up with. I was especially non-plussed with the treatment of Starscream, my favorite Transformer. Still, I withheld judgment.
Flash forward to the full cinematic trailer which debuted in the Spring. Seeing Optimus Prime transform sold me. Seeing Starscream rampaging down a street full of cars blew me away. At that moment I was damned. I knew that if this movie ended up sucking, I was going to cry bitter tears of fanboy rage, despite all of my attempts to distance myself from the hype. You see, the trailer was, quite simply, one of the most amazing, exciting preview I had ever seen. Guess what the last movie I felt that way about was... Yep, Star Wars Episode One. And we all know how that turned out. Since that debacle, my pet theory has been that the better the trailer is, the worse the actual movie will be. It's sad how often this turns out to be true.
The toys were released in early June. I managed to snag a few of them ahead of the official street-date and was suitably impressed. By this point, I was super-stoked for the movie.
July Second, I attended the 8PM coast-to-coast public premiere with my brother, a coworker and assorted friends. I tried to keep my expectations neutral, but it was futile. The theater went dark, the preview ran, and then...
Optimus Prime spoke.
Now usually, I consider voice-over introductions to be pretty lame, second only to voice-over endings. I vastly prefer that the set-up and denoument be handled within the film proper, rather than tacked on. This worked for me though. First of all, it was Optimus Prime. I mean THE Optimus Prime himself, Peter Cullen, the voice actor from the original cartoon show. Moreover, in any incarnation, Transformers tend to have somewhat convoluted reasons for ending up on Earth - summarizing this version into a two-minute opening monologue enabled a quicker jump into action.
And holee shiite, Bay wasted no time. Blackout, a Decepticon who turns into an army helicopter, starts wrecking shop right out of the gate. The opening scene has to be seen to be believed. Bay utilizes every inch of the screen showing us the action, striking a masterful balance of showing enough of the monster to make us go "ooooh!" and obscuring it just enough for it to retain menace.
It only gets better from there.
There were a lot of little touches that enhanced my enjoyment of the movie; the presence of the original Transforming sound, the fact that one of the soldiers was named Figueroa, a nod to the prominent comic book artist, Decepticon Frenzy essentially being an evil, robotic Borat (he makes sexy-time with the P.O.T.U.S. Mainframe on Airforce One - yes, really), the incorporation of classic lines from previous incarnations ("Leakin' lubricant!" "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings")... all in all the movie had a lot of fan-service in it, much more than I was expecting.
The movie even has a proper ending. Yes, there's room for a sequel, and I'm delighted that two have already been greenlit, but it's satisfying that there's real resolution after the climax. It's a self-contained experience, complete unto itself.
So yeah. The movie pwns. The audience laughed, gasped and cheered in all the right places. I've seen it three times now (I told you I was a huge nerd) and the reaction has been the same all three times - packed theaters clapping as the credits roll. Color me a happy fanboy.
This morning I caught an early showing at the Arc-light in Hollywood. The Autobots were outside, guarding the theater. Checkitout:
Bumblebee, a bitchin' Camaro.
Ironhide, a GMC Topkick. This truck is ginormous.
Ratchet, Hummer H2.
Optimus Prime.
Me and my homie.